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Priority Club Spring Break 7,500 Bonus Points for 2-night stay

Priority Club has a limited time offer for 7,500 bonus points when booking Spring Break hotel stays for a minimum 2 nights at more than 100 hotels in Florida, California, Texas and other locations.

Priority Club Rewards Spring Break promotion web link. Rate Code = ISGSB

The Spring Break promotion page lists these destinations:

  • San Diego, California (22 hotels)
  • Daytona Beach, Florida
  • Miami, Florida (27 hotels)
  • Orlando, Florida (28 hotels)
  • Panama City, Florida
  • Honolulu, Hawaii
  • South Padre Island, Texas
  • San Jose, Costa Rica
  • Cancun, Mexico
  • Los Cabos, Mexico

Terms and Conditions

  • Requires stay of two or more consecutive nights.
  • Cancellation policies are liberal, generally day before arrival with no penalty.
  • Rates are higher than advance purchase and Best Flexible; generally $10 to $30 per night more.
  • 7,500 points per stay.
  • Available for stays through May 15, 2011

 a screenshot of a hotel ad

Loyalty Traveler Analysis:

Panama City, Florida Holiday Inn Select

Wed Mar 16 – Fri Mar 18, 2011 (2 double beds)

 

Spring Break Rate $119/night = $253.48 (after tax)

  • Cancel up to 6pm Mar 16 with no penalty. 

Best Flexible Rate $109/night = $232.18 (after tax)

  • Cancel up to 6pm Mar 16 with no penalty. 

Discount Rate $95.99/night = $204.46 after tax

  • Cancellation will be charged first night rate.  

Advance Purchase $92.99/night = $198.06 after tax.

  • Cancellation forfeits entire prepaid room deposit.  

AAA rate $92.99/night = $198.06

  • Cancel up to 6pm Mar 16 with no penalty. 

This Spring Break offer for 7,500 bonus points will cost $55 more than the AAA rate for a two-night stay at the Panama City Holiday Inn Select with the same cancellation policies.

You can save $55 now and simply buy 10,000 points for $60 when you book your next reward stay.  

7,500 bonus points is only a good deal if you would otherwise book the Best Flexible Rate and you do not qualify for AAA rate and you need bonus points now.

I do not recommend this Spring Break promotional offer for most guests since the rates are higher.

Keep in mind that when you redeem points for a free hotel stay, there is usually the option of Points & Cash whereby you can pay $60 and reduce the reward cost by 10,000 points for your hotel stay.

The ability to buy 10,000 points for $60 makes paying more than $45 extra to earn 7,500 Priority Club points not such a good deal.

The primary advantage to paying a higher rate to earn Priority Club bonus points is the fact that these bonus points count for elite qualification. Priority Club Gold elite is reached by earning 20,000 points in a calendar year and Platinum elite takes 60,000 points. If you need points for elite status then paying $45 for 7,500 points is a fair exchange.

But, if you already have Priority Club elite status and you do not need points to earn elite status, then save your money. This deal is really only a good deal if you do not have many Priority Club points and you need more points for a planned redemption.  

For example if you only have 10,000 Priority Club points, then you can’t afford a free Crowne Plaza reward night for 25,000 points, even with the option to buy 10,000 points.

Account Balance = 8,788 points. Book the Spring Break package for $253.48 and you earn $119 x 2 nights x 10 points/$1 = 2,380 points + 7,500 Spring Break bonus. Earning 9,880 points now opens up the possibility of booking a Crowne Plaza 25,000 points hotel reward night with 18,668 points.

You can book a Crowne Plaza using Points & Cash with 15,000 points + $60 to purchase the remaining 10,000 points.

The majority of IHG hotels cost 15,000 points for a free night at a Holiday Inn or Holiday Inn Express (popular locations require 25,000 points, but the vast majority of hotels in the chain are 15,000 points per reward night).

A person with no Priority Club points can book the Spring Break 7,500 bonus points offer and have enough points after the stay to book a Points & Cash night at any of nearly 2,000 Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express hotels for 5,000 points + $60.

Holiday Inn Orlando Convention Center (Wed March 2- Friday March 4, 2011)

Spring Break Rate = $79/night = $182.76 after tax

Advance Purchase = $56/night = $131.00 after tax

AAA rate = $63/night = $146.76 after tax

7,500 bonus points for $36 over the AAA rate is a good deal and the cost is only $15 over the prepaid, nonrefundable rate. Of course, the prepaid rate is a better deal if the nonrefundable conditions are acceptable for your risk tolerance.

4 Comments

  • […] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Travel Panama and BoardingArea, Ric Garrido. Ric Garrido said: Priority Club Spring Break 7,500 Bonus Points for 2-night stay http://goo.gl/fb/Zy3UP […]

  • Ed February 13, 2011

    Ric,
    Seems like IHG is giving away points like crazy these days. Lots of people probably have a ton of points now. Do you think this could cause them to raise the cost of free rooms soon?

  • Ric Garrido February 13, 2011

    No. I think the reward chart is pretty competitive right now without being too cheap for reward stays.

    There are rumors that Pointbreaks may change, but I think standard rewards are comparable to most other chains.

    IHG is property heavy in the midscale market and that market seems to be lagging behind upscale and luxury for rate recovery from what I am seeing in the industry news.

  • Ed February 14, 2011

    Ok, thanks. I hope you’re right. No good to sit here with 400K points and have to spend them on 40K/night rooms….

Comments are closed.

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