Go HoJo and possibly save 15% on your hotel rate for summer bookings.
Howard Johnson hotels advertise a 15% discount off Best Available Rate with their “Stay 2, Save a Few” summer offer for 2 nights or longer stays. Free high speed internet and a continental breakfast are added benefits of this budget hotel chain. The Howard Johnson hotel brand is a member of the Wyndham Rewards hotel loyalty program so your stays can earn points. The recent InsideFlyer analysis of hotel loyalty programs viewed Wyndham Rewards solidly in the lower-middle range for free nights earning power based solely on spending among nine major hotel frequent guest programs.
Reservations need to be made by September 1, 2008, but reservation dates can be made this summer for a hotel stay later in the year as I found the 15% rate for dates in November 2008 during my rate searches.
The Wyndham reservations process has some interesting features not common among hotel reservations systems. A regular hotel search returns special offer rates without the need to specifically search for special offers. AAA and group rates do need to be checked separately, however, this promotion only applies to a discount on the publicly available Best Available Rate.
Ironically, when I used the promotional rate link for “Stay 2, Save a Few” for Monterey, the search return showed a higher rate for the Howard Johnson, Fremont Street in Seaside, than the rate shown in a default-mode search for Best Available Rate.
The Stay 2 promotion reservation link returned a rate at $67 per night, or 10% more than the $60 rate when searching for Best Available Rate (BAR). When searching for the BAR rate a “Manager’s Special” promotional rate came up at $60 per night. The “Stay 2, Save a Few” reservations website link returns the $67 higher rate at the Howard Johnson, Seaside and the rate does not state 15% off and the traveler is not shown the “Manager’s Special” rate in the search returns when using the “Stay 2, Save a Few” special offer link.
The 15% discount provides a good deal for Monterey for some dates at the three Howard Johnson hotels on the Monterey Peninsula for some dates. The “Stay 2” rate will show in a search using the Best Available Rate standard search method, if available. The “Stay 2, Save 15% Off Best Available Rate” will display as a header above the room rate.
To be safe, make sure to check the hotel rate using the regular reservations page. My rate searches revealed the “Stay 2” link may not be the lowest available rate for your stay.
