Originally Posted by
cbn42
I book mostly through hotels.com. Get one free night for every 10 nights paid, and you aren't tied to a particular chain. However you don't get status benefits, if that's important to you.
+1 for hotels.com.
Hotels.com is sometimes about that much i.e. 10% more expensive than other channels, so need to compare around. I use hotels.com when the price is the same or cheaper as elsewhere...
I think there are too many hotel programs to achieve anything in one of them as no hotel chain has hotels everywhere (at least where I need to stay).
Maybe the programs work for out people who stay in the same city repeatedly?
I often wonder why there are so many separate hotel programs and no hotel alliances... If there was a hotel alliance that included enough hotels around the world and allowed earning from all included brands, they would probably win big in the market.