NoDamage

I'm planning to do some extended travel with my girlfriend for about a year or so and am trying to figure out the best strategy for finding hotel accommodations. We're currently in Southern California, and the current plan is to go up the west coast exploring various cities along the way, and then make our way by train across the US towards the east coast, and then head off towards Europe and Asia afterwards. All travel will be paid for personally, so minimizing costs would be ideal.

I've gone through the airline miles card promos (Citi AA 75k personal/biz, UA 50k, CO 50k, Amex MR 75k, BA 100k), but have essentially no hotel points and no status with any of the hotel programs, so I would be mostly starting from scratch there.

Right now I'm trying to figure out whether it makes more sense to book hotels at points earning rates, in order to redeem those points towards future award stays, or to simply save the extra cash and book everything via Priceline. My average daily hotel budget probably tops out at $100 or so (and of course, I would like to spend less, where possible). It seems like Priceline can get you pretty decent hotels in the $40-80/night range in most cities, whereas most hotel programs points earning rates are closer $80-$120/night.

My initial impression is that it would be difficult to make up for the 30-60% Priceline savings via hotel points and award nights. But perhaps I am wrong and there are certain programs better suited for that purpose? If so, which ones?

I imagine if I can get 1 free night for every 2-3 paid nights, it might be worth it to go with the hotel program route, especially if the award nights can be redeemed at higher end hotels. But is this even remotely feasible? It seems like many of the hotel loyalty programs are oriented more towards business travelers whose expenses are reimbursed, because they can generate points on expensed stays and use those points towards personal vacation stays.

So what do you guys think? If you're paying out of pocket for extended travel, is Priceline too cost effective to beat, or can you make up for added cost of a standard hotel booking via the extra points, status, and perks that it generates?

UALsandiego

This is a tough one. Well, I would say that if you are traveling for THAT long, then you will probably oftentimes stay in smaller cities and towns. In those, chain hotels are usually much cheaper. Since you do get LOTS of perks and free nights, especially if you do it right, I'd argue that joining a hotel program may be the better choice, even though you will have to pay more at first. It will be balanced out later. Priority Club has lots of specials and offeres certain times of the year where you can literally get free nights left and right.
On the other hand, if you don't wanna spend the extra money in the beginning, are planning on being in large cities and touristy places MOST of the time, and like to prepay, then I'd go with hotwire and then priceline... That's just me

Campath

You are absolutely right about hotel loyalty programs being geared towards business travelers. But for some people the comfort of knowing exactly where you will be staying and the ability to make a refundable stay far outweighs any price advantage that Priceline offers.

If you understand the restrictions of Priceline and Hotwire and are willing to spend time learning the optimum bidding strategy then by all means use it.

In the larger cities definitely use Hotwire or Priceline unless you find a great deal at a chain hotel for your specific dates.

In smaller towns, if you can get a chain hotel for about $80 or so then take it. Priceline isn't going to save you all that much on such a low rack rate, so its not worth losing out on points to save just a few $$. Anything more than $100 for a chain hotel then use Priceline.

2 sites that you MUST bookmark:
http://www.biddingtraveler.com/
http://www.betterbidding.com/

1 site you must NEVER use:
http://biddingfortravel.yuku.com/

If you are undecided about which hotel loyalty program to join, I suggest Priority Club. They have hotels practically anywhere you might choose to go. IMO You can rack up points much faster than on any other program.

Check out the IHG forum to learn how to maximize your points earning strategy. Also remember to read about the Friends and Family rate at IHG hotels. I would also consider applying for a Priority Club credit card.

Please bookmark:
http://frequentflyerbonuses.com/priorityclub.html
http://www.priorityclubinsider.com/a...points-offers/

PS: Also remember to check Groupon daily for all the places you plan to visit over the next year.

infamousdx

Campath - why not use biddingfortravel?

Campath

Read http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/onlin...ravel-com.html

Basically the owner of the site is on a power trip. Rest of the story I will let you figure out from reading the thread. It's quite amusing actually.

swag

For this sort of travel, I'd go with Priceline/Hotwire, or whatever site gave me the best rates for the area and quality I was looking for.

The aforementioned perks are greatest when staying at higher end hotels (which will likely be above your price range). For example, with Marriott, at the full service hotels, Golds & Plats get lounge access and free internet. But at the lower Marriott brands like Towneplace and Springhill, everyone gets free breakfast & internet, and there's little benefit to having status.

If you were staying an extended time in one city, say a month or more, I'd want to avoid multiple hotel switches and have more control over which exact property I was at, so I'd book directly (call the hotel directly and ask for a sales manager to negotiate rate) and work towards status. But if you're moving city to city frequently, the impact of one bad priceline hotel is minimized.

infamousdx

Ok that explained it perfectly, hahaha. Thank you for that, Campath.

pinniped

I'd probably go with a mix. Priceline higher-end hotels in cities and pick a program like Priority Club for smaller towns. PC allows promotions to be heavily stacked so a few stays will quickly yield a meaningful amount of points. PC also has coverage in both Europe and Asia so you could use the free nights in places cities where the rates are high and/or the USD is weak.

Two key points about Priority Club: (1) The primary benefit is free nights. It's not a program where Platinum status yields a lot of intangible benefits. You'll be staying in a lot of properties where the status itself does not matter much. (2) It's a program based first and foremost on the midscale level, with Intercontinental hotels representing a small minority of total program properties. Sort of the reverse from MR and SPG where the companies were based first on full-service brands and only later added in midscale brands.

Those two points might alienate some biz travelers, but they might actually work out in your favor for this kind of trip...as long as you're okay with your reward nights also being done at Holiday Inns, Crowne Plazas, etc.

With Priceline, don't book more than a day or two in advance: you guys WILL want to improvise your travels as you go. Longest backpack venture I've ever done was only 1 month and by the end of the first week we'd already replanned the rest of it two or three times. Some people talk about a sweet spot for bidding being about a month in advance. While that may be true, it's usually true by a few bucks max. So what if Bidder A got a hotel for $60 one month out and you had to bid $70 to get it 2 days out? Having the flexibility to tweak your trip as you go will be worth it.

I agree with the posters above about the integrity of the owner of that website, but don't hesitate to lurk the site and gather data points about how and what to bid. More information is better, and that one has a large critical mass of data. Just don't log in and post there or you'll get flamed and probably banned. (I think I'm still banned. Doesn't stop me from lurking though! )

And most importantly of all: follow the boards here for whatever programs you choose. The Priority Club guys in particular are always all over the promotions, constantly posting updates. I'm a PC n00b myself - finishing the Crack the Case promo this week - and they're a friendly bunch to people with questions. (Just read their FAQ and promo discussion thread first.)

The Travelbuzz section will have some good info on your trip itself. Lots of Flyertalkers have done that West Coast roadie...I've done most of the Cali part of it and want to get back out to do the Oregon/Wash part sometime soon.

MJLouise

Be sure to sign up for the Amtrak Guest Rewards card too if you can stand one more Chase application. Your Continental miles will transfer 1:1 to AGR for some sweet sleeper deals.

lwildernorva

It's good to do your strategic planning in advance but book your actual travel plans somewhat on the fly. I think Priceline offers good value as long as you're willing to accept its limitations. I also think, however, that hotel loyalty programs can offer some good value as well.

First, in doing your research, do some dummy bookings at various hotel websites or on third-party sites, like Travelocity and Expedia. When doing these bookings, check weekend as well as weekday rates. I think you'll find that some of the conventional wisdom about the price of hotels in big cities versus small cities evaporates when you get to weekends. I've found some very good deals at nice hotels in San Francisco on weekends that beat the prices I'd be likely to find for similar or lesser hotels in a smaller town, such as Wilmington, NC. I suspect that because business travel drives a lot of big city hotel occupancy, rates fall on Fridays and Saturdays and may go back up on Sunday night in anticipation of the coming work week. This principle just doesn't seem as strong in small towns, other than tourist small towns where in-season prices tend to stay high on weekends and weekdays. Although you might want to keep your travel plans flexible, I think you'll find that a sound strategy involves trying to hit big cities mostly on weekends and smaller towns during the week while avoiding, if possible, the peak season in any places that are mostly tourist destinations (think Santa Cruz or Monterey in the summer). The rate information you get will be supplemental information you can use if you decide to use Priceline to book hotels.

Second, you might consider outlying properties, both in small towns and in big cities, depending on the transportation options available. For instance, I know that it's possible to get some reasonably priced accommodations around San Francisco International Airport that are located relatively close to BART lines. Although I think you can find a good hotel at a good price in the city on weekends, if your travels took you to SF during the week, this option might provide you with a reasonably priced hotel and access to San Francisco without fighting the nightmare of driving and parking in the city. At the same time, in smaller towns that are tourist oriented, you may find an outlying hotel that is reasonably priced as well. For instance, there is a Red Roof Inn in Watsonville, California, located almost midway between Monterey and Santa Cruz, that probably won't cost more than $80 a night and that can serve as a base for going to those two small towns.

Third, if you decide to go the hotel loyalty route, there may be some benefit in pursuing a two-tier strategy. Pick a lower-end chain, such as Choice or Wyndham, as well as a higher-end brand, such as IHG, Hilton, Hyatt, or SPG. Then balance your stays between the two, depending on the price that meets your $100/day budget. Keep in mind that most of the promotions these chains run tend to vary on a quarterly basis so whatever benefit you may gain on one portion of your trip, you may find will change in no more than three months.

For instance, using my own two-tier strategy with Choice and SPG as an example, I can currently earn 8000 Choice points with every two stays (with a stay defined as one night in most Choice hotels although as two nights in certain of their cheaper or extended-stay properties). With my elite level, I'm currently limited to receiving four of these point accumulations (which Choice loosely refers to as free nights, but which may not equal a free night at a majority of their properties); higher elite levels may receive up to ten of these accumulations. With SPG, I can qualify for a free night with every three stays (and as opposed to the Choice program, truly a free night) at a number of their resort properties (about 200 worldwide) but not all of their hotels. And, unlike Choice, there is no limit on the number of free resort nights I can earn. The current programs run until late July/August and then a new round of promotions with different terms will begin that will probably take you to Halloween/Thanksgiving.

Choice's network of hotels (as well as Wyndham's) are found in many small towns where SPG, IHG, Hyatt, and Hilton would never make an appearance. In addition, you're very likely to find that their hotels will charge from $60-100 per night, allowing you to apply the balance saved to pay for hotels above your $100 average when you need to stay at Hyatt, Hilton, IHG, or SPG properties. And one final thing about Choice: although we think of them as mostly an American chain, they have properties all over the world, and you'd be surprised at how many of them you can get for an 8000-point award redemption (check out Paris, Prague, Rome, and Tokyo as examples).

Fourth, if you go the loyalty route, I'd check out some of the loyalty credit cards. Although the sign up bonuses for these credit cards won't generally get you more than two to five free nights, those are free nights--again money that you can use in other places in your budget to cover the increased cost of a hotel in a bigger city or for a splurge. In addition, most of these cards tend to confer some level of status within the hotel's elite structure, sometimes meaning that you earn hotel points faster (for instance, at SPG hotels, gold and higher levels earn 3 points per dollar spent on hotel reservations and incidental hotel charges, such as meals at the hotel restaurant, rather than the standard 2).

Fifth, your computer (iPhone, iPad, etc.) is your friend, not just now as you prepare for your trip but as you travel. For your current planning, check the hotel sub-forums here on FT; these are a wealth of information, both about the general operations of the chain as well as, in some instances, specific properties. While you're traveling, unless it's a busy season in a particular area (another thing you can probably research using your computer), I tend to make my leisure travel reservations on the fly. Especially for lower-end chains, I recommend checking a site like TripAdvisor before making a reservation. Just as with any Internet opinion site, you have to learn to weigh the opinions and take some with a grain of salt, but if you regularly see a comment, such as "in bad area of town," in a review, you'll probably want to avoid it. Your computer will also help you learn of new promotions. For instance, SPG is currently running a promotion with Foursquare giving you a bonus of 250 points each time you check in during a stay at one of their hotels. Depending on how lucky you are with the rate you get at the hotel, this bonus may meet or exceed the points you've earned from paying for the hotel.

Sixth, don't completely rule out non-hotel accommodations that may prove cheaper. In my travels in Ireland and Scotland, I've found many B&Bs as good as or better than many hotels for about half the price. I don't use hostels, but my sister had a very good experience at one she used in Dublin this past March that cost her about a third the price of the hotel I stayed in last summer. I don't think these alternatives are as good in this country (B&Bs tend to be overpriced here in comparison with the ones I've used in Ireland and Scotland while hostels tend to be much less comfortable and safe here than their European counterparts).

I hope my post has raised more questions than it has answered because that's its intent. There's no way to convey all of the subtleties of travel programs in a long web article, much less a forum post (what's a "stay" as opposed to a "night"?). I'm not suggesting following my strategy to the letter. I am suggesting that you look at all of the chain hotel websites, both to get a feel for their pricing and for their award structure. Play with Priceline a bit. You may like it, you may not. Figure out what kinds of hotels work best for you and your girlfriend. I think you've set a reasonable goal for the amount you want to pay for hotel accommodations. Further research will help you figure out how to stay under your budget with some occasional splurges included (with the current SPG promo, I'll end up converting each set of three $70 per night Sheraton/Aloft/Four Points stays into a $550 per night room at the Turnberry Resort in Scotland in August--that's a splurge I'm looking forward to).

Good luck!

Interpol

Just read that entire thread. Wow. Just...wow.

MDtR-Chicago

Some great ideas here. I would also encourage using priceline/hotwire/entertainment rate as your primary method, and then, when it makes sense financially, work in these options:

(1) Get a Priority Club and/or Marriott credit card - their sign up bonuses seem to yield the most valuable results. If you could get both, you'd have enough points for at least 7 nights in decent hotels plus two free night certificates.

(2) Make sure you stay enough each quarter to maximize the promotions each program offers. For example, if you could book two cheap weekend stays at a lower Marriott brand (like a Fairfield), you get back a free night cert. With Priority Club, if you register for enough promos, your first stay could easily earn you back a free night. There's also a $75 rebate on weekend stays right now.

Use (1) and (2) only when they are more cost-effective than using an opaque site or in the rare instance where precise location/cancellation matters.

(Also, always give your loyalty program number at check in on priceline stays. Often you'll get credit anyway.)

Would be great if you would report back and let us know how it all plays out.

NoDamage

Thanks for the tips everyone. I've gotten pretty used to the bidding strategies using Priceline/Hotwire so that's not an issue at all. Having flexible dates helps us quite a bit there too.

Priority Club seems to be getting the most recommendations, so I'll definitely look further into their program. Out of curiosity, with all of the promos stacked, how many points can you generally earn per stay?

I'll probably do the Priority Club card a few months down the line...too many recent Chase applications (BA and CO in the past 30 days) so I doubt they'd give me another one anytime soon.

NoDamage

Yup, I've already moved 30k miles into Amtrak specifically for a cross country sleeper redemption.

NoDamage

So it seems like the general consensus is to do a mix of both: Priceline/Hotwire in areas where the chain hotels are expensive, and squeeze in the hotel programs in cheaper areas where the rates aren't that much higher than Priceline.

We're happy to stay in lower end hotels to save cash, pretty much the only thing we need is free/cheap internet access wherever we are staying.