Originally Posted by sc flier

I strongly recommend my Google Earth files to help you plan your trip. Download the file for the properties grouped by Nation. Then once it's loaded into Google Earth, expand the list on the left and select only the 3 countries in which you are interested.

Google Earth also lets you search for key places such as "Frankfurt Airport" to help you put places into perspective. ^

You are right to book as much as you can now. I expect category increases for several of the hotels in these locations.

Unless you are planning to spend extra points for confirmed upgrades, I would recommend booking Cash & Points awards whenever possible. Start by planning your most definite dates at the beginning and end of your trip, and then fill in the parts in between. It sounds like you are already on track for this.

LM Brussels -- Cat4. available for C&P award on Nov 27

Frankfurt -- on Dec 9, four of the five Frankfurt-area properties offer C&P awards. Including the Sheraton Frankfurt Hotel & Towers that is located directly at the airport.

Salzburg -- You say 2 or 3 nights in Salzburg starting on the 5th or 6th. Doesn't that leave an extra night before you get to Frankfurt? The Cat5 Goldener Hirsch has C&P availability for Dec 5-9.

Munich -- At least 5 of the 9 properties here offer C&P awards during your dates.

Nuremburg -- At least 1 of the 2 Cat3 properties here offer C&P awards during your dates.

Remember that if you later decide to make changes to your dates of stay, you basically have to book a new reservation and cancel the old. If the category has increased, you'd have to book under the new category. If rooms are no longer available (or C&P awards are no longer offered), you're out of luck. So if your dates are not certain, you might consider booking more than one reservation until you can work out the details.

Also remember that you can search all of Germany (or any country other than the US) at once by omitting the city from your search. @:-)

Even with C&P awards, you don't have enough points to book all of these now. And I have not given enough consideration to these locations to make specific guesses about which ones will go up in category. If it were me, I'd probably book the ones that are most important to me first. That sounds like the Goldener Hirsch.

Additionally, I'd give some consideration to the impact of a 1-category increase at each property. If a Cat5 goes up to Cat6, the number of points required jumps significantly. Same for Cat3 to Cat4. But a Cat4 to Cat5 change is usually less painful.

If you are a little shy of having enough points to book another hotel now but are worried about a category increase, you could consider buying some points from SPG for 3.5 cents each. If the category goes up, it would probably have been worth it.