iahphx

Yeah, the Swiss Franc is something else. While a lovely country, financially, it's never really made sense to vacation in Switzerland in my lifetime. I tend to nip in and out. It sure doesn't make any sense to vacation there now.

I've actually got a layover at GVA coming up. I'm planning on staying in France. Switzerland is one country, though, where it still might pay to redeem your hotel points.

GUWonder

According to some Swiss hoteliers, the recent strong showing of the CHF (against various currencies) is going to lead to a decline in demand for hotel nights in Switzerland and come with declining nightly rates and/or lower occupancy and revenue. [The strong USD is being blamed for an inability of hoteliers to jack up hotel rates in NYC.]

I'm still redeeming at least Choice and Carlson points for European hotel nights this year -- but not in Switzerland.

iahphx

Yeah, I would think this will completely crush Swiss tourism. Why would any Western European vacation in Switzerland now? Unless you cared zero about how much you paid (aka Davos), it would be, um, insane.

For the moment (since we're not at parity), there are still some European award stays that make sense. As you mentioned, Club Carlson makes sense if you have the credit card and get the free second night. Where are you staying with Choice points? Are there any wacky (aka 8000 to 10000 point) redemptions this year on the Continent?

Eastbay1K

The world doesn't revolve around the hotel point exchange rate du jour. Not as good a value doesn't translate to "bad year." If I was planning on using points for, i.e., a US$400 room and now I could pay only $320 for it, I'd still use my points, and still feel fine about my use of said points.

Eastbay1K

"Crush" tourism? Plenty of Western Europeans may want to go to Switzerland, and even if their trip costs 30% more, it won't materially affect their lives, or they will perhaps eat at a less expensive restaurant, etc.

The "rationale" presented makes it seem that no USA residents would have, in their right minds, ever have visited Europe once the USD and EUR were no longer at parity.

Hmmmm. I think I'll cancel the trip to Geneva and head to Damascus right now. Better value. Maybe my heirs can get a refund on the return airfare when my head isn't attached to the rest of my body. But look at all the money I'll save!

iahphx

Oh, c'mon. You're being silly. It would be pretty darn foolish to ski in the Swiss Alps instead of the French Alps. I wouldn't want to own a Swiss resort hotel right now.

pinniped

I get what the OP is saying. I'm booked this summer, two-week family vacation (in two rooms), and the only points I'm redeeming are one Marriott Travel Package, simply because that award is awesome no matter what the exchange rate is. The 2nd Marriott room is cash, and the 2nd week (different location) is cash.

Plus I'm so used to the $1.30-1.40 figure in my mind for regular spending, the end cost of the trip will be a pleasant surprise if it's actually all done at $1.10-1.20.

I can see where some of the programs that fix the award level to the brand might still be attractive. We did a Holiday Inn stay in Paris during max-peak season a couple years ago...well over a cent per point for IHG, which is far better than I do in the U.S. (And the Holiday Inn itself was actually decent, unlike many of them in the U.S.)

darthbimmer

I don't agree that's true. The two chains I stay frequently with, Marriott and IHG, set redemption categories based on demand for award nights. In general this results in hotels with expensive cash rates requiring more points for redemption-- because the cash rate is driven by demand, too. But there are plenty of hotels where the two types of demand are out of sync and the cash rate is low while the points cost is high, or vice versa.

pinniped

Perhaps the test would be to go back and look at category creep in years when the EUR appreciated against the USD. If hotels jumped categories more or less across the board (e.g., no major shift in tourism trends from one year to the next...or perhaps even a *decrease* in tourism), then you could attribute it to the currency movement. Or some of it anyway. (None of these chains will say exactly what their category formula is, of course...)

We always remember the creeps upward as being more severe than the adjustment downward. Those threads are probably still around here somewhere...2010/11 might be a good place to look.

Eastbay1K

Oh, they'll "weather the storm" just fine.

It isn't foolish to ski in the Swiss Alps instead of the French Alps if you love the resort area, etc., that you're staying at.

For many, a lot more goes into travel than just the cost, and a 20% sway in things isn't going to materially affect the plans of many.

iahphx

Starwood is the best managed hotel loyalty program, and Hyatt has their act together, too. They definitely tie award categories to room rates. If you look at the annual "change" charts, you'll see a strong correlation between categories and currency moves.

IHG is weird: if you say it's based on award night demand, I can't tell you that's wrong. Generally, more expensive IHG hotels require more points, but not always. It's not uncommon for me to look for an IHG hotel in a city and find two hotels charging equal published rates, but one being 2x on points. Some of this seems to be brand-related, but not all of it.

I don't have as much experience with Marriott (I've only recently become a gold through my UA status), but my limited experience is that they operate with more "competency" than IHG, and that the hotels with expensive room rates are also expensive to redeem for. My guess is they will raise and lower categories based on USA-denominated room prices.

I guess in a year or so we'll see if I'm right. In the short term, perhaps some "overpriced" hotels will offer more "points and cash" redemptions to juice award demand.

GUWonder

Starwood claimed that its award nights were priced based on future rate (or award night reimbursement cost) expectations (presumably in USD-denominated terms) rather than just on historical rate expectations. I doubt that I ever completely bought that line as anything more than just a rationalization of changes the program was making to try to meet expectations for increased profits in the following reporting periods.

Concerto

I came a bit late to this, but I wanted to mention that the Swiss franc makes visiting the US a bargain for those of us based in Switzerland at the moment (a franc seems to be 0.89 cents just now). Same with the pound, which is as low against the franc as I've ever seen. Not quite sure how the Euro can ride this one out, though.

Let me know when you're in GVA, iahphx, and I'll see if I am around for a meet up. I will be rehearsing 'Cabaret' during the next 2 months.

iahphx

Congrats, Concerto, on being the world's "filthy rich" for the moment. Everyone in Switzerland should take the year off and travel the world for next-to-nothing -- especially because there might not be much work to do because Switzerland is going to have a hard time selling anything in Swiss Francs.

Sadly, though, my GVA visit is going to be extremely short: just a place to sleep between connecting low-fare flights. Given the value of the CHF, though, that's probably a good thing!

GUWonder

Sweden, Norway, Denmark. With a scattering of other European financial or political capitals during work days; and some other places in Europe during big events in town.