Choice Privileges - Anyone know what this disclaimer means?

I got an email from Choice informing me that one of the hotels I had stayed at (at a great rate for the Fall gas card promo :)) has left the Choice fold, and they recommended some of their other hotels in the area. Nice, but unnecessary for me.

However, they had a little blurb at the bottom of the email:

"Thank you for your continued patronage of our hotels. We hope to see you again soon at any of our over 5,000 Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, Quality®, Sleep Inn®, Clarion®, Ascend Collection™, Cambria Suites®, MainStay Suites®, Suburban Extended Stay®, Econo Lodge® and Rodeway Inn® hotels throughout the U.S., Canada, Europe*, Mexico and the Caribbean.


* Excluding Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden"

AFAIK, there are a number of Choice hotels in (at least) Denmark and Sweden. What are they saying here?

And what about their properties in Australia, New Zealand, etc.? They're fairly well represented in Oceania.

* Excluding Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden"[/i]
Well, the wording is poor. I'm sure that they'd appreciate seeing you there! However, Scandinavia and the Baltics do not participate in Choice Privileges at this time for earning or benefits (redemptions are possible there). They do have their own Choice Club. Choice Hotels Scandinavia is a licensee of Choice Hotels International.


And what about their properties in Australia, New Zealand, etc.? They're fairly well represented in Oceania.
Similarly, they don't participate in Choice Privileges for membership benefits or earning (CP members may earn Qantas points for hotels in that region, but that's it). They also have their own program. Choice Hotels Australasia is a subsidiary of Choice Hotels International, unlike Choice Hotels Scandinavia.

Choice has announced a desire to increasingly internationalize CP, so that could mean that Central America, South America, Asia/Pacific, Middle East, etc. will come on board in due time.

For now, though, only redemptions are possible worldwide (which is great).

Excellent explanation - I had wondered about this once (but the thought was fleeting).

For now, though, only redemptions are possible worldwide (which is great).

Oh, yeah. 16,000 points is about $120 in the U.S. (two exceedingly cheap hotels), can easily be 300€ abroad.