Amenities vs Points: What am I giving up?
 

Forgive the newbie question. This is my first time having status with any hotel. My last two stays (at an HIX and a CP), the front desk offered me points in lieu of amenities. Not really knowing any better, I opted for the points (500 at HIX and 600 at the CP). But what did I actually give up?

Typically, you're giving up a free drink by taking the points. But it can differ from property to property. Some CPs are more generous and offer lounge access as one of the options to Spires.

Also differs by region. In Asia, for example, I've been offered more substantial welcome amenities such as a free meal in one of the hotel's restaurants.

You must stay in US hotels for the most part.

IME, it's important to ask what they offer. It's usually a drink, but I've seen a lot of variation -- often it's really restrictive (house wine or beer or soft drink or coffee), but in some cases you might be allowed some handcrafted cocktails. Sometimes there are real head scratchers -- at CP Christchurch, I (the Spire) got a coupon for a fancy cocktail, and my +1 only got a house wine/beer. Also see if there are other options -- in rare cases, a hotel might offer choices such as club access or free minibar.

I always take the drink offer, which can have some real value in many properties. The extra points tend to turn up as well a bit later, not sure why. Might be an automated process, triggered by check in.

The drink offer has usually been house (well) wine or beer only; I'd rather take the points and pay for a drink if I want one.

I think I've seen it mentioned on the IHG forum once or twice: The welcome points can be a bit random.

You may select the points but they won't post (happens close to 50% of the time I take them). Or you select the drinks voucher but still get the welcome points credited (happens, but less frequently).

Taking the drink means less hassle. If you can't use the voucher, it becomes void. If you select the points and they don't post, you might feel inclined to follow up with the hotel.

if you are Spire the options tend to be much more comprehensive and typically include cocktails in the better properties.

The drink is a total no brainer an IHG point is worth at best 0.4p per point. So 600 points gets you £2.40 of value. Worst case the drink is worth about £5 and in the best case it could be worth as much as £20 (e.g. at the IC O2 or IC PL). You double that value if you successfully persuade them to give you two vouchers as 2 people are staying.

In no world does taking the points instead of a free drink make any sense if you are a drinker.

There is a reasonable chance that you will get the points as well. Many properties seem to automatically allocate points ahead of check in and not tell you that you have other options. That to me speaks volumes, they wouldn't do that if the value of the free drink was less would they?

Value is something subjective. It seems advertisements have successfully convinced many people--including you--that value is short for market value (i.e., the price). But the price does not equal an individual's value of a good or service. E.g., I hate Red Bull. I wouldn't even take it for a price of 50 cents. Other people might shell out 5+ quid for a Red Bull at a bar (-> revealing their valuation is considerably higher than mine).

And when I'm staying at an IHG property for which I know the bar doesn't cater any beers I like, I might be better off taking the points and purchasing a beer of my liking at a supermarket or convenience store on my way to the hotel.

But the likelihood is that there will be a fairly comprehensive selection of beers, some wine options and at least house spirits. Each to their own but I find the amount of points to be insultingly small as a welcome amenity.

This has been an interesting discussion and I thank you all for your responses to my question. As I am not a drinker it seems that, for me at least, the better option is to take the points since any drink voucher would go unused.

What about a world where your company allows you to charge the drinks to your room and reimburses you fully?

To further encourage you to just take the points, the last time I stayed at a Crowne Plaza, which did not have a lounge, one of my Spire choices was breakfast in the restaurant. I opted for that, but it was such a dismal experience that I ended up regretting not having chosen the points.

My points post almost all the time, I can't recall the last time I had to actually contact the hotel afterwards to check on them although it has happened in the past. The amenity points post anywhere from ahead of arrival on prepaid stays to the next day when a manager approves the previous day's batch.

A world in which my employer/client pays for unlimited drinks at the bar is one I would very much like to live in, sadly I don't feel that is very realistic ;)

In most cases you get the points too anyway so you don't even lose out on that, except I have found when you select lounge access as the choice benefit.