Hotel loyalty 2012-Q1 promotions Ritz Carlton Rewards

Ritz-Carlton Free Night after two stays Feb 1- Apr 15, 2012

First the bad news. This is an offer for new enrollees to Ritz-Carlton Rewards or existing RCR members and you are not eligible for the Ritz-Carlton Rewards free night offer if you are a Marriott Rewards member.

Members of The Ritz-Carlton Rewards program as of January 13, 2012 and new members who were not previously members of the Marriott Rewards® program are eligible to receive this offer.

And now the good news. Register for the Ritz-Carlton Rewards free night offer by March 1, 2012. Stay two times at participating Ritz-Carlton Hotels and earn one free night certificate valid for a Tier 1-3 Ritz-Carlton Hotel. You may earn up to two free night certificates during the promotion.

  • Register for promotion by March 1.
  • You must have been a member of Ritz-Carlton Rewards as of January 13, 2012 or a new member who has not been a member of Marriott Rewards to be eligible for this offer.
  • Free night reward certificate is earned 3-5 days after second qualifying stay and is valid for one year from date of issuance.
  • Free night certificate is not transferable and may not be gifted.

Promotion excludes the following hotels and properties:

  • The Ritz-Carlton Millennia, Singapore,
  • The Ritz-Carlton, Montreal,
  • Phulay Bay, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve,
  • The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club®, The Ritz-Carlton Residences, and Partner Hotels.

The exclusion of Tier 4 and 5 only excludes 9 hotels from the free night certificate usage. There are more than 60 other hotels in the Tier 1-3 Ritz-Carlton Rewards. Here is a list of all Ritz-Carlton locations.

Loyalty Traveler Analysis

The potential of a free night after just two stays is my favorite promotion since this can be leveraged to pay low rates and redeem for a property that might cost more per night than the two qualifying stays.

Looks like Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Marriott Rewards have taken over Faster Free Nights. Marriott Rewards MegaBonus restricts the free night certificates to category 1-4 hotels which excludes hotels in a number of places. Ritz-Carlton Rewards has few hotels in Tier 4 and 5. These free night certificates are valid in the vast majority of Ritz-Carlton Hotels around the globe.

New York Central Park, Hong Kong and Shanghai Pudong are the only three hotels in Tier 5. New York Battery Park is Tier 3 so there is at least another Ritz-Carlton New York option.

Tier 4 hurts a little more for Americans with Bachelor Gulch (near Vail, Colorado), South Beach (Miami), Grand Cayman and St. Thomas taking out some key North American destinations. Barcelona and Tokyo are the other Tier 4 hotels.

Ritz-Carlton Tier 1-3 hotels are in more than 30 U.S. cities and resorts like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe,  Boston, Denver, Atlanta, Dallas, Phoenix, D.C., Maui, Philadelphia, New Orleans, Miami and many other places. A free night should be easy to redeem in a desirable location.

Unfortunately my wife and I are both Marriott Rewards members. I think we need to make some hotel dates with friends and family who are not into loyalty programs to take advantage of this high value offer.

Sample Rate Analysis

I highly recommend this offer for people who are eligible to enroll in Ritz-Carlton Rewards. Two people working together can get really high value from this promotion.

There are several Ritz-Carlton hotels around $200 per night.  You can earn one free night certificate for $400 to $500 with 2 one-night stays. There is a limit of two certificates per member. A couple can earn four free night certificates in all. There are several Ritz-Carlton hotels to redeem free night certificates where the rates will be over $500 per night.

This is not a cheap promotion. This is geared for people who would normally pay high rates for luxury hotel stays.

You will likely need to spend about $1,000 to earn two free nights and $2,000 to earn four free nights working with a partner. You can minimize the hotel stays by traveling with your partner and stay two nights at the same hotel on low rates and on two different reservations with one night in each person’s name.

Four $500 trips between February 1 and April 30 can earn four free nights for a trip anytime over the next year. Altogether a couple can put out $2,000 and stay eight paid nights, eight different stays of course, and then redeem four free nights for another $2,000 vacation.

That is a 5-Star promotion in my analysis.

Ritz-Carlton Reservations offers flexible dates rate search to ease the search for lower-cost Ritz-Carlton hotels.

a screenshot of a calendar
Ritz-Carlton Atlanta as low as $209 in February 2012.
a screenshot of a hotel search
Ritz-Carlton Denver April 2012 rates as low as $229.

Ritz-Carlton Maui hotel rates in October 2012 are a fixed $519 per night.

a screenshot of a hotel room
Ritz-Carlton Maui Oct 2012 rates are $519 per night.

There are good vacation redemption opportunities for two to four free nights with this Ritz-Carlton promotion.

 

Hat Tip to AAdvantage Geek pointing me to this offer.

10 Comments

  • Alex January 31, 2012

    I live near Washington, DC where the RC’s in Tyson’s Corner and Pentagon City often have rates on weekends in the $169/$179 range.

    Even better, I have an AMEX Platinum that offers a $100 F&B credit through the FHR program, so I can have a one-night hotel date and spend less than $100 to get the credit for the plan.

  • […] Ritz-Carlton Free Night after two stays Feb 1- Apr 15, 2012 […]

  • Carl January 31, 2012

    So if I’m a Marriott Rewards member, can I convert my membership to RCR? I’m not too gung ho about Marriott generally, but this kind of promotion would be tempting. Maybe I’d rather be an RCR member

  • Lark January 31, 2012

    I notice when I look at the list of hotel locations that the Cosmopolitan in Vegas is listed as a Ritz. I thought it was a Marriott? (Autograph?)

    I did switch to RCR (from Marriott) in early January and have registered for this promotion… Only problem I’ll have is that my travels are not taking me to many of these cities over the next couple of months…

  • Ric Garrido February 1, 2012

    @Carl – you needed to have switched to Ritz-Carlton Rewards before January 13 as I read the rules.

    @Lark – The Cosmopolitan Las Vegas caught my eye as well as a partner hotel. Sounds like Ritz-Carlton Rewards benefits might be received for stays. I have never looked into this for The Cosmopolitan.

    Bulgari Hotels are properties that I see listed on Marriott’s financial statements and this is the first time I recall seeing them mentioned on a Marriott site.
    http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Locations/Default.htm

  • Lark February 1, 2012

    One more offer below I just received from the Ritz (only valid for San Francisco and Tahoe).

    I wonder if this is stackable with the promotion you highlighted? It is Club level rooms, obviously with their associated premium…

    Linger longer in Northern California with a complimentary night
    Enjoy the comfort, intimacy
    and personalized service of
    The Ritz-Carlton Club® Level

    San Francisco:

    Treat You

    Valid through December 31, 2012
    Starting at $609 USD per night

    Extend your stay on The Ritz-Carlton Club® Level and enjoy one complimentary night.

    •Overnight accommodations in a Ritz-Carlton Club Guest Room
    •Overnight valet parking
    •Daily internet access in guest room
    •One complimentary night — stay three nights, pay for two

    Offer is valid through December 31, 2012 and subject to availability. Rate is per room/per night, based on single or double occupancy, exclusive of taxes, gratuities, fees and other charges; does not apply to groups; cannot be combined with any other offer and is not applicable for Rewards redemption. Advanced reservations are required. No refund or credit for unused portion. Void where prohibited.

    Complimentary night requires purchase and minimum length of stay, and will be credited at time of check-out. A stay is defined as consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, regardless of check-in/check-out activity. Parking or Transfer option varies by hotel.

    Lake Tahoe / Northstar

    Valid through April 14, 2012
    Starting at $749 USD per night

    Extend your stay on The Ritz-Carlton Club® Level and enjoy one complimentary night.

    •Overnight accommodations on The Ritz-Carlton Club® Level
    •Overnight valet parking
    •Daily internet access in guest room
    •One complimentary night — stay four nights, pay for three

    Offer is valid through April 14, 2012 and subject to availability. Rate is per room/per night, based on single or double occupancy, exclusive of taxes, gratuities, fees and other charges; does not apply to groups; cannot be combined with any other offer and is not applicable for Rewards redemption. Advanced reservations are required. No refund or credit for unused portion. Void where prohibited.

    Complimentary night requires purchase and minimum length of stay, and will be credited at time of check-out. A stay is defined as consecutive nights spent at the same hotel, regardless of check-in/check-out activity. Parking or Transfer option varies by hotel.

  • Ric Garrido February 2, 2012

    @Lark – Seems to me this offer would be stackable with free night offer.

    You should call Ritz-Carlton Rewards and check before booking though.

  • […] be combined with any other offer. All Ritz-Carlton Rewards terms and conditions apply .Hat tip: Loyalty Traveler […]

  • […] Loyalty traveler post Jan 31, 2012. […]

  • […] ***** Ritz-Carlton Rewards February 1-April 15, 2012 earn one free night after two stays. Limit of two free night certificates. Promotion is open to new Ritz-Carlton Rewards enrollees or RCR members as of January 13, 2012. Current Marriott Rewards members are not eligible for this offer. Promotion registration required by March 1, 2012. Loyalty traveler post Jan 31, 2012. […]

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