Other Hotel Programs - New Hotels.com Welcome Reward Rules

First off, I don't have allegiance to any one hotel, usually I pick the one closest to the airport. This is one reason I loved Hotels.com. Find a hotel for at least $40 and stay 10 nights, and earn a free night at any hotel up to 400$.

Today I just got an email saying their entire rewards program is changing. The free night will be worth an average of the 10 nights you spend at other hotels and they are dropping the 400$ maximum limit.

I think its time to invest in SPG or another hotel program, because this just doesn't seem worth it anymore.

Original email
Greetings welcomerewards™ member!

We will be making some changes to the program which will go into effect on March 9, 2010.¹
Upcoming welcomerewards™ features:
You can now earn unlimited free nights every year.
We've removed limits on minimum room rates to count towards your 10 nights.
We've extended the expiration of welcome rewards credits to 36 months from the date they are earned.
Take advantage of program flexibility - use your reward night value towards a higher room rate and just pay the difference.
Your free night will be valued at the average daily rate of the 10 nights you stayed to earn it.*

I've actually written Hotels.com twice today to suggest they do NOT change this program. If they did their rewards program would be no better than your average hotel club. I've booked approx. 80 nights w/ hotels.com in 2009 but w/ the new changes I can see myself booking elsewhere. Maybe if we all write to them we can get them to keep it the way it is. What are the chances?

Also, any suggestions on the a better hotel booking site that offers similar rewards? Where do we go from here if Hotels.com does this?

BTW ~ Brand new to this site. Love it.

~Delphi Tefnut

I've emailed hotels.com so I'll post a reply unless someone else has already received a response...I was wondering for those of us who have a reward stay already, are we grandfathered in to the old terms/conditions?

Meaning, can we still hold on to our reward stays after March 9 and still book a night for up to $400 or are they going back to our 10 nights stay and averaging that out to determine our "credit"

If we aren't grandfathered in, I would make sure to book a reservation sometime down the future (bday or anniversary date) so that I don't lose that $400 limit since my average for the 10 nights is around $150-200.

Also, if we book a reward stay before March for a future date, and we cancel to get that reward stay back, does that mean we would fall under the 10 night average rule or still retain that $400 limit.

So many questions I have about this new change...I'll respond when hotels.com emails me back

I just called cs (i am a 5 star member, having booked 100 + nighs last year)

He stated that any hotel booked prior to march 9th qualify under the old plan.


so this plan is still good until march 9th, then basically looses all of its appeal.


imho

I just called cs (i am a 5 star member, having booked 100 + nighs last year)

He stated that any hotel booked prior to march 9th qualify under the old plan.


so this plan is still good until march 9th, then basically looses all of its appeal.


imho

So does this mean that if we have accrued free nights that we are grandfathered in? So we don't have to rush to book our free night stays before March 9?

I still have not heard back from Hotels.com people on weather accumulated nights prior to the March 9th deadline will be honored at $400 rates. I'm really sad that this program is no longer.

Anyone have advise on what hotels program to try next? I WISH Priceline would give some sort of rewards. The new changes to Hotels.com now make this average at best.

I still have not heard back from Hotels.com people on weather accumulated nights prior to the March 9th deadline will be honored at $400 rates. I'm really sad that this program is no longer.

Anyone have advise on what hotels program to try next? I WISH Priceline would give some sort of rewards. The new changes to Hotels.com now make this average at best.

I have not heard back either...Worst case scenario, book something before March 9th for a future date if you want to salvage all $400

But can you book your free rooms for dates later than March 9th? Or do I have to use all my $400 credits before that date? I was building up for a trip to France in the Spring w/ wifey.

And I agree...the Hotels.com ad says how it's "So much smarter" now. There's absolutely nothing smarter about their new Rewards program. It was a decoy to get rid of the $400 limit. I think they'll point to the fact that now you can use booked nights under $40 towards your points...whatever.

Anyway, fun while it lasted. Anyone w/ advise on the next program to join? Will Priceline ever start awarding travelers?

going to blow mines. i'm going to denver in april i guess i will make a pit stop in Vegas... whats the best hotel to use it at?

Well, it is smarter...for them. The old system was quite obviously unsustainable. It is a shame the new system is so miserly, though.

going to blow mines. i'm going to denver in april i guess i will make a pit stop in Vegas... whats the best hotel to use it at?

Denver I would vote for the Oxford Hotel. Just spent a few nights there and it was perfect. Vegas - IMHO nothing beats Wynn. Haven't been to Four Seasons yet but Wynn was spectacular in every way.

UPDATE::::

Just got off the phone w/ Hotels.com and customer service said that if we do not use (book) our rewards points BEFORE Mar. 9th then we lose all that credit. They seem to be starting fresh from Mar. 9th forward. They seemed very frustrated by this as people are calling very upset, w/ good reason.

So, if you have points w/ Hotels.com you may want to book those fancy hotels FAST.

UPDATE::::

Just got off the phone w/ Hotels.com and customer service said that if we do not use (book) our rewards points BEFORE Mar. 9th then we lose all that credit. They seem to be starting fresh from Mar. 9th forward. They seemed very frustrated by this as people are calling very upset, w/ good reason.

So, if you have points w/ Hotels.com you may want to book those fancy hotels FAST.

Hmm it would seem wise for them to either grandfather people in or not wipe the slate clean but take that average of 10 nights you had originally booked to earn that one night credit...strange that they would force people to lose their credits.

In any case, I have already figured either way, im booking before March.

Got an email response!

Thank you for taking the time to write to us in regards to the Welcome Rewards Program.

If you currently have a free night and you use (book) it before March 1, 2010, the maximum value will be $400. If you wait until after March 1, 2010 to use the free night, it will be based on the average of the 10 stays (credits) associated with that free night.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused and for the delay in response.

That makes more sense. I wasn't confident the guy I spoke to knew exactly what he was talking about. And I had no idea about that March 1st deadline! I was gonna wait until the last day - thanks for that info!

Just to clarify.... people have been told the deadline is both March 1 and March 9?
And this is only to book? - Not to complete stay?


I think I am done with hotels.com- always had somewhat shady promotions- (e.g. mail in rebate that never came). Just looked at booking Seoul (Hilton) with them and their tax and fees are MORE THAN DOUBLE others' (e.g. expedia)... looks like that will be how they plan to finance their rewards program.

You have to book your $400 limit hotels by MARCH 1st but can use it at a later date. Not sure why March 1st and not March 9th when the new rules take effect, although I assume most people will miss the March 1st deadline and Hotels.com will save a lot of money. You're right, they're quite shady at times. I've also never received "Hotel Bucks" in the mail as promised. But the question is...what is the next best hotels program to join if you're not loyal to one chain???

I'm a FiveStar member through hotels.com Welcome Rewards. I've called and emailed several times, to clarify, after reading this thread. Every single time, I've been told that the deadline to book under the old "$400 rules" is March 9th at midnight (so book on March 8th or before).

Here's the email I received from James H - FiveStar account rep:

To answer your question, anything that you book before March 9th will be under the old terms ($400 per night) even if the stay is future dated e.g. summer 2010. On the other hand, anything that you book after March 9th will be under the new terms (average dollar amount). The points will not disappear on March 9th but the value of the points will change.

Just a little update.
I just recently cancelled two reward bookings and was wondering why the reward credits didn't return to my account (been waiting since March 1 and I had no problems just few days earlier).

Upon calling customer service they appoligized that some parts of the new program was rolled out "a little too early" and that refunds would now take 72 hours (or more). I mentioned that the FAQ still says "If you cancel a reward night reservation within the property''s cancelation window, then the welcomerewards credits will be returned to your account within 24 hours" - that part obviously has yet to be updated.:confused:

He would notify his manager and put an alert on the request - hopefully the points will make it into my account before March 9

My best recommendation right now would be - book on or before March 8 but DO NOT CANCEL any existing reward reservations at this point.

Just a little update.

My best recommendation right now would be - book on or before March 8 but DO NOT CANCEL any existing reward reservations at this point.

Thanks for providing an update! This is good to know in case I see a more enticing offer before 3/9

Received an email 12 hours ago saying that "points for this reservation has been credited back to your account. We apologize for the inconvenience"

Still no reply on my second cancellation - and still no points on my account for any of them despite numerous phone calls, emails and contact forms.

I bet the points will be back on my account 2 minutes after midnight on March 9 (and very conveniently 50-70% devalued with the new fancy program rules) :D

Called them again today and was finally able to get my welcomereward credits back. Just made it in time for the March 8 deadline so I could make some very cool Shangri-La Singapore bookings instead (Horizon Club Premier Room - 72 sqm / 775 square feet).:cool:

I have booked rooms with all of my existing credits, except for two.

I can't decide what to do with these last two rooms...

Booked my only free night for Las Vegas on my birthday =D

Booked it last night ST. Louis 4 Season here i come!

got my last stay credited back about 8 last night,


booked within the hour, it was a good ride, have to see how to optimize the new program

Unfortunately, I missed the deadline to use my free nights. I got the email back in January saying they were going to change the rules, but I could swear that I read the T&C and it said that if you earned the free nights prior to the change then you would still get the $400 max value. Which is why I didnt worry about it, until yesterday when I went to book a free night. $400 in value down to $120.

Does anyone else remember seeing anything about the T&C's or am I just going crazy and not remembering it correctly?

Also has anyone had any luck in getting them to give you the $400 value?

that's why i studied the t&c's to the last period.

unfortuantely hotels.com has the legal standing on this one.

they put out the word early and the deadline was 3/9/10.

Hotels.com just sent out an email survey asking about its rewards program. I think this is an excellent opportunity to really tell Hotels.com how much we approve/disapprove of its new policy.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=bKVsa36Ug7JzIFK51U_2bYrQ_3d_3d

First, like others, I'm disappointed at the change in the welcomerewards program. But the previous program T&C's were simply unsustainable, and I think the new T&C's are sustainable, and it really is quite simple and straightforward. The new T&C's are not as lucrative as individual hotel chain programs when promotions are taken into account, for dedicated FT'ers willing to make the effort to really work those other programs. But welcomerewards is still an excellent backup for when your favored chain just doesn't have a property reasonably near where you're going or for anywhere near what you consider a reasonable price, even considering elite program and promotional earning benefits. I think they could have and should have given us more time than they did to redeem under the old T&C's, but they gave us enough time that I'm not furious about it, just disappointed.

I do want to know if anybody else has carefully done the math on the value of their new award nights and found significant disparity. I created a spreadsheet to track the average price per night for my 32 nights that qualify for earning welcomerewards credits, as listed on on the welcomerewards activity summary Web page. I am finding that the value of my free nights are significantly off:

My 1st night is listed as worth $141, should be $175.
My 2nd night is listed as worth $142, should be $206.
My 3rd night is listed as worth $105, should be $129.

Is this the case for anybody else? I note that the average price per night as listed on the activity Web page appears to correctly take into account any multi-night or other special sale discounts, and so represents what I actually paid, vs. what I see when clicking through to view the old reservations which sometimes show an un-discounted price for each night. The average price per night listed also already excludes taxes & hotels.com service fees, which would not count as value toward a reward night.

So how will it work if I plan to use my rewards toward a 3 night stay? Will I get an average of $203.76 per night for 3 nights?:confused:

Free Nights
$144.00 Earned

$137.39 Earned

$329.90 Earned

So how will it work if I plan to use my rewards toward a 3 night stay? Will I get an average of $203.76 per night for 3 nights?:confused:

Free Nights
$144.00 Earned

$137.39 Earned

$329.90 Earned

They won't let you do that. You can only use one free night at a time.

I hate hotels.com

They won't let you do that. You can only use one free night at a time.

I hate hotels.com

I'm done with hotels.com. You would think that if they average your stays, it would make sence to average your redemtion.

I do want to know if anybody else has carefully done the math on the value of their new award nights and found significant disparity. I created a spreadsheet to track the average price per night for my 32 nights that qualify for earning welcomerewards credits, as listed on on the welcomerewards activity summary Web page. I am finding that the value of my free nights are significantly off:

My 1st night is listed as worth $141, should be $175.
My 2nd night is listed as worth $142, should be $206.
My 3rd night is listed as worth $105, should be $129.

Is this the case for anybody else?


Just stumbled upon this post as I'm having the same issue myself.

Have a rewards night that is listed as woth $196, should be $242 and another night that they're also undervaluing (don't remember the numbers).

Called customer service and they had to just send off an email to some tech team and tell me to call back cause they agree it's wrong but don't know why/what they can do.

I'm supposed to call back in 72 hours to see what's going on.

They did at least say they're also going to send me a $30 coupon for my trouble.

Hope this gets worked out.

I just got an e-mail for a new promotion seems they are offering new accounts free days at 15 and 25 nights as well as every 10..... but since everyone here hates hotels.com, and the promotion is only good for new members in their loyalty program, i have deleted the rest of my post...pm me if you want the link

Sounds like they have lost a lot of busniess after they screwed so many people over when they changed the rules. I know I for one will never book another paid room with them ever again and I tell everyone that will listen how badly the screwed people over.

I only do about 10 hotel nights a year, random cities, and have to book low cost. Individual chains aren't always available. Hotels.com has been easy, but my 10 stays (9 of which were earned before Mar. 9, but I didn't pay attn to the announcement) are devalued to only being worth $85.

I had two nights booked for next week, I immediately canceled them and rebooked directly through the hotel chain.

Maybe Hotels.com has calculated that I'm the type of customer they want to lose, that could very well be the case. But, if that's the case, why did the give me a 5 star card this year?

The new program is quite worthless now. There will always be better miles/points deals that are better than getting a cheap room paid for after 10 stays. I can understand why it didnt work for them but instead of a complicated structure such as the average of nights, they could have just lowered the value of the reward night like $250 maybe, More reasonable than $400 anyways.

If I book 10 room nights at $150, I get a free room for a $150. What other program is better than that?

If I book 10 room nights for $150 at Hilton. I get 15 points for every 1 dollar spent, so that is 22,500 total points.

That would get me a category 2 hotel room night with Hilton. Would that room be worth $150 -- probably not.

A $150 room would probably take me 40,000 points which is almost 20 nights.

Is this program really that bad?

http://bodybuilderspro.info/pictures/35/1274732818/random.gifI only do about 10 hotel nights a year, random cities, and have to book low cost. Individual chains aren't always available. Hotels.com has been easy, but my 10 stays (9 of which were earned before Mar. 9, but I didn't pay attn to the announcement) are devalued to only being worth $85.

I had two nights booked for next week, I immediately canceled them and rebooked directly through the hotel chain.

Maybe Hotels.com has calculated that I'm the type of customer they want to lose, that could very well be the case. But, if that's the case, why did the give me a 5 star card this year?

That sucks about devaluation. No way for them to redeem this to full value? I can't imagine that they have some sort of program where they identify premier customers vs those they don't care about?

If I book 10 room nights at $150, I get a free room for a $150. What other program is better than that?

If I book 10 room nights for $150 at Hilton. I get 15 points for every 1 dollar spent, so that is 22,500 total points.

That would get me a category 2 hotel room night with Hilton. Would that room be worth $150 -- probably not.

A $150 room would probably take me 40,000 points which is almost 20 nights.

Is this program really that bad?I wonder this, too. As a traveler who likes trying out new hotels, it seems like this is a pretty good arrangement since I never have enough points in any particular hotel program to do me any good.

I wonder this, too. As a traveler who likes trying out new hotels, it seems like this is a pretty good arrangement since I never have enough points in any particular hotel program to do me any good.
I'm the same, because there's usually so many hotels, even in smaller cities, I tend to go for the bargains, rather than having any loyalty. I really wish Hotels.com offered this program for its Aussie customers. I book with them quite regularly because they have cheap deals often and a wide range of hotels, would be great if I could get free nights out of it too.

Like many others, I am now stuck with a bunch of low value "free" nights...

Has anyone tried using the credits by breaking up multiple night stay into individual stays? (at least that way i could apply something of value- ie use up the nights together).

Typically, there are better promo codes, etc. out there that make using the free nights (1 at a time) not worth it...

Like many others, I am now stuck with a bunch of low value "free" nights...

Has anyone tried using the credits by breaking up multiple night stay into individual stays? (at least that way i could apply something of value- ie use up the nights together).

Typically, there are better promo codes, etc. out there that make using the free nights (1 at a time) not worth it...

You can definitely do this...yes, it is against the terms and conditions, but the hotel gets paid, and they don't care what you're doing. Book 4-5 separate nights, and when you check into the hotel have them link the stays together, and block you into the same room.

You can definitely do this...yes, it is against the terms and conditions, but the hotel gets paid, and they don't care what you're doing. Book 4-5 separate nights, and when you check into the hotel have them link the stays together, and block you into the same room.

Anyone out there actually done this? Have a heap of nights saved up, but want to use them all in the same three day stay.

So, can I make 3 individual 1 night bookings? Tried calling Hotels.com but they weren't much help :rolleyes:

Anyone out there actually done this? Have a heap of nights saved up, but want to use them all in the same three day stay.

So, can I make 3 individual 1 night bookings? Tried calling Hotels.com but they weren't much help :rolleyes:

Yes...but don't call hotels.com and ask them about it. Just do it.

Reviving this older thread...

Does anyone know if I'd be able to double dip using Hotels.com? I'm looking to see if I can accumulate both Welcome Rewards and Best Western rewards on an upcoming 11-night stay in Melbourne.

Reviving this older thread...

Does anyone know if I'd be able to double dip using Hotels.com? I'm looking to see if I can accumulate both Welcome Rewards and Best Western rewards on an upcoming 11-night stay in Melbourne.

Hotel loyalty programs rarely award points for bookings through third party sites like Hotels.com. The Best Western hotel is already losing part of its room rate to Hotels.com who gets the room at a discounted rate and the hotel does not want to pay additional money for Best Western points to go into your account when you did not book through Best Western channels.

I was just notified that I am now a "fivestar" program member with Hotels.com, but I can't seem to understand exactly what benefit that gets me. Some special phone number for customer service... is that it? What's the point?

I got the same notification, but I'm unclear on what it'll give me as well. It does make mention of special deals/sales. Maybe it's something that will evolve over time.

Did you book over 100 nights withthem in what time period?

The Welcome Rewards credits are good for 3 years, but there is still some ambiguity for me. Perhaps, someone smarter or with this exact experience can help me out...

How does the 3 yr expiration work?

let's say I have 11 credits:
night 1 $100 earned july 3, 2010
night 2 $200
night 3 $200
night 4 $200
night 5 $200
night 6 $200
night 7 $200
night 8 $200
night 9 $200
night 10 $200 earned feb 3, 2011
night 11 $200 earned march 3, 2011

So, my 1 free night credit is for $190, using nights 1-10.
Does the credit from night 1 expire on Jul 3, 2013? eg: such that on July 3, 2013, the free night value becomes $200, using nights 2-11?

I'm supposed to get a ticket for a free Vampire or cemetery tour for booking a New Orleans hotel, but after booking the hotel on hotels.com I don't see any voucher or coupon to print on my confirmation page like they said there would be.

I'm supposed to get a ticket for a free Vampire or cemetery tour for booking a New Orleans hotel, but after booking the hotel on hotels.com I don't see any voucher or coupon to print on my confirmation page like they said there would be.a) Welcome to FlyerTalk!

b) This thread is specifically about the Welcome Rewards program, not for Hotels.com general discussion, so your post would probably fit better in a different thread or forum. But I think your problem is easily resolved...

c) Often times these things are just waiting for you at the hotel, which I suspect is the case in your situation. You can contact the hotel directly or try emailing or calling Hotels.com. They are actually pretty good with email support. http://service.hotels.com/app/ask

Good luck, have a great trip, and don't forget to take precautions. <--- click link (http://www.vampires.be/index.php?title=Vampire_Slaying_Kit)

I thought that credits and rewards were good for 3 years. So why did I get an email warning me that my credits and rewards will expire in what works out to 14 months since earned unless I have account activity before then?

I thought that credits and rewards were good for 3 years. So why did I get an email warning me that my credits and rewards will expire in what works out to 14 months since earned unless I have account activity before then?

They expire 12 months from your last booking, rewards booking or paid booking. They revised the rules again, I'm too lazy to look up the link though.

According to some notes I have, hotels.com welcomerewards switched over the years from an expiration scheme where 18 months of inactivity could result in loss of all credits/awards to a scheme where individual credits had an expiration of 3 years from date of earning to the current scheme where 12 months of inactivity could result in loss of all credits/awards. When they made the most recent switch, they bumped the last activity date for everybody to the date of the announcement of the policy change (October 2011). Hence I expect that many of us received that email indicating our credits will expire in October 2012 unless we generate some activity.

This is the only thread I could find about hotels.com Welcome Rewards.

While most of the thread is complaining about how the new rules are worse than the old rules (I don't know what the old rules actually were), isn't the new scheme still pretty generous? A ten percent kickback seems pretty good to me, at least for people like me whose travel patterns aren't conducive to obtaining any sort of particularly high status with any of the big chains.

It's quite good, thought its more like a 9% discount. 110 of hotel value for 100 :)

I've just booked a few rooms on hotel.com as the hotels were independent properties and figured at least I'd get the free night for each 10 nights I book. I wasn't familiar with Welcome Rewards before this.

The 1 free night worth an average of the 10 nights (essentially 10% back) doesn't seem so bad. I understand that it's not nearly as good as the value they initially provided (free night at any place up to $400) with no relation to the value of the 10 nights booked... that was amazing, and as someone stated, not sustainable.

So, the current value proposition seems like a good thing when booking hotels that don't fit into any other hotel loyalty programs.

Are there any drawbacks I'm not seeing?

What are the benefits of the upper levels of the program, ie. Silver and higher? They mention there's some benefit but don't detail what the benefits are... this leads me to believe their not very compelling. Some clarification of this program would be appreciated.

I have a $128 credit (based on 10 nights totally $1279.93, so proper crediting), but it expires soon and I can't think of a hotel stay that I need. Any way to extend the credit? I'm thinking of looking up a very cheap prepaid reservation, perhaps even abroad (Thailand?) just to extend that credit ... so long as it's prepaid, I would think I'd get the activity and reset the clock? I would rather have $100 to use on a hotel I need rather than $128 on a hotel I don't.

Reviving this older thread...

Does anyone know if I'd be able to double dip using Hotels.com? I'm looking to see if I can accumulate both Welcome Rewards and Best Western rewards on an upcoming 11-night stay in Melbourne.

You can ring the hotel and ask them about your membership points but i doubt if they add it on.