Rome Bolivar and Principessa Isabella now 30,000 points?!
Apr 7, 2017, 12:15 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Oregon, USA
Programs: Hilton Honors
Posts: 162
Rome Bolivar and Principessa Isabella now 30,000 points?!
It's been a while since I've checked in (excuse the pun) on Choice since I only used them for my Rome visits and the last one was a year or so ago. Just noticed the Choice credit card bonus is up to 40,000 points so I figured I'd hit it again for another 3 or 4 nights in my favorite Rome hotel of Bolivar. But checking now I only see awards starting at 30,000 points there? Am I doing something wrong or has this been a massive devaluation there? Or has it been that way for a while and I'm just now noticing.
So the 40,000 point bonus that got us 5 nights at the Bolivar on our last visit will now get us 1. Wow.
I realize all these programs continually devalue, but this is the most devaluing I've seen in such a relatively short time span.
Arrivederci Choice!
So the 40,000 point bonus that got us 5 nights at the Bolivar on our last visit will now get us 1. Wow.
I realize all these programs continually devalue, but this is the most devaluing I've seen in such a relatively short time span.
Arrivederci Choice!
Apr 7, 2017, 1:57 pm
#2
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: NCE
Posts: 276
Apr 7, 2017, 2:28 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Oregon, USA
Programs: Hilton Honors
Posts: 162
(Although I haven't been paying much attention to Choice so maybe they did warn of this award increase previously. In that case I retract some of my disdain and disgust.) (But definitely not all of it
)
Apr 8, 2017, 10:33 am
#4
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
It's been a while since I've checked in (excuse the pun) on Choice since I only used them for my Rome visits and the last one was a year or so ago. Just noticed the Choice credit card bonus is up to 40,000 points so I figured I'd hit it again for another 3 or 4 nights in my favorite Rome hotel of Bolivar. But checking now I only see awards starting at 30,000 points there? Am I doing something wrong or has this been a massive devaluation there? Or has it been that way for a while and I'm just now noticing.
So the 40,000 point bonus that got us 5 nights at the Bolivar on our last visit will now get us 1. Wow.
I realize all these programs continually devalue, but this is the most devaluing I've seen in such a relatively short time span.
Arrivederci Choice!
So the 40,000 point bonus that got us 5 nights at the Bolivar on our last visit will now get us 1. Wow.
I realize all these programs continually devalue, but this is the most devaluing I've seen in such a relatively short time span.
Arrivederci Choice!
And the chart for the Bolivar (near the bottom of the hotel info page) explains it all: "Early shoulder season" through April 15 is 10,000 points, while "high season" of April 16 through September 15 is 30,000 points:
APR 9, 2017 - APR 15, 2017: SUN - THU 10000/ROOM FRI - SAT 12000/ROOM
APR 16, 2017 - SEP 15, 2017: SUN - THU 30000/ROOM FRI - SAT 30000/ROOM
So when exactly last year did you go, and what was the chart on the hotel web page last year for spring into summer?APR 16, 2017 - SEP 15, 2017: SUN - THU 30000/ROOM FRI - SAT 30000/ROOM
So it just happened then? Wow. I guess it's amazing the cheap awards for these hotels stayed so low for so long, but come on. Tripling an award cost in one fell swoop without any notice is pretty shabby work. And if they all the sudden saw the need to immediately triple the award cost, whoever has been in charge of overseeing the award revenue/value hasn't been paying much attention. Not too impressive.
(Although I haven't been paying much attention to Choice so maybe they did warn of this award increase previously. In that case I retract some of my disdain and disgust.) (But definitely not all of it )
(Although I haven't been paying much attention to Choice so maybe they did warn of this award increase previously. In that case I retract some of my disdain and disgust.) (But definitely not all of it
)
And was there really any more notice then that there is now? Did this chart on the Bolivar page not show that it was going to 30000 points/night come April 16 months ago? These sort of charts have been on Choice individual hotel pages for years and years, and those of us who knew that knew that was planning tool. So they gave notice months ago for those who knew where to look, and many of us have known where to look for a decade or more!
Furthermore, for those who know where to look, they're likely to give notice fairly soon of drop in redemption rates again come mid-September. If so, that'll "prove" that the 30000 is only a "high season" rate.
Ie, while 10k or 12k may not exactly be 8k, it still seems a good value. It's just that you have to know it's not going to be that redemption price during high season. A lot of us, years ago, planned trips to Italy during late September or in October or in early April exactly because that's when Choice redemptions tended to drop.
Last edited by sdsearch; Apr 8, 2017 at 10:47 am
Apr 14, 2017, 12:26 am
#5
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum
Posts: 3,702
When I stayed in Rome and Venice 2 years ago, there was no need to wait until spring or fall, b/c summer rate stayed at 10k. Now it's 30k. Big difference. We'll see if it drops in fall.
Apr 16, 2017, 7:05 am
#6
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 393
When Choice rolled out the pricing change, the agent on this forum said it wasn't a devaluation. However, as many of us have seen, lots of properties have gone straight to the maximum 30K at certain times of the year. Wonder if the Choice points on Daily Getaways will sale out this year.
Apr 16, 2017, 9:55 am
#7
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,933
When Choice rolled out the pricing change, the agent on this forum said it wasn't a devaluation. However, as many of us have seen, lots of properties have gone straight to the maximum 30K at certain times of the year. Wonder if the Choice points on Daily Getaways will sale out this year.
For example, look at this thread from 2013:
It talks about hotels being 20k or 25k. And that 2013 has the same arguments about Italy where one person claims it's always 10k and another person says no I've seen it at 20k or 25k.
So the "big devaluation" seems to be that 25k is now 30k and 8k is now 10k (not that 10k became 30k). What the pricing is during summers to not have been consistent from year to year (or maybe even one part of the summer to another part of the summer?) for many years. If you don't know Choice used to work years ago, you may something's a sudden change, while to us who've been around Choice a long time, we see patterns continue to repeat with minor variations.
To me, a bigger devaluation than 25k to 30k or 8k to 10k is losing the only property in a popular city, like this:
Ie, when a Choice property that was a great value just plain disappears, and you have to use points in another program at a horrible value instead, that's real devaluation in my mind.
Last edited by sdsearch; Apr 16, 2017 at 10:00 am
Apr 17, 2017, 8:27 am
#8
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 393
Indeed, I stand corrected. 
Well, again, I don't know what specific properties were in the summer years ago, but I doubt people would have called hotels in the fall going to 8k a night"big sale" on redemption if those hotels had been just 10k a night before that.
For example, look at this thread from 2013:
It talks about hotels being 20k or 25k. And that 2013 has the same arguments about Italy where one person claims it's always 10k and another person says no I've seen it at 20k or 25k.
So the "big devaluation" seems to be that 25k is now 30k and 8k is now 10k (not that 10k became 30k). What the pricing is during summers to not have been consistent from year to year (or maybe even one part of the summer to another part of the summer?) for many years. If you don't know Choice used to work years ago, you may something's a sudden change, while to us who've been around Choice a long time, we see patterns continue to repeat with minor variations.
To me, a bigger devaluation than 25k to 30k or 8k to 10k is losing the only property in a popular city, like this:
Ie, when a Choice property that was a great value just plain disappears, and you have to use points in another program at a horrible value instead, that's real devaluation in my mind.
For example, look at this thread from 2013:
It talks about hotels being 20k or 25k. And that 2013 has the same arguments about Italy where one person claims it's always 10k and another person says no I've seen it at 20k or 25k.
So the "big devaluation" seems to be that 25k is now 30k and 8k is now 10k (not that 10k became 30k). What the pricing is during summers to not have been consistent from year to year (or maybe even one part of the summer to another part of the summer?) for many years. If you don't know Choice used to work years ago, you may something's a sudden change, while to us who've been around Choice a long time, we see patterns continue to repeat with minor variations.
To me, a bigger devaluation than 25k to 30k or 8k to 10k is losing the only property in a popular city, like this:
Ie, when a Choice property that was a great value just plain disappears, and you have to use points in another program at a horrible value instead, that's real devaluation in my mind.
May 4, 2017, 2:44 pm
#9
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Freeload Univ. Where are you sitting?
Posts: 14,818
Just as a side note ...
We like to book Europe after September (high season); the rates tend to be lower, the crowds are way down, and the weather is still very pleasant (depending, of course, on where in Europe you are).
I've been to Rome twice (that I recall); once in December and once in September. Rome can be very hot. Our December visit was quite pleasant, weather-wise. The September visit, not so much. In fact, it was so hot we spent a lot of time in the hotel lounge rather than suffer through the midday heat.
We like to book Europe after September (high season); the rates tend to be lower, the crowds are way down, and the weather is still very pleasant (depending, of course, on where in Europe you are).
I've been to Rome twice (that I recall); once in December and once in September. Rome can be very hot. Our December visit was quite pleasant, weather-wise. The September visit, not so much. In fact, it was so hot we spent a lot of time in the hotel lounge rather than suffer through the midday heat.
Jul 15, 2017, 3:40 pm
#11
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: ORD, MDW or MKE
Programs: American and Southwest. Hilton and Marriott hotels primarily.
Posts: 6,459
It is a function of endless 8,000 points per 2 stays ( which they are not discontinuing ). Everyone now has huge numbers of points and if the chain did not raise the redemption beyond fair, people would only stay on points.
Sep 3, 2017, 9:59 pm
#12
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CLT
Programs: AA, UA, BA, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Platinum
Posts: 2,074
Furthermore, for those who know where to look, they're likely to give notice fairly soon of drop in redemption rates again come mid-September. If so, that'll "prove" that the 30000 is only a "high season" rate.
Ie, while 10k or 12k may not exactly be 8k, it still seems a good value. It's just that you have to know it's not going to be that redemption price during high season. A lot of us, years ago, planned trips to Italy during late September or in October or in early April exactly because that's when Choice redemptions tended to drop.
Oct 18, 2021, 3:01 pm
#13
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: EWR Ionosphere Club, LAX Clipper Club, Still Traveling Global, yearly BIS miles
Programs: EAL Silver Wings, I-Club, Flying Colonels DL, WorldPass PLat from the olde Meatball and PE SMARTbank
Posts: 1,987
Comfort Hotel Bolivar is now 16K pts but the room rates are barely above 100euro
this card is hardly worth the trouble and overseas call centers of Choice and barclay to deal with it. rather take my 2 percent.Check again. A year ago (from yesterday) would have been April 7, 2016. Look up a rate for this week, and you'll see that this week on weekdays the Bolivar is 10,000 points and the Principessa is 12,000 points.
And the chart for the Bolivar (near the bottom of the hotel info page) explains it all: "Early shoulder season" through April 15 is 10,000 points, while "high season" of April 16 through September 15 is 30,000 points:
APR 9, 2017 - APR 15, 2017: SUN - THU 10000/ROOM FRI - SAT 12000/ROOM
APR 16, 2017 - SEP 15, 2017: SUN - THU 30000/ROOM FRI - SAT 30000/ROOM
So when exactly last year did you go, and what was the chart on the hotel web page last year for spring into summer?
I don't know how to find them offhand, but I remember plenty of threads from years ago here in the Choice forum announcing in early fall that such and such European hotels had just dropped to 8k a night. So weren't the great redemption prices in Europe usually during "shoulder seasons", not necessarily summer seasons, since years ago? And was there really any more notice then that there is now? Did this chart on the Bolivar page not show that it was going to 30000 points/night come April 16 months ago?
These sort of charts have been on Choice individual hotel pages for years and years, and those of us who knew that knew that was planning tool. So they gave notice months ago for those who knew where to look, and many of us have known where to look for a decade or more!
Furthermore, for those who know where to look, they're likely to give notice fairly soon of drop in redemption rates again come mid-September. If so, that'll "prove" that the 30000 is only a "high season" rate.
Ie, while 10k or 12k may not exactly be 8k, it still seems a good value. It's just that you have to know it's not going to be that redemption price during high season. A lot of us, years ago, planned trips to Italy during late September or in October or in early April exactly because that's when Choice redemptions tended to drop.
And the chart for the Bolivar (near the bottom of the hotel info page) explains it all: "Early shoulder season" through April 15 is 10,000 points, while "high season" of April 16 through September 15 is 30,000 points:
APR 9, 2017 - APR 15, 2017: SUN - THU 10000/ROOM FRI - SAT 12000/ROOM
APR 16, 2017 - SEP 15, 2017: SUN - THU 30000/ROOM FRI - SAT 30000/ROOM
So when exactly last year did you go, and what was the chart on the hotel web page last year for spring into summer?
I don't know how to find them offhand, but I remember plenty of threads from years ago here in the Choice forum announcing in early fall that such and such European hotels had just dropped to 8k a night. So weren't the great redemption prices in Europe usually during "shoulder seasons", not necessarily summer seasons, since years ago?
And was there really any more notice then that there is now? Did this chart on the Bolivar page not show that it was going to 30000 points/night come April 16 months ago? These sort of charts have been on Choice individual hotel pages for years and years, and those of us who knew that knew that was planning tool. So they gave notice months ago for those who knew where to look, and many of us have known where to look for a decade or more!
Furthermore, for those who know where to look, they're likely to give notice fairly soon of drop in redemption rates again come mid-September. If so, that'll "prove" that the 30000 is only a "high season" rate.
Ie, while 10k or 12k may not exactly be 8k, it still seems a good value. It's just that you have to know it's not going to be that redemption price during high season. A lot of us, years ago, planned trips to Italy during late September or in October or in early April exactly because that's when Choice redemptions tended to drop.