Priority Club point giveaways on Twitter and $25 nightly credit on 2-night Holiday Inn Resort stays

Holiday Inn Resorts have a new promotion offering $50 resort credit when staying two nights from September 4 through November 30, 2012. An additional $25 resort credit applies for each additional night of your stay, up to $250 credit. Basically this a $25 per night resort credit rate.

You must book the “Extra Credit” room rate to receive these bonuses.

And here is the problem with the “Resort Extra Credit” rate

The Lodge at Running Y Ranch, Klamath Falls, Oregon –

• Resort Extra Credit rate: Deluxe Room (Village view) = $139 room rate and $158.46 after tax.
• Best Flexible Rate (BAR) = $129 (day before arrival cancellation with no penalty fee) or $147.06 after tax.
• Advance Purchase = $117 (prepaid, nonrefundable) or $133.38 after tax.
• AAA = $117 (day before arrival cancellation with no penalty fee) or $133.38 after tax.
• Oregon 14% hotel tax.

This means that a 2-night stay at the Holiday Inn Resort costs $25.12 more per night than the AAA rate to receive a $25 per night resort credit.

Based on this one sample reservation my conclusion is forget this promotion and buy a AAA or AARP membership. There are probably some savings at some Holiday Inn Resorts, but not for this example.

I actually like another rate for 5,000 bonus Priority Club points I found in this rate analysis.

A better value special rate for The Lodge at Running Y Ranch than the $25 nightly resort credit for $139 per night is paying $139 per night for 5,000 bonus points. The primary difference is the 5,000 bonus points offer is available for a one night hotel stay.

This is a rate that allows you to buy 5,000 Priority Club points for $25.

Now that is a deal!

The Lodge at Eagle Crest – Redmond/Bend Oregon

Tuesday Oct 2 – Thursday Oct 4, 2012

• Resort Extra Credit rate: King Suite Golf View = $184 room rate and $209.76 after tax.
• Best Flexible Rate (BAR) = King Suite Golf View = $174 room rate (14% tax) and $198.36 after tax. (Saturday Sep 29 6pm cancellation with no penalty – 3 days before arrival).
• Breakfast rate = = King Suite Golf View = $184 room rate
• Oregon 14% hotel tax.
• $11.40 extra per day for a $25 resort credit or breakfast for two is a decent deal if you will use these benefits.

There may be some good deals with this $25 per night resort credit, but not at the Holiday Inn Resorts near me.

Holiday Inn Resorts Twitter Sweepstakes Starts Wednesday August 29

Perhaps more interesting than the Holiday Inn Resorts $25 per night credit is a Twitter sweepstakes for Priority Club points prizes beginning Wednesday August 29 and ending September 30, 2012.

• Follow @holidayinn on Twitter.
• Tweet out a message about why you would love to stay at a resort for your next vacation in format: #resortlove http://bit.ly/IHGrules.
• Your entry must include your tweet along with #resortlove and http://bit.ly/IHGrules to be entered into the Sweepstakes.
• The Entry must be in English;
• Prize Drawings:  There are eight (8) tiers of thresholds for the number of Entries #resortlove which will unlock different prizes,
  as outlined in the chart below. If the stated number of entries has been received from all entrant’s combined, the prize for the applicable threshold will be unlocked.
• During the Promotion Period, entrants can check to see which thresholds have been met  http://ihg.promo.eprize.com/tweet.
• Administrator will randomly select the potential Sweepstakes winners from among all eligible entries received as the applicable threshold is
  unlocked, except for the Grand Prize (threshold 8), in which all eligible entries received during the entire Promotion Period will be eligible. The drawing for each prize will occur approximately two (2) business days after the applicable threshold is met.
• The Grand Prize drawing will occur on or around October 10, 2012.

Why I didn’t book The Lodge at Eagle Crest, Redmond, Oregon during the August 15 Flash Sale

Holiday Inn Resorts ran a 24-hour flash sale August 15, 2012. In my post I stated I thought I’d use this sale to head up to Oregon and check out the Lodge at Eagle Crest in Redmond, near Bend, Oregon.

Well, I was surprised to find $99 per night rates when I checked the room rates for this resort offer during the 24-hour option to book for 12,500 points per night at 50% off the standard reward night.

I did not book a reward stay for The Lodge at Eagle Crest Holiday Inn Resort in Redmond, Oregon. I value 12,500 points at more than $110 after tax savings. I want a minimum $10 per 1,000 Priority Club points night in redemption value with reward stays.

I stayed at The Lodge at Running Y Ranch last month, the only other western states Holiday Inn Resort and I absolutely loved the location in rural Oregon about five miles west of Klamath Falls in a planned community golf resort setting of lake and woods. Farming crops by the lakeshore detracts from the setting somewhat, but the colors of alfalfa at sunset in July were a sight to see. Cattle ranching across from the resort is still an active portion of the  Running Y Ranch and kind of epitomizes American genius at multi-tasking. Cowboy farming and resort living is so 21st century Americana.

Arnold Palmer Golf Course at Running Y Ranch, Klamath Falls, Oregon.

As a California local I felt so relaxed in the sparsely populated, yet beautifully landscaped spaces of Oregon, much of it natural, portions sculpted, and all filled with resources of water, wood, fertile land, wildlife and fresh air. Oregon’s skies and water are filled with birds in motion.

If there is such a thing as a land in God’s Country, then Oregon might be the place. My travels through the state taught me the rationale for why Oregon was the land where the earliest western emigrants to the northwestern Pacific region of North America chose to settle rather than living in California.

Most of California does not have reliable natural water supplies. Lacking rainfall for several months of the year during the summer season makes reservoirs vital to our survival in arid California.

Oregon is filled with trees and flowing rivers in the western parts of the state where summer rains keep the state so green.

Don’t worry Oregonians! We are one California family planning to stay put in Monterey. We will pay the hotel rates and taxes to visit your state.

Loyalty traveler post link: http://loyaltytraveler.boardingarea.com/2012/08/27/priority-club-point-giveaways-on-twitter-and-25-nightly-credit-on-2-night-holiday-inn-resort-stay/

Ric Garrido, writer and content owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.