2RETIREDTRAVELERS

New promo $50 gift card (or a free night in Europe next year?) after 2 stays.
http://www.choicehotels.com/giftcard

jfinsocal

Same old, same old - great promo.

BigLar

Yep.

And if speculation is correct, this will push the 8000 point nights in Europe further ahead. I believe the current 8K rates expire ~Sept. 30. I'll be heading over there in October, so here's hoping!

lwildernorva

I think Choice has learned from Marriott: if a promotion works, no reason to make major changes. There could be a return to the Comfort Hyde Park in London in my future this fall.

sdsearch

http://www.choicehotels.com/giftcard
Earn a $50 gift card for dining, shopping, or gas when you take two separate trips.*

• Register below before your first trip and earn an unlimited amount of gift cards during the promotion
  
  
• Book at ChoiceHotels.com or 800.4CHOICE and after your second qualifying trip with arrival between May 23 and August 21, 2013 you’ll receive enough Choice Privileges® points to redeem for a $50 gift card of your choice for a participating dining, shopping, or gas retailer; corporate travelers can book through a travel agent or corporate booking system
  
  
• Elite Diamond and Elite Platinum members can book directly with a hotel; however, if they book through ChoiceHotels.com these members will receive 100 additional Choice Privileges points with every qualifying trip
  
  
• Trips at Econo Lodge®, Rodeway Inn®, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel®, or MainStay Suites® hotels must be a minimum of two consecutive nights
  
  
• View a list of participating gift cards; redeem by November 1, 2013

*Terms and conditions: Member must register at ChoiceHotels.com before arrival and book their trips at ChoiceHotels.com or 800.4CHOICE at qualifying rates. Member may also book through a travel agent or corporate online booking system. Choice Privileges member number must be provided upon check-in. After a second qualifying trip with arrival between 5/23/13 and 8/21/13, member will be awarded enough bonus points to reach the 8,000 point level, which can be redeemed until 11/1/13 for one (1) $50 gift card at defined retailers on ChoiceHotels.com/giftcard. Only members earning this bonus qualify to redeem for the $50 gift card. Only members that register for the promotion are eligible to earn the defined promotional gift cards during the promotion. Terms and conditions apply to $50 gift card options. See card for details. Choice Privileges Diamond and Platinum members who register and book through ChoiceHotels.com will receive an additional 100 Choice Privileges bonus points with every qualified trip during the promotional period. For Comfort Inn, Comfort Suites, Quality, Sleep Inn, Clarion, Cambria Suites or Ascend Hotel Collection hotels, a trip is defined as a stay that is any number of consecutive nights at one hotel regardless of check-ins or check-outs. For Econo Lodge, Rodeway Inn, Suburban Extended Stay Hotel, or MainStay Suites hotels, a trip is defined as a stay that is two (2) or more consecutive nights at one hotel regardless of check-ins or check-outs. Allow 72 hours from check-out for points to post. You must maintain an address in the U.S. (including U.S. territories) or Canada to be eligible for this promotion. For Choice Privileges program details, eligible rates, eligible countries and point redemption rules, visit choiceprivileges.com.

Yul_voyager

Another 8k promo, nice...
Thanks for posting.

TallestHotelInJapan

Is this a honest promotion or is there some small prints?

sdsearch

I don't understand your question. I pasted all the small prints above!

In fact, the small prints are better than before. (For the first time?) everyone can book trough corporate online booking systems. In previous rounds, only those in the top two status levels (Platinum and Diamond) at Choice could do so.

And, if you're not interested in the gift card (just the 8000 points), it's furthermore just about identical to the last promotion (except for the improvement I just mentioned).

But as always, you have to use common sense. You can't get a point bonus if you earn miles. You can't get a point bonus if you don't earn points in the first place (which you won't on a reward stay, and you won't on a stay booked through third-party booking sites). But you have to understand that those issues are not "fine print" of the bonus per se, they are "fine print" of the Choice program in general. (You can't expect the promo T&Cs to spell out every single aspect of the underlying hotel program T&Cs!)

ftv

However, am I seeing this correctly?

The only rates that qualify for this promo are the non-refundable AP rates of a 15 percent discount, made 7,14, or 21 days in advance?

guoguo914

+1. have same question.


two more questions:

1. I'm booking a hotel for 5/31-6/1. On Saturday (14 days in advance) I was able to see the Adv rate but now it disappears! So there's no 7 day adv rate?

2. for 3 people in one room it seems it's $10 more. Can I just book 2 people and just walk in 3...?

thanks again.

calwatch

The double star refers to a different promo, the special "Choice Privileges" advance purchase rate (which is not offered at all hotels). That's the "Book Early and Save" promo, which I generally never use since the Little League rate or the government rate is cheaper for any given Choice room.

TallestHotelInJapan

Only the fool would prefer the 25 $ card over the 8'000 points. The latter is by far more valuable.

lougord99

Except that it is $50 or 8,000 points, which I find pretty close.

McKaig

I registered, and it seems like it just credits your accounts with the points (enough to buy a $50 gift card). Seems like a really good value because right now the $50 gift cards on the website cost 16,000 points.

I assume there will be a link in the account where you can purchase the $50 gift cards for 8,000 points..

On a side note, this is my first year travelling for work and collecting points, but I feel like these hotels should be giving me more perks when I stay at them. YTD I have 60 nights in the books, and accumulated 175,000 points. When I book online for a single queen room, and get to the front desk, they always have me booked into the same room. I have to play this silly game "are there any available upgrades for me tonight?" Then they hum and ha and say I can move you to a higher floor if you'd like?

I have to assume other hotel loyalty chains can do better at this type of thing than choice... The fact that I've spent ~$7,500 YTD on rooms seems to have no bearing on how they treat you.

lwildernorva

Let's just say the Choice Privileges program does not have a very "refined" way of treating its elites. I have fewer nights than do you but still well over 100 in the past three years--and I've only been acknowledged as an elite member twice in all those stays. It's an odd quirk of the program as nearly every property survey I've received from Choice asks if I've been recognized as an elite member. It's obviously an issue perceived as important at the corporate level, but somehow that perception is not transmitted to the front line employees. And, If the front line folks don't bother to acknowledge status, I don't really expect them to give me much for it.

Besides, the Choice website makes it clear that status gets you two guaranteed things: a bonus on the earnings rate and a longer booking window for award redemptions. The language on room upgrades always leaves me amused: "Room upgrades are determined by each hotel at check-in, are subject to availability and only apply to member's personal room. Upgraded room types may include recently renovated rooms, rooms on a higher/lower floor, or rooms with favored views. Hotels are not required to upgrade members' rooms to specialty rooms or suites." In other words, Choice really guarantees nothing there. Plus, given many Choice properties, there isn't a whole lot of upgrading going on--unless you really like the third floor of properties more than the second or the back parking lot view over the front parking lot view.

Fortunately, Choice is outstanding for the ease of earning these 8000 point bonuses (I can generally get one for less than $120 in hotel room cost and sometimes even for less than $100) and redemption options (a $50 gift card isn't my style, but it can be as much as a 50% rebate on room purchases, and the continuing 8K point foreign redemptions have funded several trips). CP is a terrible program for elite recognition, however.