Kaitlin

I called Choice Hotels to redeem points at a Buenos Aires hotel with the Preferred Hotel Group. Points were deducted, and a confirmation code was given. However, the reservation did not show up in my Choice account. I couldn't check my reservation on the Buenos Aires hotel's web site. Choice did not email me the reservation details either. All I have is the reservation number the agent gave me over the phone. When I inquired about it, the agent told me it's all they could do.

With only a reservation code and no way to check my reservation online, and not even an email to print out for checking in, I'm not sure if the reservation is secure or not. Is this normal when redeeming points with PHG?

tomy77

Guess not many people frequent this board.
Maybe try emailing/calling the actual property if they have a reservation on that date under your name?

I also have somewhat similar question about this kind of redemption.
I was planning to redeem my points to Preferred hotel Group as well, but i noticed the list is gone now.
Before the have lists of property based on geography and/or how many points it needs.
Now it just go to generic Preferred Hotel site.
http://www.choicehotels.com/en/choic.../partnerhotels

Anyone have any insights about this as well?
Now I'm a bit worried, all my points are scheduled to expire this year.

sdsearch

No, it's no a generic Preferred Hotel site. If you look at the link, it's:

http://www.preferredhotelgroup.com/ChoiceList2013

so it's a Choice list over at the Preferred Hotel site.

And it does not include all Preferred hotels! For example, the Travaasa Hana on Maui comes up at the generic Preferred hotels list, but it does not come up on Choice list over at the Preferred Hotel site.

Which seems to prove that it's a list of Preferred hotels that participate in Choice redemptions.

tomy77

It got redirected to this now, http://www.phgoffers.com
That's why i asked.

Before it sure did.
Maybe they haven't released the new list for 2014 yet?

sdsearch

Oh, I see, redirection after going there. (For a moment, it does put up a Choice title for the page after you go there, but by the time it draws the page, that's gone.)

TheInternationalLine

It definitely appears as if the 2014 list is not yet posted (now 15 days past the new year -- come on, Choice web team!). The 2013 URL referenced above no longer brings up a list of participating hotels.

I hope they're not dropping the partnership -- it's great for booking aspirational awards! Actually, that's been my main use of Choice points over the past few years, especially after Choice Privileges dropped their lucrative points redemption partnership with Barcelo all-inclusive resorts.

I tried submitting a customer service request online inquiring about the Preferred Hotel Group program, and I got a generic "we can't help you" response directing me to call instead.

tomy77

It's updated now.
http://www.preferredhotelgroup.com/p...ipating-hotels

gkbiiii

This sounds like a great use of points for Paris and other cities. What are your thoughts?

sdsearch

That link isn't working now. It just takes you to a generic Preferred Hotels page with no mention of Choice.

That's presumably because it's a 2014 link. The link on the Choice page now is a 2016 link:

https://preferredhotels.com/private-...ipatinghotels?

sdsearch

It costs double or more to use Preferred Hotels in Paris over Choice's own hotels. Choice's own hotels in Paris top out at 25000 points per night. Preferred hotels in Paris start out at 45000 points per night.

So most people who value Choice points use them more selectively, only in cities where they can't find a Choice hotel that's reasonable (or any Choice hotel at all), but there's a Preferred property. But in any case, you still need to be someone with lots of Choice points (presumably because you make use of the "stay 2 earn 8000 promos" like there was no tomorrow) to be able to consider it for more than just very occasional nights. The lowest Preferred redemptions anywhere in the world are 25000 points per night.

The link in my post above lets you search all of the Preferred locations, and narrow down by points requirements. So you can see that while Paris hotels are expensive, there are several 25000 points/night hotels in Madrid, for example. (While Choice itself has no hotels in Madrid.)

So I would save your Choice points by using Preferred where there's no Choice hotels (or a poor selection of Choice hotels) and the Preferred redemption rate is reasonable, not necessarily in cities like Paris where there's a wide selection of Choice hotels of the Preferred redemption rate is high, especially now that there's no longer any "hard" expiration date for Choice points (so there's no longer any need to "use them up" before they expire).

GUWonder

Choice's cash and points offer for Preferred Hotels this year is interesting, as is a price drop in points required to redeem for award nights at Preferred Hotels. Makes it easier than having to do the cash and points refund game to rack up points without doing regular paid rate stays while maximizing fleeting promos.

gkbiiii

But: some of these hotels are around $400-$600 per night, so truly deluxe properties! Thanks for the Madrid advice.
I should note that all Good NYC hotels are over 20K, with most being either 30/35K.

sdsearch

Be careful with such assumptions. Prices can be high for location reasons even if the hotel is not "deluxe", and "deluxe" can mean various things in Europe (that someone from another part of the world may be baffled at and not appreciate).

I stayed one night at the Intercontinental (IHG's "deluxe" brand) at the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome, on a free night reward certificate from the Chase card, and it was similarly expensive in cash. But (a) the expense was largely because of location, location, location, and (b) "deluxe" mean a teeny tiny room (even smaller than in some cheap hotels in the centers of others big but old European city) with fancy toiletries, and a buffet breakfast cost $50 US.

So be careful assuming that a high price and a "deluxe" categorization doesn't just mean "dressed up" tightly-spaced accommodations and severe nickel-and-diming.