Dadaluma83

Particularly business travelers on OPM?

I am a 100% leasure traveler, I have participated in airline frequent flyer programs, and credit card rewards programs either airline or bank/cash back. I have looked at hotel cards and hotel programs in general but they are a terrible value.

I do prefer to stay at the large chains when I travel such as Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott. However I avoid renting cars if at all possible and use public transit, so the most important metric for me choosing a hotel is if it is located near the place I need to be, or near public transit access, or both, and the best hotel that fits those needs obviously could be different brands across different locations.

So right off the bat being loyal to a single hotel chain is not working in my favor. Even so if there are multiple options to stay at in the same area the prices could be widely different. A hilton garden inn could be 130 per night, while a Marriott Courtyard could be 160, vice versa in other areas. I would be paying more just to earn points and elite status bennies.

Then looking at the points and that is the worst value proposition for a leasure traveler. Most hotel cards have bonus points at the property, but 1 point everywhere else. With the exception of Starwood and Hyatt most hotel points are generally valued at half a cent per point. You are so much better off using any other card for your non hotel spend.

Think about it, even with Delta lets say you spend 40 grand in non bonus categories, even with their mileage requirements that should still at least get you a round trip domestic economy flight, for most dates at least. Could get a Europe or South America off peak saver on American. Spend that 40 grand on a Mariott or Hilton card, you may get enough for one free night at a Courtyard or HGI in the suburbs by the freeway. Big whoop.

Sure, carrying the co branded card and elite status could bring other value besides just straight points. Like an annual free night, early check in, late check out, free breakfast, etc which I have personally never valued too much, and having the hotel card and having to book direct would take away some opportunity cost. Namely I could have booked on hotels.com instead to work towards stay 10 get a voucher for the average paid for the past 10, or priceline/hotwire a room for some big savings if I am not picky about a specific location or brand.

So it seems like for anyone who is spending their own money, you are much better off using bank cards or even airline cards and booking rooms on OTA's.

Business travelers on the other hand who spend OPM are the only type I see benefitting from a hotel loyalty program. Rack up points spending other people's money, then get to stay for free on your own personal vacations.

Adam1222

It depends on your travel patterns and priorities. I'm a leisure traveler, and find the free breakfast, occasional upgrade, and free wifi of Hilton Honors Gold to be very useful, combined with the MVP rate. The redemptions, however, are lacking.
Different leisure travelers travel to different destinations and have different numbers of travel nights a year.

darthbimmer

There are more possible priorities in choosing a hotel than just location and price. One example is predictability. This is especially important to me when I'm traveling on business. It's worth paying a little extra, or dealing with a slightly longer drive/walk/commute, to know what my experience at the hotel will be like. Brand name hotels provide this with brand standards, comprehensive online presence, and elite benefit programs.

Even as a leisure traveler, spending my own cash, I generally stay with the brands because of predictability and quality. Yeah, there's often a cheaper hotel that's at least as convenient. But often it's a brand-name with a lesser reputation for quality or it's a no-name that I'd rather not experiment with.

Of course, this all depends on market conditions where you travel. If there are lots of great independent hotels available, staying with the chains-- which are usually more costly because of the brand affiliation-- can seem foolish. But in many areas the decent independents are few or even nil. That's what it's like in certain locations I visit repeatedly on leisure trips.

beachmouse

I'm too much of a control freak to go the opaque bidding Priceline hotel route, and since there usually isn't a difference between OTA and booking directly on the hotel chain's web site, I just go ahead and book direct since that seems to decrease the odds of something going wrong.

And if I'm going to book direct anyways, might as well take advantage of the loyalty programs and not leave anything on the table. The leisure travel pattern for us over the next few years looks like it's going to be Europe every other year. And Accor has some nice price/value options for where we want to be. So since I'm an irregular user of the chain. Points for hotel use would probably expire at some point. But it is possible to set it up to get a pretty token number of airline miles per Accor stay, and hey, the 120 Delta Sky Pesos I got for one night at the Garmisch Mercure are better than leaving them on the table, er, hotel front desk.

tev9999

The value is there if you plan right and look at credit card bonuses. I've managed to get my business travel down to 20-25 nights a year, so I really don't earn a ton of points that way. Holiday Inn is my preferred brand for the consistency, availability at my work destinations, and their bonus challenges. I also use Hilton and Club Carlson.

Last fall I went to London and Scotland. Since I planned far enough out, I found the Club Carlson card that gives you your last award night free. The signup bonus was enough to get me two two-night reservations in London that would have cost $1400 if paid for in cash.

I also burned some banked IHG points around Scotland, but when I could get a $70 B&B instead of spending 35,000 points for the HIX, I went that way. I was also looking at city centers so I could have some pints and not worry about driving, and UK HIXs tend to be out by motorways. It took a lot of planning, and it is always nice to have a bank of points in case you don't want to spend the cash. Overall I got seven award nights with a value of $1880 for 100K CC and 65K IHG points. I also spent about $70 each for B&B in Inverness and hotel in Oban (which ultimately got paid for with Cap One points).

IHG also has some good promotions. The Into The Nights challenge promo in Q4 last year earned me two free nights and 20,000 points. Business travel covered most of my challenges, but I was two Saturday night stays short of the goal. I ended up booking a local Candlewood Suite at $65 for two Saturdays - I didn't even stay. Just checked in and left. That $130 earned me two free nights that have since been booked at the Intercontinental Dublin - a $750 value. The 20K points that also came with it are worth about $200, so a little planning and $130 got me $1000.

As I am hitting Ireland in the fall, I have a spreadsheet showing the IHG, Hilton and Club Carlson properties that may fit my itinerary. I also looked at the Chase Marriott 70K bonus, but as Marriott is weak in Ireland there is no point for this trip. The spreadsheet includes cost in both dollars and points (including easy to update $<>Euro conversion). From this I have concluded Club Carlson is my target as I can get redemption values from .009 to .015 per point, and the credit card gives 5X everywhere. I'll do some light manufactured spending to build up around 50K points that should cover four nights.

The other benefit is that points stays are typically refundable, so I can be guaranteed a bed but still change to a cheap cash room if it becomes available.

Soooo...

1. Figure out where you want to go.
2. Figure out what it will cost in points and dollars to get/stay there
3. Figure out how to get the points

xooz

Nowadays I have no business travel... zero. I do have a lot of credit card spend due to my business. I pump lots of dollars into SPG, HH and Carlson cards. We travel a lot and rarely pay for a room.

So for me, the various hotel plans are extremely advantageous and I use them 100% for leisure award stays. I do occasionally pay for a stay if the price is $100 or less.

JerryFF

+1 ^

xooz

Thanks JerryFF! Was starting to think I was the only one...

sdsearch

You have some fallacies here. You've pointed out that it's hard to find consistent brands because you're against renting cars and so specific about location, and yet you conclude that your inability to find consistent brands is solely because you a leisure traveler?

Your problem is that you're restricted by not having a rental car. It has nothing to do with whether you're a leisure or business traveler.

I usually rent a car (except in a few big cities), or am in my own car (on trips within a few hours' driving distance from home) and have no problems using specific hotel brands, even though I'm a 100% leisure traveler. And in cities with a great public transport system, the expensive hotels are usually in the center and the less expensive hotels are usually a bit further out, so even on price alone I don't tend to necessarily stay near where I need to be, if I can stay 7 subway stops away cheaper and at a preferred brand.

On the other hand, I can imagine that a business traveler whose company choose the hotel rather than the traveler choosing the hotel is going to have just as many problems using specific hotel brands as you do!

So it has nothing to do with leisure vs business travel, and everything do with other factors.

swag

I'm self employed, sometimes my business travel is paid for, sometimes it's included in my contract rate. Lately the latter, which means every dollar I save goes into my pocket. So I'm not traveling on OPM, but do have far more nights than the typical leisure traveler.

Anyway, I think the question of "Do hotel loyalty programs have any value" can be broken up into at least 3 separate questions.

First, does elite status have value? As Adam1222 notes, the benefits can have real value - but I'd argue that if you're paying extra or going out of your way (much longer walk to the train station) often, in order to earn that status, then big picture, it's probably not worth your time or money. I've got a whole stack of hotel credentials listed under my user name - mid tier and top tier - but rarely get many tangible benefits, since most of my stays are at less-than-full-service hotels. At a Residence Inn or Hyatt House, every room is a suite and everyone gets breakfast and internet, so all my status gets me is a few extra bonus points.

Second, you mentioned credit cards. Most hotel credit cards don't reward spend very well. There are exceptions, as you note - I use my SPG Amex for everyday spend. But a card like the Chase Marriott visa is dreadful - you might need to spend $35,000 un-bonused or more or so to earn a single free night in a big city Marriott. No thanks! A 2% cash back card would be a much better choice, if that were your redemption goal.

Still, the card benefits may make them worthwhile, just to hold and keep in the sock drawer unused. In particular, the annual free night that many offer, can easily be worth more than the annual fee.

Third, consider the earnings from your stays. Again, I'd say in general, the points earned aren't worth going out of your way for, or paying extra. But the limited time bonus offers may be worth chasing. This quarter, I'm completing the Hyatt, IHG, and Club Carlson bonus offers. In each case, the payback is roughly 1 free night earned for a business week's (4 night) stay. So that's worth paying attention to.

But whatever your personal situation, remember that these programs cost nothing to join, and eventually your points may add up. So use the OTA to find the hotel, pick what works best for you regardless of brand (unless chasing a bonus), but you should still actually book via the hotel website if the rates are the same (and file a BRG if they aren't!) to get full earning, and to simplify matters if things go amiss.

Gamecock

These days I am a leisure traveler and manage to maintain Platinum status with SPG via stays.

Enjoy the upgrades and late checkout. I do earn enough points for a nice, week long redemption every couple years without too much effort.

onthego15

I'm retired, so all of my hotel stays are leisure. I enjoy free nights as much as I enjoy free flights. My hotel credit cards have given me many, many free nights, many discounted nights and occasional perks and upgrades. What's not to like about getting all of these via hotel loyalty programs?

lmwong1977

I'm too low on the totem pole at work to have business travel so all leisure for me. I do a big vacation about once a year and I've been pretty loyal to Hilton for about 5 years. It's not as good as it was when the AXON/GLON code made pt redemptions really nice on the 4-6 night stays but in combination with their different credit cards sign-up bonuses, it still works ok.

I've had some killer vacations with points including hotels near San Diego Comic Con for 3 years. The hotels go for $500-1000+/nt during that time and not dealing with the convention hotel lottery is a priceless value by itself; London twice - once with the now dead GLON code to save on points per night - value $300-400/nt; 4 nights in Melbourne, Australia was going for ~$300/nt; a weekend in NYC where the premium pts rate was cheaper than the standard + there was a promo in 2012 that gave you back 30% of the points.

I also have the Club Carlson credit card that gives you the 1+1 free which doubles your value out of the box.

IHG is good too - bigger footprint then Carlson or Hyatt more like Hilton/Marriott with lots of brands/hotels in the big cities. I did a points and cash for Paris. $70 for a central Paris hotel is a huge bargain.

So yes, hotel loyalty programs (with their credit card signup bonuses) have been huge values for this leisure traveler.

CMK10

I think so. I earned enough Hilton points last year from stays averaging around $100/night at US properties to redeem for three nights at the Conrad Hong Kong this year. Not only that, but the status gets me upgrades, free internet, free breakfast etc.

Saying I need to stay somewhere while traveling anyway, I may as well leverage it into some benefits.

MSPeconomist

OP needs to carefully consider how his/her destinations relate to chain coverage. If travel tends to focus on places where some brands are absent, avoid those brands. Ideally, try to concentrate most of your stays in about two programs and learn how to use those two, including keeping up with promo offerings, registration, and requirements.

OP should also be award that some chains don't give elite status benefits at properties that are considered (at least by the hotel itself) to be resorts.