Choice Privileges - ** New Choice Promo Stay 2 get $50 Gas Card **

Just checked into a clarion on points and saw stay 2 get a $50 gf. Not sure if it will be get 4k per stay or 8k. Gas gcs are currently 16k. Either way I'm kicking myself for redeeming 3 separate 8k reward nights this quarter if I could of held out and got 150 in gas cards instead. This would also work well for transferring to miles especially if 8k per stay. Economic and roadway were not listed under the brands allowed which is the same as the last stay 2 promo.

Are you sure this is a new promo, or some literature from some time ago? I see nothing on the website but the current triple points promo.

The 'gas card' promo (in which you actually get points, which I prefer) I recall from the past was one I hit for nearly a quarter million points. it was sweet but I haven't seen it since.

Furthermore (to what BigLar said), I don't recall ever seeing Choice put out materials in hotels for future promos while a previous different promo is still in effect. This may be one reason why they typically have gaps between promotions, to give them time to clear out the old promo materials and put new promo materials into the hotels between when the last promo ends and the next promo starts.

stallion114, did you see dates for this? It'd be interesting to match up the dates against the calendars for 2010 vs 2011, because Choice has a habit of starting and ending promos on specific days of the week, so that would another clue as to whether it was for this year or last year.

Oh, and finally, this "gas card" promo has always been only as a summer promo (because it's targeted at vacationers), and it seems awfully early (February not even over!) to be promoting a summer 2011 promo...

(And, btw, the last version was rather severely capped, as I recall, if you had no status.)

There's a full-page ad for it from Choice in the March 2011 Inside Flyer (print) magzine.

Arrival dates are between March 3 and May 4 (so it is back-to-back after all).

The $50 card is for 8000 points. You earn 8000 points for 2 separate stays (notice I didn't say "every 2", just "2"; read on).

Stays at MainStay, Suburban, EconoLodge, and Rodeway Inn can count, but only if each such stay is a minimum of two consecutive nights.

Card(s) can be redeemed 8000 points for $50 card until July 31.

Now, here's the bad news, about the cap:

if you don't register, it appears you can only earn this once.

If you do register, but aren't elite (or are only "low" elite), you can earn this twice, but only twice.

If you are Elite Platinum or Elite Diamond and you register, you can earn it up to 5 times.

So no one can make millions of points on this promo.


... Per editorial content in the same issue (in fact, right next to the full-page ad), there's also a second promo at a shorter (overlapping) time which gives double Southwest points (in the new Rapid Rewards 2.0 point-based program) for the Comfort/Quality/Sleep/Clarion/Cambria/Ascend group only, from March 1 through April 13. No mention of a need to register. I presume this will be a promo announced on Southwest's site when RR 2.0 goes live on March 1. (On Choice's site, I suspect it may be late and/or buried.)

So no one can make millions of points on this promo.:td:

Do you have the URL to register?

Do you have the URL to register?
I think we all do. It's choicehotels.com. :)

(That's all that's mentioned in the print ad.)

IOTW, when they're ready to put the big main page banner up (probably on the start date of the promo or so?) then it'll be obvious how to do it (you'll click on Learn More and then another page to Register). Until then, it'll not be possible (because the current promo is sucking all the website oxygen until it ends).

There's obviously no need to register until you're ready to make your third stay, which cannot be before March 5 (since you can only do one qualifying stay a night at most). And I doubt, with a cap of 10 stays in 2 months, that too many people are going to rush and do back to back hotel hops the first 3 nights of the promo.

I think we all do. It's choicehotels.com. :)

(That's all that's mentioned in the print ad.)

IOTW, when they're ready to put the big main page banner up (probably on the start date of the promo or so?) then it'll be obvious how to do it (you'll click on Learn More and then another page to Register). Until then, it'll not be possible (because the current promo is sucking all the website oxygen until it ends).

There's obviously no need to register until you're ready to make your third stay, which cannot be before March 5 (since you can only do one qualifying stay a night at most). And I doubt, with a cap of 10 stays in 2 months, that too many people are going to rush and do back to back hotel hops the first 3 nights of the promo.

Yeah, I checked the site and noticed that they had no mention of the new promo, so I didn't know if the print ad mentioned a specific URL to use for signing up now.

Nice to see another decent promo coming from Choice. I've been at Hamptons, HGIs, and HIX properties the last few months.

Stays at MainStay, Suburban, EconoLodge, and Rodeway Inn can count, but only if each such stay is a minimum of two consecutive nights.

That works -- with my EconoLodge and Rodeway stays coming in at ~ $30 ai, lately. (Of course, it was in the dead of winter, and one was nasty.)

And thanks for the heads up, stallion114. I'll bet you're :) largely now. :)

Update for Southwest promo:

... Per editorial content in the same issue (in fact, right next to the full-page ad), there's also a second promo at a shorter (overlapping) time which gives double Southwest points (in the new Rapid Rewards 2.0 point-based program) for the Comfort/Quality/Sleep/Clarion/Cambria/Ascend group only, from March 1 through April 13. No mention of a need to register. I presume this will be a promo announced on Southwest's site when RR 2.0 goes live on March 1. (On Choice's site, I suspect it may be late and/or buried.)

It's there now. Go to Choice Privileges page, then under Earn click on Airline Rewards, and it's the "featured promo" there:

http://www.choicehotels.com/en/choice-privileges/gp/airlinemiles

Also, some math:

You wil earn more Southwest points by doing this promo tonight and tomorrow than earning triple points and later converting.

Once the stay 2 get 8000 promo starts, you'll earn exactly the same both ways* (if your end goal is Southwest). However, stay 2 get 8000 is capped, while the Southwest promo isn't. Also the Southwest promo ends earlier. So with careful planning, if you needs lots of stays each month, you could do Southwest this month, and switch to Choice points next month, and still hit the cap without doing any Choice points until the Southwest promo is over!

*6 stays earn 7200 RR 2.0 points if using the Southwest promo. 6 stays under stay 2 get 8000 earn 24000 Choice points (only if you're Platinum or Diamond, though, can you earn this many times!), and per this chart:

http://www.choicehotels.com/en/choice-privileges/gp/airlinerewards

those 24000 Choice points will convert to 7200 RR 2.0 points. So that's why I mean by the math working out the same both ways (if you were only able to do the number of stays that fit your stay 2 cap and only did stays during the overlap of the two promos).

Here is more information about this promo. Registration starts on March 3, so check back at choiceprivileges.com then to register:

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/2011/03/01/choice-privileges-8000-points-or-50-gas-card-for-2-stays-march-3-to-may-4-2011/

The fine print in the promo states:

After a second qualifying stay with arrival between 3/3/11 and 5/4/11, enough points will be added to points earned to reach the 8,000 point level, which can be redeemed until July 31, 2011 for one (1) $50 gas card.

A few questions:

- Must I spend the 8000 points on a gas card, or can I redeem them for an award night?
- If I the points can be used for rewards nights, do the points disappear after 7/31, or do they stay in my account?
- Can I redeem 8000 points I already have for a $50 gas card?

I appreciate help from anyone who knows how these promotions work.

The fine print in the promo states:


A few questions:

- Must I spend the 8000 points on a gas card, or can I redeem them for an award night?
- If I the points can be used for rewards nights, do the points disappear after 7/31, or do they stay in my account?
- Can I redeem 8000 points I already have for a $50 gas card?

I appreciate help from anyone who knows how these promotions work.

I probably shouldn't answer because I'm only sure about two answers. But here goes, until a sage chimes in. You can spend the points on anything that points can be spent on in Choice Privileges. The points last as long as the rules say any points last. July 31 is the expiry for using them on gas cards.

To the last question: Good question. I've never thought of it that way. The program must have a way to lock this out, because this might be the best way for many to use up their points, and Choice probably wouldn't like that. (Free room redemption and this promo were a lot more lucrative back when this first ran. I think I just learned that the following is the index of the remaining motels that go for 8,000 points or less.)

http://www.choicehotels.com/ires/en-US/html/CPRedemptionList

But we can still save 'em up...

It being March 4, the promo is now live at the Choice website (as of yesterday), and they also sent me an email about it (only today!).

Any suggestions for good value in transferring points out, now that Southwest is into "Rapid Rewards 2"? I know, in the last couple of years, that transfer wasn't nearly as valuable as it was before, but with the value of a "RR 1" -type reward improving, relatively speaking, as their old program closed out, I thought it was again appealing. Annnnnyway, back to the question... What say you? Thanks.

Any suggestions for good value in transferring points out, now that Southwest is into "Rapid Rewards 2"? I know, in the last couple of years, that transfer wasn't nearly as valuable as it was before, but with the value of a "RR 1" -type reward improving, relatively speaking, as their old program closed out, I thought it was again appealing. Annnnnyway, back to the question... What say you? Thanks.
The transfer ratio is the same with all miles-based airlines: 5000 to 1000. It thus doesn't matter who from the transfer standpoint, what matters is how relatively valuable those 1000 miles end up being at different airilnes from a redemption value standpoint. Many (but not all) people feel that 1000 DL miles do not get you as far as 1000 UA or 1000 AA miles, due to DL's three-tier structure. (But since you collect both, you can presumably judge that for yourself.)

If you're working toward AA lifetime status (which, so far, at AA, and AA only, counts all miles from all sources), obviously AA might be best simply because it would help you on your way to 1MM or 2MM. At other ailrines the transfered miles don't count toward status in any way.

But I think you need to re-evaluate whether airline transfer at all is the best option. It could be that it was only a good option in the first place because of Southwest RR 1.x quirks. I think relatively few people used airline transfers (unless their points were about to expire) to anyone other than Southwest; from this forum it seems it's mostly Southwest (RR 1.x) or hotel stays. (And keep in mind that hotel stays means more than just Choice hotel stays, since for redemption they partner with a couple luxury brands.)

The transfer ratio is the same with all miles-based airlines: 5000 to 1000. It thus doesn't matter who from the transfer standpoint, what matters is how relatively valuable those 1000 miles end up being at different airilnes from a redemption value standpoint. Many (but not all) people feel that 1000 DL miles do not get you as far as 1000 UA or 1000 AA miles, due to DL's three-tier structure. (But since you collect both, you can presumably judge that for yourself.)

OK, not to put too fine a point to it, but within the new Southwest program, "Like a box of chocolates, ..." ...it's now slippery as hell. One can say that nothing's changed or changes, while it changes minute by minute. (Meaning that the number of points earned on a revenue flight varies according to the price of the flight, and the price in points for a freebie varies according to the price of the desired free flight.)

Oh well, looks like I'm actually going to be redeeming free nights at ChoiceHotels from now on. And sitting on several "RR1" freebies. Not a bad outcome... :)

How does the gas card option actually work? Does one get to choose an option to redeem points for the gas card, then get sent a physical "card", then - what? Is it redeemable only at petrol stations?* Only with certain petrol companies? I've obviously always taken the points, but with even "the grownups" at ~ $30 lately, few properties left at 8,000 points, and Southwest's RR2 slippery, maybe the $50 of gas makes sense this round. Even, maybe especially, with gas over $4.

Thank you.


* ...because if it's redeemable for $50 cash, one could redeem it, spend ~ $30 on a motel room, and net ~ $20. Or earn two cards, redeem for $100, and stay three nights. This is probably blocked, so then how does it work?

Have people who have gone the card route found the whole path to be smooth going, from redemption to issuance to acceptance? Thanks.

maybe the $50 of gas makes sense this round. Even, maybe especially, with gas over $4.
I don't see how the value of $50 changes depending on the price of gas. In fact, in one way of looking at it, the more gas goes up, the less valuable a $50 gas card is, because it buys you less gas.

Now, if it was gas card valued in gallons, rather than dollars, then it would have value going up as the price goes up.

Meanwhile, unless you only earn this once, I'm not sure how relevant it is that few properties are only 8000 points. All you need is a 16000 point property costing way more than $100 that night (which isn't hard to find in the right season in many places) for points to be worth keeping as points for hotel stays.

Thank you, sdsearch. It's just my anti-economic man behavior that it would be nice to get free gas when it's over $4 (which they're hoping we'll bite on). I know, I know...

I'm still wondering how and where one redeems the gas card. Do I infer from the lack of answers to my "how" questions that no one who's watching this thread is or ever has taken the gas card option?

Delay on stays posting.
I originally registered for the southwest promo and had 4 stays, and none of them posted after almost 2 weeks and I registered for the stay 2/8000.
My first 2 stays finally posted but under the points promo instead.
Is this reversible, I wanted to save my next 10 stays for this promo and use the first ones on southwest.

Thank you, sdsearch. It's just my anti-economic man behavior that it would be nice to get free gas when it's over $4 (which they're hoping we'll bite on). I know, I know...

I'm still wondering how and where one redeems the gas card. Do I infer from the lack of answers to my "how" questions that no one who's watching this thread is or ever has taken the gas card option?

I just called and got my gas card today really fairly simple they will ask you where you want it from give you several choices like BP,SHELL.Sunoco etc. then they they mail it to you said it would take 4 to 6 weeks to get it

Thanks, muscarlive. :)

Delay on stays posting.
I originally registered for the southwest promo and had 4 stays, and none of them posted after almost 2 weeks and I registered for the stay 2/8000.
My first 2 stays finally posted but under the points promo instead.
Is this reversible, I wanted to save my next 10 stays for this promo and use the first ones on southwest.
Do you still have a copy of your reservations (printed or email)?

On each reservation, it says what you will earn. Assuming you make the reservations online, what you earn is dependent on what your earning preference was set to at the time you made the reservation. (You can try to override that at the front desk, but it may or may not work, and at any rate you may or may not then have a confirmation of what you were going to earn.)

It doesn't matter whether your register for the stay 2/8000 or not. If your earning preference is set to Southwest and your RR number, that should show up on every reservation, and then your reservation should post at Southwest, not at Choice.

So I'm confused, did you change your earning preference to Southwest first and then change it back to Choice points? When and when?

Meanwhile, the Southwest promo doesn't require registration. So I'm completely confused by what you mean when you say "I originally registered for the southwest promo". The Southwest promo is automatic, as long as your earning preference is set to Southwest.

Meanwhile, there is no indication, ever, on the Choice website that a stay has posted to Southwest. You have to wait for it show up at Southwest (and in the beginning it was taking weeks, as documented in the Southwest forum of FT, due to their changeover to RR 2.0). The only way you can tell those Choice stays "registered" at Choice is to keep careful count of your "stayed nights this year" counter, which does increment for Southwest-credited stays (and is the only indication on the Choice website that those stays have counted).

Meanwhile: While you can in general request that a stay that posted as Choice points be reposted as airline miles/points/whatever, there are a couple caveats: 1. It may or may not post as double Southwest points correctly. 2. It may or may not "use up" your count of stay 2/8000 (remember, the count of those is capped, 2 for no/low-elites, 5 for upper elites). Ie, even if you reverse the Choice points, the counter which counts up to 10 may still have already incremented, and not get undo for such a reversal.

The possibly good news is that the Southwest promo runs a few more weeks, so if you are only halfway to 10, you might be able to do most of what you wanted "in reverse order" if you start making your reservations the right way (for direct Southwest earning) right now.

I registered for double southwest points.
I then stayed 4 times and nothing showed up in my stay activity on choice.com.
I then registered for the stay2/8000, and stayed 2 more times.
Since then the first 4 stays posted as stay 2/8000.
I did log into southwest today and saw +1200 points listed under 2 600 pt activites. Not sure what happened but I am not going to complain.
I am still waiting on 2 stays to post, and I have been seeing 2 weeks for them to show on my account lately. In the past choice was one of the fastest to post. I regularly saw points 36-48 hours after checkout.



Do you still have a copy of your reservations (printed or email)?

On each reservation, it says what you will earn. Assuming you make the reservations online, what you earn is dependent on what your earning preference was set to at the time you made the reservation. (You can try to override that at the front desk, but it may or may not work, and at any rate you may or may not then have a confirmation of what you were going to earn.)

It doesn't matter whether your register for the stay 2/8000 or not. If your earning preference is set to Southwest and your RR number, that should show up on every reservation, and then your reservation should post at Southwest, not at Choice.

So I'm confused, did you change your earning preference to Southwest first and then change it back to Choice points? When and when?

Meanwhile, the Southwest promo doesn't require registration. So I'm completely confused by what you mean when you say "I originally registered for the southwest promo". The Southwest promo is automatic, as long as your earning preference is set to Southwest.

Meanwhile, there is no indication, ever, on the Choice website that a stay has posted to Southwest. You have to wait for it show up at Southwest (and in the beginning it was taking weeks, as documented in the Southwest forum of FT, due to their changeover to RR 2.0). The only way you can tell those Choice stays "registered" at Choice is to keep careful count of your "stayed nights this year" counter, which does increment for Southwest-credited stays (and is the only indication on the Choice website that those stays have counted).

Meanwhile: While you can in general request that a stay that posted as Choice points be reposted as airline miles/points/whatever, there are a couple caveats: 1. It may or may not post as double Southwest points correctly. 2. It may or may not "use up" your count of stay 2/8000 (remember, the count of those is capped, 2 for no/low-elites, 5 for upper elites). Ie, even if you reverse the Choice points, the counter which counts up to 10 may still have already incremented, and not get undo for such a reversal.

The possibly good news is that the Southwest promo runs a few more weeks, so if you are only halfway to 10, you might be able to do most of what you wanted "in reverse order" if you start making your reservations the right way (for direct Southwest earning) right now.

I registered for double southwest points.
Can you please explain where??? I don't see any place to register, and I didn't register, yet have been earning double southwest points.

The only place I've seen this promo documented on the Choice website is here:

http://www.choicehotels.com/en/choice-privileges/gp/airlinemiles

and there's no link to register that I can see!

Meanwhile, you still haven't explained what your earning preference online was set to during the time you made those 4 stays, nor what it said on those reservations (don't you still have either the emails or the rez printouts?).

On all my reservation printouts and emails, it either clearly says my Choice number was used, or my Southwest number was used. There's never any question to me which one I'll earn, and it's always worked for me. (All my Choice reservations are booked online.)


I then stayed 4 times and nothing showed up in my stay activity on choice.com.
I then registered for the stay2/8000, and stayed 2 more times.
Since then the first 4 stays posted as stay 2/8000.
I did log into southwest today and saw +1200 points listed under 2 600 pt activites. Not sure what happened but I am not going to complain.
I am still waiting on 2 stays to post, and I have been seeing 2 weeks for them to show on my account lately. In the past choice was one of the fastest to post. I regularly saw points 36-48 hours after checkout.
Well, at the time of RR 1.x -> RR 2.0 transition, posting to Southwest slowed down to a crawl (delays of weeks, as documented in the Southwest forum on FT). It's since speeded up, but it still seems to happen only once a week, so it depends what days of the week your stay is whether it'll just take a few days, or take one week plus a few days. (But again, that's only since a week or so ago, in early March it was taking multiple weeks.)