Originally Posted by
GoPhils
I guess I'm stating the obvious but hopefully the hotels where you're planning to stay average a Cat 5 (which is pretty hard to do these days), or else you won't have enough points...
Apologies, while I wipe egg off my face... I pulled an Emily Litella with the post below, not realizing the quoted poster was referring to the hotels where the OP will redeem points, rather than the hotels the OP will use to earn the points needed to stay there. Someone emailed me and pointed out the confusion. I'm cleaning the post up a little to take out the snark, but leaving the points there because the issue comes up so often. Again, sorry to the poster quoted above for my misunderstanding.
OP, here some basics...
Consider Cat 3 hotels like the Addison FS ($279/night this Monday) or Cat 2s like the Courtyard Milpitas Silicon Valley. ($339 for the same night) Also consider a Cat 6 like the RI Ft Myers Sanibel ($99 for the same night and you only earn half the points) or a Cat 7 like the Ren Phoenix Glendale. ($109 for the same night)
- Category is based on how popular a hotel is for points redemption.
- Points are earned based on nightly rates, which are driven by what people are willing to pay for a night in the hotel.
- Price has nothing to do with Redemption Category, as the examples above make clear.
Many popular business locations support high rates, but nobody wants to stay there on vacation so there is little demand for points redemption. (AddisonTX, Silicon ValleyCA)