MilesBuzz! - It's tough to be true to a hotel chain, even if there's a reward

It's tough to be true to a hotel chain, even if there's a reward

Frequent-guest programs don't work very well, a study finds. Blame it on the proliferation of brands.

It's a simple concept that no one should lose sleep over: Stay at a hotel. Earn frequent guest points. Exchange them for more stays.

Just like the airlines, with points instead of miles, right?

The problem, researchers say, is that surprisingly few of us know which hotels are covered by our frequent-stay cards, so we miss out on earning hundreds, even thousands, of points. Blame it on poor communication by the companies or the sheer numbers of brands, they say.

It pays to spend a few minutes on the computer to research your card.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-insider18jul18,1,6374444,print.column

It's tough to be true to a hotel chain, even if there's a reward

Frequent-guest programs don't work very well, a study finds. Blame it on the proliferation of brands.

It's a simple concept that no one should lose sleep over: Stay at a hotel. Earn frequent guest points. Exchange them for more stays.

Just like the airlines, with points instead of miles, right?

The problem, researchers say, is that surprisingly few of us know which hotels are covered by our frequent-stay cards, so we miss out on earning hundreds, even thousands, of points. Blame it on poor communication by the companies or the sheer numbers of brands, they say.

It pays to spend a few minutes on the computer to research your card.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-insider18jul18,1,6374444,print.column

That probably is pretty much true. But to the really frequent travelers and/or people who really give a sh*t about the rewards and perks, such as FT folks, I think hotel chain loyalty is more common. (I'm sure it's a rather small minority.) Using myself as an example, I stay at Starwood properties now on virtually every stay if one is available in the area I'm visiting. But being "in the know" about the benefits of "wood" points and the like, is why I'm loyal to Starwood. Likewise, I know all the chains covered under the Starwood umbrella. But again, unlike most people, I'm not normal. :p

I think that even for some of us FTers it can be difficult to stay loyal to a hotel program, even when we are very aware of which chains belong to which programs. One area in which I feel that hotel points game differs from the miles game is in comparative pricing. Usually, when I am booking a flight, I find at least three carriers with fares within $5 of each other. That makes it easy to direct my business to the airline of my choice. However, with hotels, it's not uncommon for a room at a Sheraton to be $50 more or less than a room at a nearby Hilton. Or a Fairfield Inn is $25 cheaper than a Four Points that is directly across the road. For someone like myself, who spends between 10 to 20 nights a year on the road, and whose employer is very concerned about travel costs, it makes sense to base my lodging coices more on price than program.

I am a member of three chains, and my only status is HHonors Silver. I could probably attain Gold VIP status in HHonors if hotels matched prices the way airlines do. But they don't, so my employer and I save a lot of money instead of making mid-tier elite.

...so my employer and I save a lot of money instead of making mid-tier elite.

What do you care unless your expense account is tied to your bonus?

The only FT'ers who should care at all about hotel status are the following IMO:

#1. your employer foots the bill, for those of us on our own dime hotel status is a total waste of $.

#2. one comes close to a status level w/employer paid stays and a personal paid stay or two will kick them into the next status level.

#3. when the points/bonus earned really makes a difference. ie. the old Hilton twice per year 50,000 points for four stay bonus when an Hawaii property was 100,000 points for a 6 night stay.

Otherwise the math does not make sense when paying my own dime.

Add on a combination of Priceline (and BFT for FTers) and you get more people not staying "true" to a hotel chain. It's like a bad marriage.

aloha

I'll take the other side.

I stay very true to my hotel chain. I will check other rates, unless I'm someplace that I can't get one of the ones in my chain,then I'm staying with them.

It's rare that it's a matter of money, most of the time they come in about the same as the others in that class. Sort of how it works, they wouldn't be in business if they were twice as much.

I also disagree that most people don't know which hotels are in their chain. If I go to Hilton and ask for a room in Denver, it will show me three pages of their hotels, in all their brands. Same thing with Marriott, they bring up 44 properties.

I'm sure there are some people without a clue, why it always those people the survey people find? Oh right, because that's who is roaming around shopping malls all day waiting for a free ice cream cone for doing a survey.

There are many more factors that go into hotel selection than airline selection.

For example, on some trips I need a particular location, and I am stuck with whatever properties in that area offer the government rate.

On pleasure trips I am usually rate sensitive, but again location may be important.

For airline trips you often find the same fare on all carriers so you end up taking the one which requires the least amount of time or flies into the most convenient airport.

The result is that I have hotel points and low status with several chains, as contrasted to airline miles which are now concentrated in two programs.

What do you care unless your expense account is tied to your bonus?

I care because I want my employer to be succesful. I book my own travel, and my employer does not know how much it will cost them until I submit my expenses. (Unless it is extraordinarily expensive, in which case I check with my boss before booking.) I could rack up more AAdvantage miles, which I prefer over Skymiles, but that usually costs my employer significantly more. So I get stuck with DL, and their crappy legroom and crappy miles program, but I save my organization money which can be used in better ways. For example, I would rather that our external documents be printed in color than get miles/points in my preferred programs.

The only FT'ers who should care at all about hotel status are the following IMO:

#1. your employer foots the bill, for those of us on our own dime hotel status is a total waste of $.

#2. one comes close to a status level w/employer paid stays and a personal paid stay or two will kick them into the next status level.

#3. when the points/bonus earned really makes a difference. ie. the old Hilton twice per year 50,000 points for four stay bonus when an Hawaii property was 100,000 points for a 6 night stay.

Otherwise the math does not make sense when paying my own dime.

I'm self-employed so the cost of hotels, whether for business or pleasure, all come out of my bank account. I've discovered that sticking with one hotel chain (and a couple of secondary ones for occasions when there are none of my preferred ones in certain locations) has netted enough points for free vacation lodging and cost-saving perks like free breakfasts. Combined with free airline tickets with miles, I vacation well for very little $$.

I've discovered that sticking with one hotel chain (and a couple of secondary ones for occasions when there are none of my preferred ones in certain locations) has netted enough points for free vacation lodging and cost-saving perks like free breakfasts.

This is what I do. I try and book at a Hilton property. If there is not one available at a competitive price, then I look to Marriott or Starwood properties. Only occassionally do I have to resort (no pun intended) to a place where I don't have a much of an opportunity gain some sort of reciprocal award for my business.

I have pretty much given up on the frequent stay programs. If your are staying in a really nice hotel then I have found the upgrades have been fewer and farther between. The point offered don't come close to the savings on priceline. So I give up a few points and an unlikely upgrade and I pay have as much. I am taking priceline more and more.

Why not have your cake and eat it too? You get stay credit at Hyatt for Priceline rates.

I rarely pay more than a Priceline rate of $60 for Hyatts with the help of betterbidding.com. In return, with bonus points, I earn several free nights at their top hotels each year. I also earn many, many more free nights with their Faster Free Nights program. I also get the elite status.

Whether I am on my own dime, or more typically my company's, I get a great rate for a great hotel. The personal payback is about 20 free nights per year (at virtually any Hyatt) for having spent less than $2,000 on the rooms for about 50 nights. Plus I get all the perks of my elite status. That is a free night for every $100 spent on the room.

The problem, researchers say, is that surprisingly few of us know which hotels are covered by our frequent-stay cards, so we miss out on earning hundreds, even thousands, of points. Blame it on poor communication by the companies or the sheer numbers of brands, they say.

Or blame it on the person not smart enough to look at their card, which lists all of the brands included in a particular program.
All of my cards list the brands associated with the program. Seems pretty simple to me.

[QUOTE=divaof travel]Why not have your cake and eat it too? You get stay credit at Hyatt for Priceline rates.
QUOTE]

I thought you did not get credit for priceline stays. Is it different for Hyatts?

I thought you did not get credit for priceline stays. Is it different for Hyatts?

That’s right, it's different at Hyatt. You get stay credit for Priceline stays as long as you charge an incidental of any amount (e.g. local telephone call.) You even get credit during a FREE night in the same way. But it gets even better, because you get a free night at almost any Hyatt for every two stays.

i've decided to go w/ choice hotels & take the free room option....they are within my "comfort" range...i hope i'm right in my quick analysis that you get 10 cents per $ toward stays, which is better than the mi's on a 2 cent per mi value , & which is a no brainer for multi nite stays. i'll see how it goes, but if there is a motel6 at my ron location, i will check the price difference....btw, all my travel is personal...

I run my own consultancy now, so you better believe I watch hotel expenses, and let me tell you: when I can Priceline a three-star hotel for $35 or $40, and direct-booking a chain hotel whose program I'm in costs easily three or four times as much, the points mean nothing. Especially with redemption problems and devaluation. Used to be Hilton Gold, now I'm Blue and will probably stay that way... but by foregoing the chance of an upgrade and an occasional free muffin in the morning, I'm saving literally thousands of dollars.

I'd also point out that it's harder to be loyal to a hotel chain than an airline because you're always in the thrall of individual franchisee/operators. Every hotel brand has bad operators. You should be loyal to individual properties that give good service and not endure bad hotels just because a particular sign is bolted to their fronts.

I just went through a relevant episode with Hilton/Hampton Inn.

I have to stay in Overland Park, Kansas next week. Expedia shows availability at the HI @ $92/night, so I go over to hilton.com to book it through there and get the HHonors points.

THEY show it's unavailable. I call the 800 number and the agent says, yup, they presold inventory to Expedia that Hilton itself can't shake loose for me.

So there is NO way for me to earn HHonors points at that property even though rooms are open. Instead she tried to upsell me to the Embassy Suites in the same zone which is out of my price range for this trip at twice the HI price.

So I said the heck with it, hung up and booked the nearby Fairfield Inn @ $69.

Points, schmoints.

So I said the heck with it, hung up and booked the nearby Fairfield Inn @ $69.

Points, schmoints.
More power to ya!

I just went through a relevant episode with Hilton/Hampton Inn.

I have to stay in Overland Park, Kansas next week. Expedia shows availability at the HI @ $92/night, so I go over to hilton.com to book it through there and get the HHonors points.

THEY show it's unavailable. I call the 800 number and the agent says, yup, they presold inventory to Expedia that Hilton itself can't shake loose for me.

So there is NO way for me to earn HHonors points at that property even though rooms are open. Instead she tried to upsell me to the Embassy Suites in the same zone which is out of my price range for this trip at twice the HI price.

So I said the heck with it, hung up and booked the nearby Fairfield Inn @ $69.

Points, schmoints.

If this isn't a classic example of the absurdity of not providing points/benefits for stays booked on other than Hilton web sites, I don't know what is. I don't blame you at all for heading elsewhere...I would have done the same thing. At least I could earn points in another program. Apparently, the hotels would rather lose your business than provide points/benefits. I guess they don't care since they sold the rooms to Expedia already.