The frequent guest has the choice of many hotel loyalty promotions with little guidance to their relative value. Here is Loyalty Traveler’s summary of current hotel loyalty promotions and limited time rate offers for the frequent guest. Newly added offers since the last June 10 update are marked with an asterisk (*).
Loyalty Traveler ranks the consumer value of hotel loyalty promotions on a Five Key Scale.
Five Keys = one of the best hotel loyalty promotions of the year.
Four Keys = high value rebate on the cost of hotel stays.
Three Keys = good value hotel loyalty promotion or rate offer
Two Keys = a bonus value if you play, but not necessarily worth going out of your way.
One Key = There is limited or no value. You are likely paying more than the bonus value.
Rate discounts and loyalty program bonuses are two types of hotel chain incentives to consider when booking travel.
Rankings are subjective and subject to change. Your specific travel pattern may result in some promotions ranking more favorably for you. When assigning a key rank I take into consideration the following factors and probably more:
- The opportunity for a significantly high-value return on hotel spend in terms of a hotel rebate in free nights and discounted hotel nights.
- Current loyalty program promotions and offers from other hotel chains.
- Past loyalty program offers and rates for the specific hotel chain and loyalty program.
- Current economic conditions in the travel industry and hotel location.
Accor A-Club
*4-Key giveaway – Win a 12-night Europe Vacation to Paris, Berlin and Barcelona (USA only). Earn the highest score on a photo game by quickly finding the differences between two seemingly identical photos and win an $11,000 vacation to Europe with air travel on US Airways, First Class Eurail tickets, and 12 nights in Sofitel and Pullman upper upscale hotels. Game ends July 23. (July 2 post)
Limited Time Offer: Motel 6 is accepting A-Club $60 vouchers at over 1,000 North America hotels for stays from June 1-October 31.
Best Western Rewards
5-key Promotion One Free Night in US or Canada after two stays between June 20 and August 15, 2010. Limit of One free night during promotion unless Best Western rewards elite member, then limit is two free nights. (See elite status match offer.) Registration is required and limited to residents of USA, Canada, and the Caribbean Islands. Free night voucher expires December 25, 2010. (June 1)
Elite Status Match Offer (February 19, 2010)
Carlson Hotels – Goldpoints Plus
5-Key promotion: June 1-August 31 Stay two times at any Carlson Hotel (Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn, Country Inn & Suites) and earn one free night at any property. Earn limit is seven free nights. Redeem nights at any Carlson Hotel September 1 – February 28, 2011. Registration is required. (May 25)
*5-Key social media contest: Win 365 nights at Radisson Blu Hotels (Limited to Europeans)
Submit your entry and receive the most votes by July 24 to win this 59,000€ prize. Winner has five years to redeem 365 nights at over 200 Radisson Blu hotels worldwide. (June 28)
*2-key promotion Triple Points rates through July 31 Earn 45 or 60 points per US$1 or EUR. Unfortunately the rates for this offer are higher than other rates available. This is a decent offer if you find the added cost comes out to less than $5 per 1,000 points. I did not find that value, hence the low promotion rank. Appears to be a combinable offer with two stays = free night promotion. (June 18)
Choice Hotels – Choice Privileges
3-key promotion Earn 8,000 points for two stays between May 20 and August 5, 2010. After two stays points will be added to your account up to 8,000 total points. Choice Privileges members normally earn 10 points per $1 at most brands. Spend $75 for each hotel night and the 1,500 base points ($150 @ 10 points /$1) will be boosted up to 8,000 points. This promotion favors the low spender. A general member who spends $400 for a five night stay will earn 4,000 points for the stay. Two stays like that and you do not earn a bonus at all. Keep this promotion in mind for those $50 one night stays.
The Choice Privileges advertisement is for a Chili’s card, but you will receive points in your account for spending on whatever you choose. And 8,000 points is good for a free night at over 1,000 Choice Hotel members.
Hilton HHonors
4-key promotion Nine bonus airline miles promotions that may be combined with free night promotion (April 13, 2010) [Note: most airline offers end June 30, some go to July 15 or 31, and some longer.]
*4-Key Giveaway (free entry) – Trip to Italian Grand Prix in Milan, Italy September 10-13, 2010. Prize consists of roundtrip tickets for two from London to Milan, three nights at the Doubletree Milan, and tickets to Grand Prix race. Comntest entries accepted through July 17. (June 22 post)
*3-Key promotion Double Points or Double Miles July 7-September 30, 2010. This is the standard promotion for HHonors. There are some good miles opportunities. You must remain with your choice for the duration of the promotion once you select double points or double miles. (July 6)
Hyatt Gold Passport
*5-key giveaway – HyattResorts Best of All Worlds Facebook page giveaway. Five winners will receive 44,000 points for uploading a photo on Hyatt Resorts Facebook page. Submit your photo by July 26. Odds are good since relatively few entries. (145 entries as of July 9).
*$5,000 Art Scholarship Contest – Canvas Artist Series sponsored by Hyatt. Design a Hyatt Canvas Wines label and submit your entry by August 15 to win a $5,000 college scholarship. Must be enrolled in an accredited art school or program to win. (July 4)
4-key offer: $100 in Hyatt gift certificates for $80 at Costco. Many Costco stores carry these. Two $50 certificates cost $79.99. These certificates do not provide change. Effectively these certificates save up to 20% on room rates, but are not good on prepaid rates.
3-key offer: Hyatt offers a COSTCO discount rate (use Group/Corporate # 13365) that is equivalent or even better than AAA rate for many hotels. The Costco discount rate is up to 25% for North America hotels. Bookings must be made between May 7 – September 9 for stays from May 7 through September 12.
There are several different codes being tossed around for this offer.
Inserting 13365 in the Group/Corporate # has worked best for me in retrieving the $25 per night credit rate and the rate tends to match the prepaid rate, but with cancellation policies equivalent to AAA rates. For a one night stay the AAA full breakfast rate may be a better deal. Compare prices.
- North American Park Hyatt, Hyatt Regency, and Andaz up to 25% + $25 nightly stay credit.
- Hyatt Place and Hyatt Summerfield Suites up to 15% discount.
- International Hyatt properties – up to 10% discount.
Hyatt Gold Passport hotel award categories increased for 25% of hotels as of June 4, 2010. Loyalty traveler post.
InterContinental Hotels Group – Priority Club
Europe IHG Rate Discount: 2 nights for the price of 1 for hotel stays through September 27, 2010. The InterContinental Budapest was available for $83 per night when I first posted this offer. These rates are prepaid and nonrefundable, but there are some fantastic savings if you want to prepay your hotel stay. (May 25)
5-key offer Priority Club PointBreaks 5,000 points per night awards to August 30 (June 7, 2010)
4-Key Promotion Priority Club $50 gift card for any IHG brand hotel stay worldwide including a Friday or Saturday night. Gift card offer is valid with second hotel stay between May 14 and July 31. There is a maximum earn limit of $500 in gift cards. Registration is required. This offer is mutually exclusive from the Double Points or Double Miles offer listed below. (May 21)
3-Key promotion Priority Club Double Points or Double Miles May 14-August 31 (April 15)
3-key promotion Ambassador members receive up to 10,000 points after stays in four different InterContinental Hotels. May 10-July 31. Registration required. (May 11)
2-key promotion: Ambassador members receive 25,000 points for a two-night stay at participating InterContinental Hotels (June 1-September 30). Unfortunately most hotels are asking a significantly higher rate ($50 to $100 per night over lowest available) for this offer. Bonus may be earned three times for 75,000 points. (May 11)
IHG Friend & Family Hotel Rates (Dec 26, 2010)
Leading Hotels of the World (LHW) – Leaders Club Rewards
3-key promotion – Earn 1 free night after every 5 hotel stays in 2010. Must stay in at least two different hotels. Bellagio in Las Vegas is LHW member. (April 13, 2010)
Marriott Rewards
5-Key promotion – May 1-July 31 New members of Marriott Rewards earn a free night after two stays (April 5, 2010)
*5-Key giveaway – Mommy blog giveaways for 25,000 Marriott Rewards points. Simply leave a comment at these blogs for a chance to win 25,000 points. Three giveaways end July 8, July 12 and July 14. (July 1 post.)
4-key promotion – MegaBonus Offer: One free Marriott Category 1 to 4 hotel night after three stays June 1 – August 31. The main drawback of this offer is the lower category limit for the free night. Marriott has an 8 category award system. There are some nice Category 4 hotels, however, most major tourist cities have full scale hotel properties in the category 5 or 6 level. Register by June 30 for this promotion.
The free night offer is targeted and available to most Marriott Rewards members. Marriott Rewards elite members are likely to have received a points offer based on nights for their MegaBonus.
Alternate Points offer #1: Earn 20,000 points after 15 nights or 30,000 points after 20 nights.
Alternate Points offer #2: Earn 25,000 points after 20 nights or 40,000 points after 25 nights.
4-key promotion – Up to 60,000 Delta Skymiles. Earn 5,000 Skymiles per stay beginning with your second stay from May 1 through September 6, 2010. Registration required. Note: Your Marriott Rewards account earning preference must be set to miles for this offer to load correctly on your web browser.
*3-key promotion – $50 certificate for future Renaissance Hotel two-night weekend stay and an airline companion ticket for a single Friday or Saturday night stay at a Renaissance Hotel in the USA or Canada between June 18 and September 6, 2010. Hotel stay must be booked by July 23 for this offer.
The $50 certificate is a good deal since it is valid for any Renaissance Hotel worldwide, however, the airline companion ticket can only be used through a single travel agency specializing in companion ticket promotions. The airline ticket may offer a slight overall savings on the price of two tickets, but requires a convoluted booking process to use the ticket.
1-Key offer – Marriott Rewards Instant Redemption Awards (March 24, 2010)
Starwood Preferred Guest
5-key promotion – Earn a free weekend night after every three stays (May 1-July 31). You must have registered by June 30 for this offer. SPG has announced a supplementary offer to launch mid-July for hotel stays between July 1 and August 31. No details yet.
*4-Key Award Discount – Le Parker Meridien Palm Springs Cash & Points $15 + 4,800 points through September 2. Friday and Saturday night rate is $30 + 4,800 points. You must call 866-912-1169 to book this offer. (July 5)
*4-Key Promotion – Win One Million Starpoints for most stays at Africa Starwood Hotels in 2010. Must register by July 31. The 2nd prize is 300,000 Starpoints. 3rd Prize 200,000 points. Stays between June 8 and December 31, 2010 are counted. A single stay in an Africa Starwood Hotel earns an entry into alternate prize contest for 50,000 points. (June 22)
4-Key promotion – Earn 1,000 AAdvantage bonus miles for every stay with Sheraton Hotels in North America (US, Canada, and Caribbean) through July 31. No limit. This offer may be combined with the stay three earn a free weekend night.
3-key promotion SPG link: Pay Your Birthyear Rate (This promotion can be an incredible savings or no savings depending on the hotel and your birthyear.) LT post 4/28/2009
3-key discount rates Starwood Hotel Rate Discount Codes for Multiple Night Stays
These offers are for rate discounts on stays of 2 to 6 nights. Third night free tends to be one of the best discount rates. Important to check other rates (AAA, Senior, Special Offers) as these discounts are generally based on the Best Available Rate (BAR) and may not be the lowest overall rate for some hotels.
1-key promotion Four Points Breakfast for a Buck (April 12, 2010)
Starpoints Airline Direct Deposit is Better for United, Continental, and Singapore miles (March 25, 2010)
Wyndham Rewards
*4-Key promotion: Earn up to 25,000 American AAdvantage miles after 9 stays from April 30 to September 30, 2010. Wyndham, Wingate, and Hawthorn Suites brands only. Earn 3,000 bonus miles after 3 stays. Earn 7,500 miles bonus after 6 stays. Earn 10,000 bonus miles after 9 stays. Along with normal 500 miles per stay, you can earn 25,000 AAdvantage miles after 9 stays. (June 15, 2010)
Wyndham Hotels Game Prizes: Wyndham Mission: Save Summer campaign offering gift card prizes and a five night Wyndham Hotel stay. Register and play weekly for a chance to win prizes. There are also discount rate links for most Wyndham Hotel brands in this thread.
Hotel Points-to-Miles Conversion Tables for 9 hotel programs and 7 U.S. airlines (March 30, 2010)
2 Comments
Comments are closed.