1. How many paid nights do you stay in hotels each year? How many are business/personal? About 50 to 60 paid nights per year; all for business.

2. What is your primary hotel loyalty program? Starwood.

3. How many hotel loyalty programs do you belong to? How many do you really focus on? One, two, three, more? I belong to six programs, but really focus on just two--Starwood and Hilton.

4. How important is a loyalty program to the hotels you choose to stay in? Huh? Do people stay in hotels for reasons other than loyalty programs? Or to put the point more seriously: extremely important.

5. How far out of your way (or price range) will you go to stay with your preferred hotel, because of its loyalty program? Any specific examples you can share? I'll shop around and research a fair amount to try to find a hotel that's within the explicit or implicit price range for the organization that's paying for my trip. But I never exceed that range.

6. What features of a hotel loyalty program do you find most valuable? What perks are least valuable to you? I use my points for overseas vacations so that my wife and I can stay in wonderful places we otherwise would not be able to afford. This has meant we've stayed for free in fantastic hotels, and sometimes even gotten suites, in South Africa, Argentina, the Caribbean, Thailand, French Polynesia, Australia and many places in Europe, with planned trips to Bali and Mexico soon to be added to the list. So what I most value is a program that has lots of great overseas properties, which is why my favorite program is Starwood--it has a great variety of wonderful properties across the globe. I also highly value being able to sometime use my points not just for regular rooms, but for upgrades to suites--the Starwood program sometimes offers that option, and it sometimes does not require too many points above and beyond a regular room. Finally, and I hope I'm not sounding like too much of a commercial for Starwood, but I also value its cash plus points option, by which a combination of the two makes staying at some properties on vacation a great deal, since neither the cash nor the points required are excessive. One feature I do like a lot about the Hilton program is that it includes free breakfasts for Gold and Diamond members, for both paid and reward stays. Another is that American Airlines frequent flyers such as myself can convert our AA miles into Hilton points at a good exchange rate (with one mile yielding two points). And a feature I like about all programs is the ability for elite members to sometimes upgrade for free to better rooms on paid or award stays--though I try not to get my hopes up too much about this, and instead view it as a nice perk if it happens. Hotel lounge access is also a nice feature of some programs, though usually isn't that important to me unless the hotel has a great lounge. The features I least value in hotel programs are the minor amenities, such as free bottles of water.

7. Do you consider hotel loyalty programs a game, a deserved perk, a competition, or something else? I mainly see hotel loyalty programs as useful marketing tools that mutually benefit the hotel chains, the individual hotels and the customers. What most makes you stay active in accumulating points? On a more emotional level, I also see such programs as a way to take fantastic vacations with my wife.

8. What hotel loyalty program do you most admire, and why? Starwood, mostly for the reasons I mention in #6. In addition, it is very easy to work with in a number of ways: a very good website that provides easily available information on such matters as what it would cost in points to stay at a given property or whether the cash plus points option is available at a hotel for a given date; friendly, well-informed phone representatives; and being very easy to instantly transfer points between my and my wife's Starwood accounts for free. Plus it has a nice option that I never use, but that I realize is valued by others: the ability to convert Starwood points to redeemable miles with a number of major airlines, and to even get a 25 percent bonus while doing so.

9. Where has your primary hotel loyalty program most faltered? Please be specific. The only major downside to Starwood in comparison with Hilton and I believe some other programs is that it does not include free breakfasts for some of its elite members. Though this sounds like a minor matter, the cost of breakfasts can add up if staying at expensive properties and is a nice perk in any event. One reason I sometimes stay at Hiltons rather than Starwoods is because of this perk. As a secondary matter, Hilton sometimes seems better than Starwood at granting lounge access to some elite members.Where have others failed?Though I understand the ongoing inflation in the amounts of points charged for a given award stay, some of the increases seem excessive. Hilton undertook a major increase across the board earlier this year, for example. Hilton more specifically fails in not having a system whereby members can cash in points for suites and not only regular rooms.

10. Do you think that, overall, hotel loyalty programs reflect well on the brand itself? Yes, when they are well run, which is the case with Starwood and to some extent Hilton. Hyatt also seems to have a very good program that reflects well on the company, though the relatively limited number of Hyatt properties makes it tougher for me to accumulate stays and points at its properties in my travels.

11. If you could say anything to the people running your preferred loyalty program(s), what would it be? For Starwood, I'd suggest including free breakfasts for all Gold and Platinum members, so as to avoid losing business to Hilton and other chains. I'd also suggest partnering with Visa or Mastercard to issue a Starwood credit card, since the Starwood American Express card can't be used everywhere. For Hilton, I'd suggest including the ability to cash in points for suites and not just regular rooms. For all chains, I'd of course caution against excessively raising the number of points needed for free rooms.

12. Any other thoughts you’d care to share about hotel loyalty programs in general? The Starwood and Hilton American Express cards, as well as other hotel- and airline-affiliated credit cards, have proven to be great ways to accumulate points. In fact, my wife and I have probably piled up more points through credit card spending than through hotel stays.