Hotel Value for Frequent Guests
I was looking at Marriott’s website today. The home page for reservations has an ad for Sand Dollar Hawaiian Vacation Packages. I decided to analyze the deal for hotel and car packages. Flight inclusive packages are also available and perhaps this research will help you assess the value of the package with a flight, if…
by Ric Garrido
Fuel surcharges on award tickets has been a common complaint this past year. Air France/KLM Flying Blue is the program about which I have heard most of the complaints. The taxes and fuel surcharges add up to make many award tickets nearly as pricey as paid tickets (which generally have the added value of earning…
by Ric Garrido
The forecast for hotels in 2008 in the USA is a rise in rates (about 5% depending on location), along with a decline in occupancy (1- 4% depending on location). As personal income sees limited growth in 2008, the projections for travelers staying in hotels decline. PKF Hospitality Research projects 115,000 rooms to be added…
by Ric Garrido
A Starwood St. Regis suite, San FranciscoSPG Category 620,000 points/night low-season25,000 points/night peak season A sign of the times? St. Regis on LuxuryLink.com I would have anticipated, but luxury at a discount through SkyAuction was not a “For Sale” I envisioned. Wednesday, March 5 had a Skyauction listing for a per night bid, for up…
by Ric Garrido
Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, California Available as a Marriott Rewards Partner Award 1 night = 70,000 points; 3-nights = 150,000 points; 5 nights = 200,000; 7-nights = 250,000 points Paradise with an Ocean View Some people have an image in their heads of California Pacific Ocean views. The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay has commanding views…
by Ric Garrido
I was checking out train schedules in Austria and thinking about Vienna. Made a search and came across EuroCheapo blog on Austrian rail train specials. The blog is an entertaining read as the bloggers are currently in Berlin. The blog led me to the EuroCheapo website which is a great niche resource for bargain travel…
by Ric Garrido
An article appeared today in PR Newswire for Journalists, Economy Foreclosing on Spring Break?, based on a survey by AccessAmerica, a travel insurance company. “Access America survey finds half of American families scaling back spring break plans…or forgoing their vacations altogether” The not-so-surprising conclusion of the data is poorer families are cutting back on vacation…
by Ric Garrido
Four Points, Newark AirportSPG Category 1(1 of only 7 Category-1 hotels left in the USA — A dying breed) I stayed a Saturday night in June 2007 for 2,000 Starpoints at the Four Points EWR.The hotel had a washer and dryer which was a treat after a week in South America.The catch: I had to…
by Ric Garrido
I spent the weekend building a spreadsheet of the SPG Hotel Categories. I had a detailed SPG hotel spreadsheet I made in 2004 that made the work go much faster. BlondeBomber’s SPG spreadsheet had about 700 hotel rows hidden in the spreadsheet I downloaded. Too bad because that would have made the work go much…
by Ric Garrido
The Laguna Resort and Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia Starwood Preferred Guest has raised the category level of the Luxury Collection hotel, Laguna Resort and Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia by two category levels in four years. Dec 2003, SPG Category 2, free weekend night = 3,000 Starpoints March 2008, SPG Category 4, free weekend…
Loyalty Traveler has been my travel writing business since April 2006. Loyalty Traveler blog is primarily about hotel and airline loyalty programs, hotel brands and airline fare sales and industry news. Read more... 