i've only recently started becoming more interested in finding ways to accumulate as many points or miles as possible and have a question regarding third-party booking sites such as expedia or travelocity, etc. is it true that if you book flights or hotels on their websites that you won't get the full point credited to your respective hotel or frequent flyer account? i stayed at a hilton in san francisco after having made the booking through expedia and when providing my number at reception they told me i wouldn't get points credit for the stay, only the additional expenses i would pay such as food and beverage, etc. which is pretty disappointing if this is true or just incorrect information on the part of the receptionist, because then what is the point of using these sites to book other than ease of browsing?

any thoughts would be welcome in helping me clarify this.

That's correct. In general, you will not get hotel points for booking stays through the 3rd party websites (Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com, Priceline, etc.). For me it's about weighing the benefits of scoring some points versus how much I can save by booking through a 3rd party site. Since I have become more of a points addict, I tend to book directly through a hotel website so I am guaranteed the points. Most of the time the cost difference is minimal and if it's a hotel chain where I want to collect the points (SPG or Hyatt) it's worth it (for me).

Hotel points and airline miles are different on this.

Hotel points are generally only earned when booking through the hotel program website or toll-free number. In some cases corporate booking sites may be honored (but in some cases of those only for high elite status hotel program members!), but hardly ever third-party booking sites. The only way to make use of third-party booking sites while still earning points is to use them to leverage a particular hotel program's "best rate guarantee", but how well that works and how easy it is and exactly how to do it varies a lot from program to program. (It's generally worth pursuing only if you are finiding the third-party rates to be signficantly lower and yet for the same terms, like cancellation period, etc. And in no case can it be "blind" booking sites or rates that are "last one at this price" or "only valid for the next x hours" kinds of rates.) Btw, in many hotel programs, hotel-specific discount rates that you arrange with the hotel itself may not earn points either!

Airline miles are quite different. As long as you're booking a fare code (the single letter like Q, K, L, etc, but these vary by airline and sometimes even route as to their meaning and which ones count and which don't) that's valid for earning miels, it generally doesn't matter where you buy it. (But niether does the price change where you buy it, so why not buy it at the airline site, unless you're putting together an itenerary that includes different airlines that don't partner with each other.)

Will they still recognize status when booking through 3rd party sites?

It depends on the hotel chain. You need to consult the T&C of the hotel chain that you have status in.

Question I've always wondered but never had the guts to try myself:

Do you still get the hotel points & credit if you go through a cashback site (e.g. bigcrumbs) to book at the hotel's website?

Yes, as long as you book on the hotel's website you're fine so going through a cash back or points portal is a good idea.