Originally Posted by
oldjack
This is just a guess, but maybe there is less computer system integration with some foreign destinations.
Definitely true. I recently had an award stay in Germany and the hotel fouled up the reservation. I had had a stay for 2 nights, then needed to change it to one night, but was instructed by the Choice Service Center to cancel the one reservation and make a new one as it would be ´easier´. Well, long story short, the hotel ended up not having a record of the new res, just the old cancelled res. They apparently just get emails and faxes from Choice and then have to enter them into their internal system, and reservation numbers, etc. are meaningless to them.
In most of Europe, there is a frequent guest program, but it operates on getting stamps in a little booklet--10 stamps equals one free night.
Originally Posted by
lessthanzero
+ You cannot earn miles abroad
+ You can use miles abroad
This is odd as there must be some compensation scheme for the using of points. And since proerties in Europe on the whole are more expensive than here, it makes the imbalance even greater.
Hence I worry that they may curb the usage in Europe by either disallowing it, or more likely, raising the # of points required there.
Systems integration (see above) is one issue. Another is the existence of multiple operating units. Choice Hotels Europe is now (but has not always been) a unit of the main company Choice Hotels International which is based in the US. Choice Hotels Scandinavia is under separate ownership, operating with a licensing agreement. Choice Hotels Australasia is a unit of Choice Hotels International. Scandinavia and Australasia have their own rewards program for their properties. Europe has the above-mentioned stamp program.