I am wondering which hotel loyalty/rewards program is right if any for me? Here's my background:

1. Fly United mostly due to location (Central Valley California).
2. I'm a Chase UR member, which transfers to (Marriott, Hyatt, Ritz and IHG), but it doesn't have to be these options if there is something better out there.
3. I'm a huge fan of AirBnb and actually prefer to use Airbnb because it's cheaper, a less touristy option and I can get much more choices (views/locations) compared to most hotel properties, that want way more for those views and or locations than I'm willing to spend.
4. Airbnb is usually my first option, but sometimes Airbnb isn't the greatest choice in certain countries.
5. I'm looking for no expiration of points if possible, or if they do expire an easy way to maintain my points without having to do a stay at a hotel property to keep it active, if possible or if that exists.
6. I'm open to getting a hotel branded credit card, so long as there is no foreign transaction fee. It doesn't make sense to me to have a hotel branded card that you can't use for international properties without getting hit by fee's (i.e. SPG).
7. Huge to decent selection of hotel properties in the US and around the world.
8. I'm a leisure traveler, not business.
9. Easy to redeem award nights.

I'm looking and or thinking of a hotel rewards/loyalty program to diversify my first choice of stay, which is Airbnb, etc. Thanks!

Status with UA? How much do you fly?

Also, how many hotel nights per year? Locations?

No status with UA yet (just a MileagePlus member) and I don't think I fly enough to qualify for any type of status soon. Here are my current stats:



I fly maybe twice a year (I will be flying again soon this year to Toronto). I usually don't do hotel nights and do Airbnb instead, due to the fact that it's cheaper. I do want a "plan b" if Airbnb doesn't have that great of an availability in the specific places I'd like to travel to. As for locations, I'd like to travel all over the world (and all over the US), so a hotel property that has many locations is a huge plus. Maybe I don't fit a hotel loyalty program due to such low numbers, I'm not sure? I did a little more research and I'm thinking my choices are between Marriott and IHG?

There is no one hotel program that works everywhere, so if you have no idea where you're actually going to use hotels, it's hard to say.

But: Since you say you want a card with no foreign transaction fee, while there's a rumor that SPG may eliminate those (see this thread in the Amex forum), at present, the only hotel cards that don't have a foreign transaction fee are the ones from Chase, and thus the very same ones that you can already transfer Chase UR points to (Marriott, IHG, and Hyatt), plus I think the Citi HHonors Reserve card (which earn two free weekend night certificates, which expire in a year) is the one other 0% forex hotel card.

Here's the dliemma for you: In any city where AirBNB is too expensive, the hotels likely are to be too expensive too. So in those cities you may want to use hotel points. Except you're not likely to have many hotel points if you don't stay in cheap hotels where the hotels are cheap.

There are whole swaths of countries with only Hilton, or only Marriott, or only IHG (of those three), or none of those three at all. so you can't just have points with one hotel program and expect it to help you anywhere in the world. (Just for one example, in Norway anywhere beyond Oslo, the only hotel programs from the USA that help are Club Carlson, Choice, and Best Western. No Hilton, no SPG, no Hyatt, no Marriott.)

Hmm, I see. I may be better off not going the route of hotel loyalty/rewards programs and just wait until I cross that bridge or warrant the need to start earning points. Maybe just stick to my CSP and Freedom and just build massive amounts of points with that and transfer to hotels when I need them. Seems like that is the best option for me so far. Thanks for responding and your insight.

Check out the Hotels.com rewards program; I think it's currently book 10 nights and the next one's free. It won't lock you into a single hotel program, which given the way you prefer to travel is a definite advantage, and over time will definitely save you some money (which is the goal of the game, after all).

Would recommend the same. Just note that it is not a free night at any hotel, you basically get a 10% voucher off your past spending.

It is a quite decent option if you are not a regular chain customer or spend much time in hotels.

Thank you all for your responses, I will check into Hotels.com. Never booked or checked there.

Just be aware that several hotel chains now give free internet only to those who book through the hotel program's own website, not through third-party sites like hotels.com. (They may also require membership in the hotel program, but it doesn't cost anything to become a member.)

Of course, each of these hotel programs have some brands that give free internet to everyone. So what I just said only applies to those other brands within these same program that don't automatically give free internet to everyone.

And depending on the room rate, at some hotels the cost of internet might be more than the 10% you (eventually) save with hotels.com!

It also depends on price level you would like to spend per night. Would IHG work for you? I have been with IHG forever as the points are easier to earn and they have lots of locations.

Indeed. I was looking pretty hard at IHG, simply because it's probably a good "Plan B" and the price point is around what I want to pay. My budget is around $90 - $160ish, on the rare occasion/once in a blue moon $200.

I do like the fact that IHG's points don't expire (which works for me since I'm more infrequent with hotel stays), seems pretty easy to redeem and has a lot of locations, etc. If I was in a pinch or needed a place to stay and Airbnb wasn't an option, then I think that may be another option. I kind of asked this question, thinking someone may steer me toward IHG before the 70K bonus ended, but got responses that differed, which was interesting. You all have definitely given me some food for thought. Thanks!

Edit: Also, I've heard about SPG's changes to benefits, but I don't think it's worth it for someone like me. SPG seems to be a very closed system and hard to earn points unless you're staying with them and their price range is out of my price range.

The down side of IHG is that they're moving to a one year expiration if you don't have elite status with them and don't have any account activity during that time. (As many details as known in the IHG forum) Fortunately, their definition of account activity is going to be 'anything that moves the point balance upward or downward' so not too hard to keep an account alive.

IHG also gives you points on stays booked through shopping portals (which are 'click through' sites that actually take you to IHG's own web site rather than booking through an OTA like Expedia) and a few times a year, there will be promotions that get you about 8% back on ebates.com or 15 points per dollar on MyPoints. If you were interested in IHG, I'd probably look into MyPoints because during those promotional periods (usually it's 5 points per dollar), about $410 USD in bookings (not including tax on the room) can get you enough MyPoints to redeem for a bonus 2500 United miles while still getting full IHG points on the stay and all the benefits of booking directly with IHG.

I have one IHG Chase credit card. That gives me one free night in (almost I guess) any IHG hotel per year. I liked it. I usually pick InterContinental for one night -- with that annual fee $49, it is worth it for me.

Also that $49 will put you in Platinum level all the time, even you stay only one night per year. That will make 50% (as I remember) more points for each night you stay.

I am not doing Ad for IHG. Actually due to some other reason I switched to Hilton Honors program. I literally stay there all the time starting from Jan 1st to ear the Diamond level, then come back to IHG if at the end of the year I have earned Diamond for HH.