Why you should book two stays for 8,000 points in Choice Privileges Sep 1-Nov 11, 2016

Choice Hotels continues two stays earn 8,000 Choice Privileges points for hotel stays from September 1 through November 11, 2016.

Farris Bad, an Ascend Collection Hotel in Larvik, Norway

Choice Hotels Brands:

1. Comfort Inn
2. Comfort Suites
3. Quality Inn
4. Sleep Inn
5. Clarion Hotels
6. Cambria Suites
7. Ascend Hotel Collection
8. MainStay Suites
9. Suburban Extended Stay
10. EconoLodge
11. Rodeway Inn
12. Partner hotel chain: Preferred Hotels & Resorts (reward nights available using Choice Privileges points; no Choice Privileges points earning).
13. Partner hotel chain: Nordic Choice Hotels (reward nights available using Choice Privileges points; no Choice Privileges points earning).

Two main reasons why booking two Choice Hotel stays is a good idea. First reason is when you have 6,000 points in your Choice Privileges account, there is the option to book a Points Plus Cash rate and buy as many additional points as you need for one reward night. You need 6,000 points for every reward night you want to book.

Points Plus Cash Trick

So, if you need 24,000 points for a 4-night hotel stay and you have 8,000 points through this promotion, then you can book a 25,000 points per night hotel using only 6,000 points and buy the other 19,000 points at the rate of $7.50 per 1,000 points.

$142.50 buys 19,000 points.

Cancel the 25,000 points reward night.

You now have 27,000 points and sufficient points to book four Points Plus Cash reward nights with Choice Privileges for 24,000 points + the cost to buy additional points needed.

Going to Copenhagen?

There are some surprisingly high value hotel reward night deals for 8,000 points if you are in the right location. Anyone picking up one of the $500 SAS tickets from LAX to Copenhagen over the next year will be in one of the right locations for a great hotel with 8,000 points across the Oresund Strait at Hotel Temperance in Malmo, Sweden.

Loyalty Traveler – SAS $476 LAX to Copenhagen, even Thanksgiving and Christmas (Aug 23, 2016).

If you don’t know already, you soon learn when you go to Scandinavia that in many ways their standard of living is higher than the USA standard of living and their cost of living is very high in some respects for a tourist. Hotels, transportation and food are high priced expenses compared to what you see across most of the USA. 

Loyalty Traveler – Clarion Collection Hotel Temperance Malmo, Sweden food alone worth 8,000 points.

Clarion Collection Hotel Temperance, Malmo Sweden

$205 USD per night   Mon Oct 3 – Fri Oct 7

4-night stay is $820 USD.

Choice Privileges points are like Scandinavian Salvation Army for tourists

Clarion Malmo is 6,000 points per night + $15, in lieu of paying the $205 USD room rate.

These are $60 nights with the Choice Privileges Points + Cash trick. That is $240 all-in for 4 hotel nights; a 70% discount rate compared to the posted rate of $820 for Hotel Temperance Oct 3-7, 2016.

Personally my preference for Copenhagen is Skt. Petri, Ascend Collection for 20,000 points.

Loyalty Traveler – Skt. Petri Hotel Copenhagen, Nordic Choice Ascend Collection

Last March, and two promotions ago for Choice Privileges ‘stay twice earn 8,000 points promotion’, I booked two back-to-back hotel stays in Monterey midweek nights when rates were around $40 for a EconoLodge and Rodeway Inn a couple miles away from my home. I checked into the hotels and came home. Never went back to check out. In a few days my Choice Privileges account went from 235 points to an additional 8,000 points + 1,000 bonus points for mid-week nights.

Loyalty Traveler – How two $36 EconoLodge nights get me to 20,000 Choice Privileges points

Three weeks later I was staying in a one bedroom suite in Stockholm for 10,000 points per night.

Loyalty Traveler – Review Quality Airport Hotel Stockholm Arlanda 10,000 points Choice Privileges reward night.

Last month I stayed at Clarion Hotel Sign for 10,000 Choice Privileges points in downtown Stockholm with a top floor room and park view.

Loyalty Traveler – Stockholm Clarion Hotel Sign great deal on points, convenient airport train access.

Choice Privileges have great value in Scandinavia and some other places around Europe. I might dip into my current account balance a bit for Choice Privileges reward nights when I travel to New Zealand in November. Since reward nights count for elite qualification, New Zealand might put me over 20 nights again in 2016 to maintain Platinum elite.  A big benefit is the 75-day reward night booking window, beyond the 30-day limitation most U.S. members have for booking USA hotel reward stays.

I’ll keep this Choice Privileges Sep 1-November 11, 2016 promotion near the top of my list for when I find myself in a place with a favorably reviewed Choice Hotel at a price competitive or better than other comparable hotels.