youranut

I currently have a Hotel rewards credit card (Wyndham) and have been trying to find out if this is indeed the one to have for my travel aspirations. Is there one hotel chain that has literaly blanketed the globe? I've been on an AirBnB kick and don't want to switch yet, but would like to get free hotel rooms when I want a traditional room. What points program would give access to Hotels in any country in the world? or close to it?

On a side note, is there any way to pay for AirBnB's with some kind of points yet?

KDS777

IHG is supposedly the largest chain in the world ranked by physical locations.

Having said that, the HI and HIX locations thruout North America probably account for that stat.

youranut

yeah I tried googling it too. Couldn't come up with right search terms. I'm looking for the chain that has hotels around the world so that you would never be more than a few hours from a location that would accept your rewards points. Maybe my wyndham card is the one I'm looking for. What I really need is a way to use Wyndham points for an AirBnB. Anyone know that trick?

EmailKid

Well, changing the search terms a bit did indeed find Wyndham to be largest chain by number of properties, which include:

Dolce Hotels, Wyndham Grand, Viva Wyndham
Wyndham, TRYP by Wyndham, Esplendor Boutique Hotels, Dazzler Hotels
Wyndham Garden, Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham, Wingate by Wyndham, Ramada Worldwide, Trademark Hotel Collection
Howard Johnson, Baymont Inn & Suites, AmericInn, La Quinta Inn & Suites,
Days Inn, Super 8, Travelodge, Knights Inn, Microtel by Wyndham

youranut

Thanks for your reply. But number of properties isn't what I'm looking for. A chain could have the most properties and have none in say....Bolivia. I depend on points for travel. I don't want my destination choices influenced by the fact my chosen credit card program doesn't have locations in the location I really want to go. I'm just gonna have to find the right query or find the person who has already found the answer.

KDS777

I doubt that what you are looking for, exists to the extent that you wish it did.

Mauibaby2008

trooper

The OP is right...no matter how you phrase the search google will always provide answers on the chain with the MOST hotels... not the most coverage... frustrating....

Catweazle

True that – it all depends on where you are most likely going to travel.

I was with Hilton Honors, and they have a large number of choices across the USA, Asia and Europe but only the odd one scattered throughout Oceania. And now Melbourne only has the one, which in my view is nothing of a 5-star hotel.

Pick a few main ones for the meantime, and give it a few years for AirBnB to pick up the threads on this one. No doubt they'll come up with some sort of loyalty scheme in the future – most companies seem to these days. Unless you don't mind booking online via third party booking systems – can't recall the name of it now, but there's one that offers small cashbacks each time you book with them.

84fiero

As mentioned above diversification is really the key since there isn't any chain that will cover every single place you want to visit, or even a majority of them (depending on your travel goals of course). Even if you figured out what chain has a presence in the most countries (which, with some time, I'm sure can be determined), that doesn't help if your chain's presence in a given country is in one city 250 miles from the area you'd like to visit.

The other reasons to diversify are (a) you may not find a reward night available at the time you want to visit with Program A so you need to rely on Program X instead, (b) the available properties in a given program at a particular location may be undesirable for a variety of reasons, and (c) all loyalty programs devalue over time - some worse/more quickly than others.

In fact, personally I've backed off focusing on hotel rewards programs as the value is so poor with most of them anymore. There are better uses for my CC spend than a hotel card (the exception being SPG due to transfers to airline programs). Another exception is a card like that IHG CC since the annual free night cert is worth keeping it - though I don't put much everyday spend on it.

cbn42

If you want global coverage, I suggest you stick with an OTA. I personally use hotels.com. Stay 10 nights, get one free. You are not restricted to one chain, and they have options in almost all major cities.

VUE

IGH would be the biggest one.

pekkasson

I would guess Hilton or DaysInn

youranut

Thanks for all the replies. I guess I'll have to consider diversification. That sucks for me because I don't spend enough to make progress in more than one program. If I spend money for rooms it will be with AirBnB. I love the points thing though because it seems like a free trip. And free trips are infinitely more relaxing for me than ones I pay for. If I am paying for a trip I feel "pressured to get my moneys worth". On free trips I have a super grateful and content feeling and have a much better time. Yes I'm neurotic.

EmailKid

Well, Hotels.com has a program where if you stay 10 times, you can get a free night.

I built up my 10 hotels and was hoping for a nice hotel as a reward, alas the way it works is that they average the 10 stays, and that's what you get, not necessarily a free night.

So it turns out my "free night" was actually a discount equivalent to average of previous 10 stays, because next hotel cost more. So not free, but a significant discount, and had I stayed at a cheaper property, it would have been free.