stallion114

Just saw the promo card at the phl quality inn.
Starts may 19-Aug.
Same as the gas card with the cheap brands requiring 2 nights.
Capped at 2 free nights for general members and Gold, 4 nights for plat, and 10 nights for diamonds.
Also I believe it said plat and diamonds can book through any channel whereas others need to use choice.com or by phone to choice reservations.
Will be paid out in 8000 points just like past promos.

bestbet33

Thanks for the info!! Looks like I will be doing some mattress running on my next few business trips.

lowfareair

By cheap brands, is it just Rodeway/EconoLodge, or are other down-market brands included (Sleep Inn, MainStay, etc.)?

BigLar

Sleep Inns may be 'downmarket', but it turns out that most SI's are better than many, many of the Quality Inns I've stayed at.

lowfareair

Agreed, was just providing an example.

This is my first time I might be participating in Choice (never really looked at the program until the discover America promo), so I have a couple questions in addition to the one above about Choice promos in general (since the stay 2 or 3 earn 8,000 points seems standard):

-Are the 8,000 points in addition to the regular points earned while staying?
-Is it good on prior bookings that I haven't checked in for yet (have a booking in August, not sure if I should cancel and rebook when this goes live)

stallion114

You will only earn 8000 total points for your 2 stays (plus any elite bonuses).
So if you earn 1000 points on your first stay, the second stay will post as 7000. (8000 points-base points earned from first stay).
They always seem to do this, and pissed me off the first time, but I appreciate the steady stream of "stay 2" promos from choice.

familyoutdoors

New here and to all this...Is this promo only good at certain hotels like the gas promo working now? Also, if you stay the two nights how soon can you get the free night? I need to stay 3 nights in Flagstaff in August. Would appreciate the guidance.

BigLar

Just to be clear...

What you get after staying two nights is a boost up on the total points you earn for the two stays to a total of 8000 points (plus any elite bonuses you are entitled to). These points generally post to your account within a couple of days after the last stay.

There is no "free night voucher' or anything like that. What you get is enough points for a free reward night at some of the Choice hotels (many, especially outside the US) are more than 8000 points/night.

What most of the points mongers here do is switch hotels so as to maximize the number of stays in order to pile up the points.

And, be aware of the difference between a 'stay' and a 'night'. If you check in Monday and check out Tuesday, you get credit for one night and one stay.

If you check in Monday and check out Friday, you get credit for four nights and one stay.

If you check in Jan 1 and check out Dec 31, you get credit for 365 nights but only one stay. That's why we do the 'hotel-hopping' dance to maximize our stays.

If you have no elite status with Choice, you have to book your reward night no earlier than (I think) 30 days before the proposed stay. This is considered to be a serious drawback of their rewards program. On the other hand, if you reach Diamond elite status, your booking window is 100 days.

familyoutdoors

BigLar,
I don't even think I am signed up yet for choice. I could easily hotel hop as you said. How many points do you get for staying a night or signing up for the choice card?
ps I like your quote. Wizard of Oz always one of my favorites.
"Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas any more!."

sdsearch

That's why people are excited about this promo. The points you get normally (no promo) for staying a night at a cheap Choice property are rather few (10 points per dollar spent on room rate, but room rates at Choice are often quite low, and thus 10 times that is often not that much). The 8000 total points you get from 2 one-night stays in this promo is thus better than a 3x promo or even probably a 4x promo would be (everything else equal).

The Choice card earns an additional 5 points per dollar spent (on anything at Choice hotels, I think). Don't be confused by language which claim you earn15 points per dollar spent; they are adding the 10 points and 5 points together! But the card itself only earns the 5 points. (And the card earns 5 points even on stays where you earn miles instead of points. So that's another reason I hate the confusing 15 points language!) The signup varies, but is typically 16k or sometimes 24k points IIRC.

stallion114

For those without status, try a status match to get matched equal with another program up to plat.
I tried to match to Diamond and was denied. I submitted both Marriott Plat and Hyatt Diamond.
I dont think I have seen many successful results with the Diamond match but plenty of people have gotten the plat match even from PC.

If you go for a match do not register for the promo until your account says platinum.
I remember on a previous promo someone hit diamond during the promo and Choice would not give them the added benefits of being a Diamond as far as that promo went. ( they did still get there elite bonus)

PM me if you need a referral to Choice also.

bestbet33

So I was just at a Choice Hotel and was able to get some more info on the promo. Contrary to the OP, general members and gold members can earn up to four 'free nights' if they register - two if they don't. Plats/Diamonds can earn up to 10. This is according to the info sheet that the front desk agent had and let me see.

Firewind

Thank you stallion114. You sure know how to light up a room. To stallion114 and ChoiceHotels:

^

toomanybooks

I just got a mailer (targeted, I think) offering 24K for the card and another 8K after first purchase. That is the most I have ever seen. And it's free.

I used to have the card and used it a lot, back in the days when you could stockpile Choice points and they were good for a huge timed dump to WN. It's how I got my first WN Companion Pass. But the Choice devaluations killed that for me.

8000 Choice points are worth $40 in WN 2.0 points (if cashed for WGA fares).

For those new to Choice, the program has a history of hosing its participants with little/no notice. Less than 4 years ago, it was 2500 Choice>2 WN credits (somewhat similar to 2400 points now). So you can see the devaluation.

BigLar

You are unfortunately correct. They also value their reward rooms (points cost) in some arbitrary opaque fashion, and change the numbers almost at random.

Having said that, the program has provided tremendous opportunities to pile up points. I made just shy of a quarter-million points on their stay 3/get 16K promo a couple of years ago. I turned that into a family vacation to Ireland involving 4 rooms over 5 or 6 nights at a very nice Clarion in downtown Dublin, plus a couple of nights at two of the Preferred properties. To do a similar thing with either of my other hotel chains (Hilton and Marriott) would have required nearly a million points.

So for those of us who gather points in order to use them for award rooms (for me, that means Europe), the Choice program is very attractive. With the recent (to me, anyhow) reduction of their Italian properties to the 8000 point level as an example, I could easily spend a couple of weeks in Europe with "free" hotel stays and very little cost.

There are things about the program I don't like (the iron-clad expiration for example) but for someone who a) pays their own way at hotels, and b) likes to take his family to Europe, Choice is a serious contender,