Originally Posted by cyberdad
Beg to differ...
I booked a CY online last year. Forgot to cancel. Wound up paying the no-show charge (one night and tax), but I did my get points out of the deal.
That said, I agree that booking a room then being an intentional no-show is a risky strategy.
The technical rules of the program say you don't get points or nights for this kind of maneuver.
However . . . some hotels will accidentally process your points and nights credit anyway.
If you show up and check-in, but then simply leave, you may well get credit for that as long as the hotel doesn't realize you've skipped your stay
and then takes action to not send credit through.
This all falls under the header of "dancing around the terms and conditions". It doesn't always work.