Well, it's been a little while since I stayed in a Choice Hotel but I still have the credit card and a bank of points (about 11000 currently). I used to frequently use my point balance to book stays, with 6000 or 8000 points for a Comfort Inn or Quality Inn (or occasionally Sleep Inn) being the best possibie deal but more often for 10000 or 12000 points.


I started looking into a stay along the route between the midwest (Nebraska) and Washington for a roadtrip this summer, plugging in various locations along the way and almost all of the hotels show 20000 or 16000 points per night, even in locations that are not likely to be tourist friendly. It could be because i'm looking in July, but has there been a bump-up in redemption amounts lately? The single 8000 point room I could find was an Econo Lodge in Spokane, WA.

I remember when they used to always do the "stay two nights get a third night free" with 8000 points being the reward... but if it's this difficult to find any hotel for 8000 points, doesn't seem to ring true anymore. Any idea what's changed, or am I just crazy?

- DC