Merchant giftcards are not a cash equivalent. The merchant who sells it (Costco, in this example) buys the card for a discount from face value. It's the same as any other retail purchase.

Prepaid American Express, Mastercard, or VISA cards are typically sold at a premium to face value. They will be treated as a purchase if bought at a retail store, but if purchased at an American Express Travel Service Office (or other financial institution) they may be coded as a cash equivalent or even as a cash advance .

+1 ^

I don't consider it abuse of Hyatt, though.

They won my ongoing business with this promo. I'm sticking with them now.

Thanks Hyatt.

Well done I say for maximising the opportunity put your way. ^

USA based members certainly have a big advantage over others around the world especially on Hyatt hotel prices.

Same here. I'm very happy with the Diamond status and free nights at the beach.

Hyatt should be happy too. By the end of this year, I'll have spent $4,000 with them which I otherwise wouldn't have.

I have a bunch of Courtyard nights coming up at $45-50 per night.

For two-nighters, I'm hotel hopping between two nearby CY's. I've had mixed results in the past with staying in one hotel and doing a checkout/checkin. Per Marriott rules, it's treated as one stay so I'm not taking any chances.

I'll be using those Discover America gift cards to pay for it.

So at the end of the DL promo, it'll be something on the order of $500 for 12 hotel-nights and 60,000 miles. Plus a small amount of Marriott points and DL miles on the stays themselves (something like 250MR + 90DL per night, I think). Only catch is the lack of breakfast, but it's just me traveling and I'll just figure out where a nearby bagel joint is.

I considered a Hyatt run but my dates matched up better with MR and even the cheapie Hyatts were up in the $80-90 range in the area where I'm doing these CY stays (mostly suburban Dallas).

we, too, did impulse stays at Hyatt (though took the points, credit instead of miles -- too many G bonus etc) .

But it's not abuse, Hyatt's filling the rooms, we've getting rewarded for loyalty. It's a just being "frugal" and mutually beneficial.

I guess Hyatt could consider the use of two accounts for the purpose of doubling up on the promo as "abuse".

That is correct.

I really meant abuse tongue-in-cheek. I'm just using DW's account, and she's even usually with me when I do so

Yeah, this let me give Hyatt a 2nd chance. Their locations are so much more limited than Marriott, but they're not bad at all. They're now a legitimate #2 option for me, especially after the status challenge.

I need some advice ...

Currently staying at a Hamton Inn (hilton) here in Raleigh till friday. I am gonna be back and forth between Nashville and Raleigh for the next 3 weeks so I'm taking advantage of the triple/double promo with AA, which is my preferred airline. I am a member of marriott, hiton, starwood, and choice. I have an SPG amex and am waiting on a HHonors Surpass card to get approved. I am just starting to build points in all of these programs, but it's tough for me to recognize cross-promo opportunities.

What would be the best way to maximize my rewards? Hotels must stay under $90/night.
Can these promos be used on Priceline deals?

Added: AA is preferred, but I have CO as well and will probabbly be getting alaska in the near future.

This is off-topic -- this thread isn't really about Hilton. I would have suggested that you repost this question in another thread, but it is too general a question, makes it seem you have done no research, and want us to do all the work for you, and I don't want you to get flamed.

Asking for help is fine if it's a "last-mile" type of question after you've exhausted other options, or if you have contributed to the community before. Just saying "I want miles, how do I get them" is not really a very good question to ask strangers. Sorry.

If you want AA/CO miles, you should use Google to search for AA hotel promos, CO hotel promos, car rental promos, etc. Also, go through AA/CO forums and search/look through stickies for promos for your preferred airlines. Good luck.

The only thing I said about hilton was that I'm staying at one right now and am getting a hilton card soon ... I also said that while I have looked all over for promos for miles, nights, etc. I am still fairly new at recognizing combinable promos though. When you google, more times than not it links to flyertalk threads. I said I am in the choice and marriott programs and could get hyatt GP if it's the best deal.

I asked for your advice cause I want to maximize my miles while on business the exact way you did ... so not really off topic.

What I didn't say was that I wanted everyone to do the work for me. And if I was a frequent contributor and point accruer then I wouldn't really need to ask for advice would I?

maybe they aren't listening because, as the OP stated, these two chains have lost money on them this summer

I LOVE my Hyatt certs! ^

Though we were goldpoint members, we actively became fans of Hyatt via all these promos this year. We now search Hyatt properties first when traveling.^

No question the chains can lose money on an FT'er who pays close attention and maximizes his/her participation in the promotion.

But I think we're the exception rather than the norm. They probably get a lot of business travelers who are comped mid-level status in all the chains and now have a little incentive to try an exciting new <insert chain here> instead of their boring old <insert chain here>. Who knows: maybe both Marriott and Hyatt - the two most aggressive this summer - will end up with a net positive conversion of HHonors and Starwood guests. Those guests aren't scouring for $50 Courtyards - they're just swapping their $150 Hilton for a $150 Marriott.

In other words, I think the promotions can be successful in the market of regular business travelers.

To be fair, I think Starwood's promo wasn't bad. Some people would rather have a near-term stash of Free Nights than a few more airlines miles to throw on the pile.