Having issues with using Choice hotel points on Preferred hotel rewards
 

This is my first try to do this, and it seems harder than I thought... I called twice and spent more than half an hour on the phone and got nothing.
I'm planing use my Choice hotel points for two-night stay at Harbour Grand Hong Kong (30k/night). Both of them seemed have no clue what Preferred Hotel group is, and kept telling me there is no choice hotel in Hong Kong. And the phone just dropped after they transferred me to international line.
The number I called is 888-770-6800. Did I called the wrong number? or what else went wrong.
Anybody had experience on this? I'll really appreciate any input.

Have a great day,
J.

What Choice elite level are you?

Per this page:

http://www.choicehotels.com/en/choic.../partnerhotels
The way it's worded, it could be interpreted as meaning that anyone who's not Elite (Gold, Platinum, or Diamond) can't book these at any time! (However, I see no explicit mention that you have to be at least Elite Gold to book them either.) :confused:

I mention this in case you do need to be Elite to book it, but the agents don't know that explicitly, just know that they must plug in your account number to search for reward hotels for you, and by doing that, their system is automatically filtering out Preferred hotels.

Thanks for your reply. I'm a Plat member.

Well, even if that page says you should call the number you called, if you keep getting no results there, you might try calling Choice Privileges customer service, first find someone who can verify that you should be able to redeem for Preferred Hotels, and then tell them about the experiences you've had calling that number (when actually trying to book). It could be the booking procedure has changed but that they've failed to update the website. Perhaps you need to book through Choice reservations, perhaps you need to book through Choice Privileges customer service, I'm not sure.

I've booked 3 or 4 international trips at Preferred Hotels through Choice by calling 1-888-770-6800. I'd say keep trying until you get someone who can figure it out. As I recall, not everyone at that call center can book Preferred Hotels.

I booked the Harbour Grand, Hong Kong a few weeks ago. And yes, it was not easy, never is. Here's how to do it:

1. Call the number listed (1-888-770-6800)
2. Press option 2 for CP account information
3. It will then ask for your zip code and CP #
4. Press 3 for 'ways to redeem your CP points'
5. Press 0 to be transferred to an operator

Calling any other number (including Plat reservation) or choosing any other option will almost definitely get you someone who doesn't even know which continent Hong Kong is in, let alone what the program is.

When making these reservations allow yourself plenty of time. Often takes upwards of an hour (no joke). The reservationist told me that they only do these reservations once a month, tops. Also, its a good idea to book as far in advance as possible as these hotels often book up.

Props to BESTBET33, that's exactly the approach I've used and it does work. It does appear that the Choice reservationists have limited visibility into the Preferred reservation system as they have typically told me they have to call the properties. I usually try to give them a couple of possible dates so they can try all the options on the call without having to call back. Cheers!

How much success have folks had with the Preferred Hotel Group redemption?

They look like great options but I am curious as to how available reward redemptions are, blackout dates, booking issues, etc. (other then what the OP notes of course, with thanks for the clarification).

It helps to be higher tier elite so the booking window is longer, but once you find an agent who knows how to make a Preferred booking I've had very good success. I believe on the Preferred side these reservations appear as per-paid Travel Agent bookings; I've never encountered any capacity controls beyond normal local availability.

I would highly recommend bringing a hard copy of your email confirmation, I did encounter one property that had no idea how to handle the booking, I gave them the hard copy and they sorted it out with Choice.

Cheers.

Many many thanks. I am Diamond so the 100day booking window should help. I'm looking forward to trying this out.