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Loyalty Traveler Does Chicago in Style for $100 per Day

Some people think I get free travel. The hotels and opportunities I get for discount rooms are the same opportunities open to any loyalty program member who plans with good travel strategies. I do not take complimentary rooms from hotels when I travel.

My goal is to show readers what is possible with hotel loyalty programs. Sometimes I probably get a nice upgrade due to being Loyalty Traveler, but the nice upgrades were a benefit I received as an elite hotel loyalty program member for many years prior to writing this blog.

Here is an example of how I stayed mostly in upper upscale and luxury hotels in Chicago for under $100 per night this past week even though a major Opthalmologist Convention was happening and filling many of the downtown Chicago hotels.

Holiday Inn Elk Grove (O’Hare Airport)

  • Points & Cash = 0 points + $30
  • Priority Club elite benefit = free Gatorade and chips from hotel pantry
  • Published room rate = $109 or $122.08 after tax
  • Loyalty Traveler Checkout total = $30 + $5 maid tip = $35
  • Loyalty Traveler Savings = $87.08
 
 

a building with a pink wall
Holiday Inn Elk Grove Village (O'Hare)

Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers

  • SPG Cash & Points $60 + 4,000 points
  • SPG Platinum benefits = 33rd floor lounge access with evening snacks and sodas, morning lounge breakfast, free internet, SPG Platinum Welcome Amenity 500 points and late checkout
  • Published Room Rate = $265 or $304.75 after tax.
  • Loyalty Traveler Checkout total = $69 + $5 maid tip = $74
  • Loyalty Traveler Savings = $230.75
  • There is no cash equivalent value given for the 8,000 Starpoints used in Chicago since I earned 70,000 free Starpoints through this “My Midas Touch” promotion. There was also an option to buy SPG points at the rate of $145 per 10,000 points through DiscoverAmerica.com in May 2010. The cash equivalent value for 4,000 points would have been $58.

 

a cityscape with a river and skyscrapers
Room view from Sheraton Chicago

W Hotel Lakeshore

  • SPG Cash & Points $60 + 4,000 points
  • SPG Platinum benefits = Lakeview room, high floor, two free drinks at the Wave Bar, free internet, SPG Platinum Welcome Amenity 500 points and 4 pm checkout
  • Published Room Rate = $309 or $355 after tax.
  • Loyalty Traveler Checkout total = $69 + $5 maid tip = $74
  • Loyalty Traveler Savings = $281
a view of a city from a window at night
View of Navy Pier from W Hotel Whiskey Sky Bar (similar to my room view)

Crowne Plaza Hotel Avenue

  • Priority Club 25,000 points award ( I purchased 25,000 points last May for $150 through DiscoverAmerica.com Priority Club discount offer).
  • Priority Club elite benefits = 15% off breakfast buffetat 40th floor lounge; free beer at Elephant & Castle pub; complimentary upgrade to Tech floor with Mac computer and free internet.
  • Published Room Rate = $329 or $379.67 after tax
  • Loyalty Traveler Checkout total = $15 (Elephant & Castle pub meal) + $5 maid tip = $20
  • Loyalty Traveler Savings = $229.67
a city skyline with a body of water
Chicago at sunset from 40th floor rooftop pool deck at Hotel Avenue Crowne Plaza

Park Hyatt Chicago

  • Hyatt Gold Passport Category 6  award for 22,000 points ( I purchased 22,000 points last June for $206.25 through DiscoverAmerica.com Hyatt Gold Passport discount offer) (oops … I posted this a few minutes ago incorrectly stating I paid $123.75, so now my average is a little over $100 per night.)
  • Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond elite benefits = complimentary breakfast at NoMI ($33 value for crab omelette); free internet; Diamond member welcome amenity of 1,000 points; preferred view room on top floor (18) of hotel facing historic Chicago Water Tower.
  • Published Room Rate = $422.50 (AAA) or $487.56 after tax
  • Loyalty Traveler Checkout total = $5 maid tip
  • Loyalty Traveler Savings = $281.31
a tall tower in a city
Breakfast at 7th floor NoMI Restaurant Park Hyatt Chicago

5 hotel nights in Chicago = $564.25 for Loyalty Traveler

Actual lowest published rates for these hotel rooms = $1,649.06

That is why I am a loyalty traveler.

5 Comments

  • Ben P October 21, 2010

    You shouldn’t be adding the $5 maid tip to one side of the ledger and not the other. It’s a minor error but still.

  • jim87 October 21, 2010

    Any more more photos of the PH? This is the one hotel where I skip the 1W and take the amenity. Sparking wine (last month it was a Burgundian sparkler)and a cheese plate from Nomi restaurant is a treat. This summer on a sweltering day they switched out the cheese plate for gigantic bowls of housemade sorbet at my request.

  • jim87 October 21, 2010

    Great explanation of loyalty program benefits! Your blog shows the benefits extend from $30 rates to $150 and beyond. And there are times we need just a $30 get some sleep place and others when we want to truly splurge.

    P.S. Thanks for the wealth of info at the Chicago DO. I am already applying some of the strategies you presented.

  • Ric Garrido October 21, 2010

    Ben P – 3 hours sleep last night and rushing to write this post before a day of activity resulted in some inconsistent accounting. Regardless it all comes out to great savings. The savings is even better if I don’t count the maid tips. Right?

    Technically I guess I should be adding the value of the free drinks and breakfast to the published rate side of the equation.

  • Ric Garrido October 21, 2010

    Jim – I’ll post extensive photos and reviews of the hotels where I stayed. I have a wealth of info and photos from about 25 other hotels in downtown and Gold Coast Chicago areas that I will discuss over the next couple of weeks.

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