I have booked directly with the hotel in order to get the benefits and asked them to match the best price I could find on the Internet. In the case of le Palais in Prague, the hotel's own website had far better rates than the corporate site or Expedia. On all 4 iPrefer stays (montreal x3, Prague x1) i have had an upgraded room, free Internet and some sort on in room amenity. No points, but for an infrequent guest, really a pretty good deal.