Tolarian Wind-

You are on the mark with the Q and that's exactly what I was trying to resolve; its not like I'm a Diamond with 40 stays per year and should know better (but I am). I've just had a sketchy experience with some hotels. The partner relationships (points & miles) rules are clear, but the experience is not in alignment.

There are two entries on your folio at checkout AL and AL Bonus (in addition to the frequent flyer and stayer numbers and the CR--car rental). Does it matter whether both fields AL and AL Bonus are filled in [n.b. chix and others say no, shareholder and others say yes]? I can't figure it out, so I've been in the habit of ensuring that both fields are filled in at checkin time. For some stays, I've had the 250 points for an airline partner without having flown. For some stays, I've had another 250 point bonus layered above. Foolish me, I asked the service center and it was characterized as 250 points for the airline, whether or not I travelled by air, and 250 points for showing my boarding pass [I'm still not convinced and it may have been that the particular hotel had some odd bonus that wasn't publicized well, but I just don't get it].

Now I know that you can get miles whether or not you fly, but have you received HHonors points without flying and then bonus HHonors points layer above for flying with a partner? I've had it both ways and I'm trying to understand what others had in the way of experience before I decide whether I had some lost points or a small windfall. It could very well be that the AL and the FF number are strictly for the miles (whether or not you fly and credited to whatever airline you chose) and the AL Bonus is for the points and it is assumed that you flew.

I just gots to know.