Reno1979

Just got this email last night:



Special offer just for Elite Platinum and Elite Diamond members


Only Elite Platinum and Elite Diamond members can earn an unlimited number of free nights OR
opt to earn triple points for every stay, starting with your second stay.

Register now to select your preferred promotion!



Stay 2 times.
Earn a free night at over 1,500 hotels*

Stay two separate times at Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, Quality®, Sleep Inn®, Clarion®, Cambria Suites® or Ascend Collection® hotels with arrival between Aug. 26 and Nov. 3

Receive enough Choice Privileges® bonus points for a free night at over 1,500 hotels

Only Elite Platinum and Elite Diamond members can register to increase the maximum number of free nights from 4 to unlimited

OR

Earn triple points**

Earn triple Choice Privileges points on every stay, starting with your second stay, at Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites or Ascend Collection hotels with arrival between Aug. 26 and Nov. 3

Only Elite Platinum and Elite Diamond members can register for this special promotion

* The free night is based on an 8,000 point Choice Privileges reward night level. Bonus points will be added to points earned from every two qualifying stays at eligible rates at any Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, Quality®, Sleep Inn®, Clarion®, Cambria Suites® or Ascend Collection® hotels included in the Choice Privileges program with arrival between 8/26/10 and 11/ 3/10, to reach the 8,000 point reward level. Provide Choice Privileges number upon check-in for the stay to be eligible. A stay is defined as any number of consecutive nights at one hotel regardless of check-ins or check-outs. Allow 72 hours from check-out for points to post to your account. You must maintain an address in the U.S. (including U.S. territories) or Canada to be eligible for this promotion. For program details, eligible rates, eligible countries and point redemption rules, visit choiceprivileges.com.

** Receive triple points for every eligible stay, starting with your second stay, after the date of registration, at any Comfort Inn®, Comfort Suites®, Quality®, Sleep Inn®, Clarion®, Cambria Suites® or Ascend Collection® hotels included in the Choice Privileges program with arrival between 8/26/10 and 11/ 3/10. Provide Choice Privileges number upon check-in for the stay to be eligible. Allow 72 hours from check-out for points to post to your account. You must maintain an address in the U.S. (including U.S. territories) or Canada to be eligible for this promotion. For program details, eligible rates, eligible countries and point redemption rules, visit choiceprivileges.com.

Reno1979

So if my math is right, they only reason to choose the Triple points option (they make you choose one or the other, and you can't change back), is if you are Diamond, thus getting 40% points bonus AND your average hotel rate is $96 and up.

That would roughly get you 4032 points per stay, and then two stays would be more than the 8000 points you will get for two separate nights the other way.

ALSO, the triple points does not kick in until your SECOND stay, so the first stay would just be your normal points plus 40% for Diamond or + 25% for Platinum.

stallion114

I know its a dumb quesiton but do expedia nights qualify for this promo?
Furthermore, do any hotel programs let expedia nights qualify? I want to use my BRG certs and am hoping to gain something on those stays.

RogerD408

Since there is nothing quoted in the terms, I suspect they will do as in the past and the bonus points will be calculated on the base points and not include the 25%/40% Plat/Dia bonus points. Using your example, that should be 3,254 points after the first stay. Given all my stays are sub $100/night rates (if I'm gonna spend more than $100 on a room, it ain't gonna be a Choice property!), the 8K offer is the best for me.

Also, the availability/desirability of 8K nights is dwindling all the time, but I'm sure, as in the past, the points will post and you can choose to use them as you see fit.

scruffy

Does this mean that the fall offer for non-Platinum/Diamond will be the same, except with a cap? If so, does the lack of MainStay/Suburban/Econo/Rodeway in the T&C mean they will be excluded from this offer?

Firewind

Sorry to see that EconoLodge and Rodeway have dropped out of the game again...

sdsearch

More important than your math is your understaing of stays vs nights.

The main reason to choose Triple Points would be not so much beause your room rate is over $133 (it's already been pointed out that your factoring in the Diamond bonus was wrong), given that most people won't consistently find Choice hotels at those rates. It would more likely be because you have to stay mutliple consecutive nights in the same place and you can't hotel hop.

You only get 8000 points (plus any elite bonus) for 2 nights if those are two separate stays. If you stay 2 nights in a row at the same hotel (whether on one reservation or two), you won't get any bonus until you have a separate stay.

So for people who can mostly hotel hop (alternate between two Choice hotels near each other on alternate nights), the 8000 points is likely to be better. But for various reasons, some people can't hotel hop and need to do multi-night stays a lot, and it's for those people that triple points might work better.

The math: If your average stay is likely to be 2 nights in a row, you're better off with triple points at $66 or more a night (before taxes), which may or may not be easy depending on the area you need to stay in. If your average stay is likely to be 3 nights in a row, you're better off with triple points at $44 or more a night, which is getting into a less-lkely range of prices in many places.

Me, I'm so used to not having a triple points option, I "naturally" hotel hop (to the point that promos which require multiple nights at the same hotel are the ones that throw me for a loop!). Of course, it helps that the places I need to stay in the most have lots of Choice hotels nearby...

Reno1979

Good call. I almost never stay two nights in one place, and will gladly hotel hop to earn the bonuses... I too hate to see the Rodeways not included since there are actually a couple of decent Rodeway Inns that are in my new work territory.

Donna49

I've been looking at this as well in light of what would work best for me.

There are really 2 different point awards methods. The "triple points" is a straightforward bonus calculated by room rate times nights. The "free nights" is really an 8000 point guarantee for 2 stays.

The real kicker is that multiple night stays have a massive negative effect on the value of the free night option.

If each stay is 1 night, the free night option basically gives you a 4000pt/night guarantee, as you need 2 stays to qualify for the 8000 pts. If each stay is 2 nights, that is 4 nights to qualify, and the guarantee goes down to 2000pt/night. If you go to 4 night stays, the guarantee using "free nights" drops to 1000pt/night.

If you do the one night stay method and select "free nights", the only way "triple points" earns more is by paying $133/night, every night.

The way to maximize points per dollar spent is to select "free nights" and always stay just 1 night at the cheapest location. Or, I guess you could go with triple points and pay more than $133/night, but then (as previously mentioned) why stay at a choice property?

Sometimes it is a pain to pack up and move out each morning, but the points can really add up fast doing it that way, and that is what I plan to do.

Firewind

Sorry for being so dense, but the wording of the offer leaves me unclear as to whether the whole offer is only to Platinum and Diamonds, or if it's just the extra privileges listed that are available only to them. Further obscuring it for me, a Gold, is that I didn't receive an email, and I don't see it on the ChoiceHotels or ChoicePrivileges home or promotion ("news") pages. Perhaps another non-Platinum or -Diamond might clarify? Thanks.

RingoNBoo

I currently have 21 nights so I will get platinum on my 4th night. Will I be eligible for the unlimited nights then?

enginero

My experience has been that you are eligible for the additional plat/diamond benefits even if you hit that new tier after a promo has started.

Reno1979

You should be eligible for up to 4 of the 8000 point "free night bonuses". Plat/Dia can earn the 8000 unlimited times.

honu

Ok, now I'm totally confused. Not a Plat/Diamond member, but is the 8000 points for 2 stays part of the promo available to general members (limited to 2 or 4 free nights)? If so, I can't find it at all on the web site... Does anyone have a link?

GUWonder

32,000 points for 8 stays -- that's 4 sets of 8,000 points -- is the maximum non-Plat/non-Diamond customers can get. That's a maximum of 4 nights if you redeem at 8,000 point properties.

I don't consider 8000 choice points for 2 stays to be a generally great deal; so even if I were Plat/Diamond with Choice, I still would not go out of my way to be a big user of this promotion.