Choice charging more points for hotels?
Mar 30, 2019, 5:50 am
#1
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Join Date: Mar 2000
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Choice charging more points for hotels?
So we get complete lists from the bloggers when most hotel chain change redemption prices, but to my knowledge nobody reports on changes in Choice redemptions. I guess it's harder because Choice doesn't have category levels, doesn't release any lists, and the number of points can vary dramatically over the year at even a single property.
A couple of years ago I feared that there was a major Choice devaluation, but then I started finding more redemptions at lower point levels.
Now I wonder about the same thing. Some Bluegreen properties that I used to book for under 15,000 points are now 30,000 points. Some Cambria hotels (like the one near the MIA airport) seem to have also doubled in price. Ditto in Quebec City: summer award rates at their hotels there jumped to 30,000 when you could previously get rooms for about half that.
I guess I'll have to study this some more before the Daily Getaways sale to see what Choice points are actually "worth" these days. That's not an easy assessment to make.
A couple of years ago I feared that there was a major Choice devaluation, but then I started finding more redemptions at lower point levels.
Now I wonder about the same thing. Some Bluegreen properties that I used to book for under 15,000 points are now 30,000 points. Some Cambria hotels (like the one near the MIA airport) seem to have also doubled in price. Ditto in Quebec City: summer award rates at their hotels there jumped to 30,000 when you could previously get rooms for about half that.
I guess I'll have to study this some more before the Daily Getaways sale to see what Choice points are actually "worth" these days. That's not an easy assessment to make.
Mar 31, 2019, 4:37 am
#2
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Concern about devaluation is a reason to use the cash+points booking refund method to de facto buy Choice points on the relatively cheap and to do so only when needed to make a booking and within the booking window to do so. While the USTA/Daily Getaway sale prices are significantly better than even the cash+points refund method price, if someone can’t make the program work for them at the cash+points+refund rate, then I would say they should be wary of hoarding too many points for too long as the hit from devaluation risk is probably more extreme.
While my highest value returns on Choice point redemptions are still very much alive, I’ve also found more uses for my points in the past 12 months than I had expected. I am not counting on things being this great for me forever when it comes to Choice points.
Choice has de facto category levels, and I think they still go from 6k to 30k points per night for Choice properties. They also have had seasonal pricing in play, but that doesn’t seem to do me any good as of late.
While my highest value returns on Choice point redemptions are still very much alive, I’ve also found more uses for my points in the past 12 months than I had expected. I am not counting on things being this great for me forever when it comes to Choice points.
Choice has de facto category levels, and I think they still go from 6k to 30k points per night for Choice properties. They also have had seasonal pricing in play, but that doesn’t seem to do me any good as of late.
Mar 31, 2019, 7:49 am
#3
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With Choice, it always feels like a random crapshoot what the award redemption price will be. It's kind of that way with some other programs (IHG comes to mind), but it's significantly more random with Choice. And the bifurcation with weekday/weekend rates adds another dimension to the randomness. The only thing I can do is to try to have points in all the programs, including Choice, and go with the hotel that (randomly) offers the best redemption deal. I think it's nuts to have all your eggs in one basket in this game.
That said, I want to have fewer "eggs" with Choice if redemption prices are going up. From my recent searches, I think they are, but I'm not entirely sure. I may just be on an unlucky streak where the places I want to stay happen to be bad deals right now. To my knowledge, there's nobody doing a metasearch to compare all Choice redemption prices on a quarterly or annual basis.
That said, I want to have fewer "eggs" with Choice if redemption prices are going up. From my recent searches, I think they are, but I'm not entirely sure. I may just be on an unlucky streak where the places I want to stay happen to be bad deals right now. To my knowledge, there's nobody doing a metasearch to compare all Choice redemption prices on a quarterly or annual basis.
Mar 31, 2019, 8:57 am
#4
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: DEN
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Does Choice set the redemption levels, or is any of that driven by the individual hotels?
Seems like some change many times a year, while others remain constant. One hotel I stay at changes from 8k to 30k and anywhere in between, even though the room rates are relatively constant. At 8k, great deal, at 30k, no way!
Seems like some change many times a year, while others remain constant. One hotel I stay at changes from 8k to 30k and anywhere in between, even though the room rates are relatively constant. At 8k, great deal, at 30k, no way!
Mar 31, 2019, 12:05 pm
#5
Join Date: Mar 2013
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Posts: 163
I suspect that some properties open with ridiculously low redemption rates to attract clientele and give the operation a shakedown.
Cambria in El Segundo was my LAX go-to @ 10k & 12K rates. Now that it's established, point costs are more in line with the quality of the property.
Cambria in El Segundo was my LAX go-to @ 10k & 12K rates. Now that it's established, point costs are more in line with the quality of the property.
Mar 31, 2019, 1:55 pm
#6
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I suspect that some properties open with ridiculously low redemption rates to attract clientele and give the operation a shakedown.
Cambria in El Segundo was my LAX go-to @ 10k & 12K rates. Now that it's established, point costs are more in line with the quality of the property.
Cambria in El Segundo was my LAX go-to @ 10k & 12K rates. Now that it's established, point costs are more in line with the quality of the property.
Mar 31, 2019, 9:05 pm
#7
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The domestic deals come and go.
Some of the famous international deals seem to stay. A blogger on the FT front page recently blogged about getting a nice hotel in Japan for only 8k Choice points, something many of us here have known to be the cases for a decade or more. (And you can't earn Choice points in Japan, so your only choice is to redeem to not to redeem.)
IME, Choice hotels in Japan don''t go up in price, they simply either have award availability or they don't.
And Japan isn't the only overseas area famous for Choice redemption-only deals.
Keep in mind these regions are places run by totally different company than runs North American (and beyond) Choice hotels. The latter several years ago moved toward pricing hotels differently at different times of year anticipating demand trends. Luckily they're still just rough estimates of demand trends, and not day-to-day reactions to demand.
Some of the famous international deals seem to stay. A blogger on the FT front page recently blogged about getting a nice hotel in Japan for only 8k Choice points, something many of us here have known to be the cases for a decade or more. (And you can't earn Choice points in Japan, so your only choice is to redeem to not to redeem.)
IME, Choice hotels in Japan don''t go up in price, they simply either have award availability or they don't.
And Japan isn't the only overseas area famous for Choice redemption-only deals.
Keep in mind these regions are places run by totally different company than runs North American (and beyond) Choice hotels. The latter several years ago moved toward pricing hotels differently at different times of year anticipating demand trends. Luckily they're still just rough estimates of demand trends, and not day-to-day reactions to demand.
Apr 1, 2019, 7:44 am
#8
Join Date: Feb 2010
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I suspect that some properties open with ridiculously low redemption rates to attract clientele and give the operation a shakedown. Cambria in El Segundo was my LAX go-to @ 10k & 12K rates. Now that it's established, point costs are more in line with the quality of the property.