OK, I am clueless....how do you get 5%?

And what HH award did you get?

Gotta have value
 

I agree with the post that stated there has to be an apparent value to taking the time to participate in the hotel/airline programs. If you can't make others see it, or if they simply don't care, hey... neither do I. More upgrades for me.

My situation is a little different in that I travel extensively but work for a company that is so unwilling to part with any amount of money, it's a running joke with their employees. We are only reimbursed our exact meals up to $30/day and are asked to keep our hotels under $80/night. Expense account? HA! Everything goes on a personal credit card and is reimbursed. So you can see where a hotel credit card benefit adds up for me. An extra 10-15k points every month from the credit card alone definitely pays off. My first ever overseas trip was entirely paid for with HH points - granted, it was coach, but I still went to Paris with my girlfriend and scored a room at the Paris Hilton with a balcony view of the Eiffel for 6 nights... FREE. And my Diamond Status got us access to the Diamond Lounge with free breakfast. A good start to a day gets even better when you don't spend money for your first meal...

Further, for someone who spends 200+ nights in a hotel, it's worth it to me to belong to any hotel program I can get my hands on that will allow me to get a little nicer room, especially in a budget location like a Hampton or HIExpress. No one on my ceiling, a view of something other than the AC unit or the parking lot, a fridge... these little things are coveted by the traveler on the cheap such as myself. The traveler who goes 5-10 nights a year I'm sure couldn't care less or would just pay a little more for the little bit better room.

I only recently attained elite status with an airline that even HAS assigned seats and first class. Let me tell you, that first free upgrade felt like a taste of heaven. I can't go back to coach... you can't make me. And since a lot of my travel is short-haul (DEN-PHX is pretty standard) I've started booking flights that have connections, just to get the extra miles/segments (a stop in LAS on a Sunday afternoon can really be entertaining, I can always tell who lost a LOT of money by the thousand-yard stare). I can totally see, however, where a frequent business traveler who isn't interested in spending more time in airports/planes would think I was crazy. But again, it's worth it to me.

I find this whole thread pretty condescending,
Because I dont have certain credit cards or enroll in every single program that earns miles I am clueless?

Somehow I think it is wrong to label people who dont have the same interests as me as "clueless"

Let the flames fly

I haven't cashed it all in yet. Right now, I'm looking at 3 nights in Budapest, 4 nights in Rome, and 4 nights in Paris.

Of course, I also took part in the 3/5/7 promo, and I swapped some Marriott Bonus Bucks for another free Hilton night, so those will take care of Paris.

An AXON award will take care of Rome, and with my current balance I should have nearly 275K left over to do another year of accumulation. I mean, I'm not gonna die in the next few months, right? :)

Not at all !!!

The "great unwashed" are, by definition, clueless. But they don't have any skin in the game, either, so it doesn't matter.

What I'm addressing are the folks who do a bit of travel and yet completely ignore the possible additional benefits. What would you call someone who pays his bill in cash, but never picks up his change? A really big tipper? Or someone who leaves money on the table.

Priceline works in all of these places!

I will have no difficulty buying a room at a four star for under $400! Try under $100!


For those of us who do not have access to corporate discounts or stay enough to have great buying power....I don't think we are going to get very nice stays for $250 (4 stays).
Am I wrong to assuming I am getting much nicer rooms (3 star atleast) for the same $250 using PL?

Those rooms are not worth $800 to me. I can get similar rooms for so much less!

Good point about not being the one who pays - and I do think a lot of people are clueless and would greatly benefit paying more attention to hotel programs.

BigLar, thanks for bringing this topic up. You have helped make me more aware just how rewarding some of these hotel programs can be. I do not think I would benefit by changing my staying pattern at this point as I am self employed and simply do too well on PL to not use it as my primary method of booking. BUT...come a day when I have an employer paying point earning rates...I sure will be paying attention!

wanaflyforless – I understand the logic of using PL for business and also using it for vacation. I know it works well for you and many others.

My strategy has cost me about the same per night, and has resulted in a stream of "once in a lifetime" hotel stay experiences.

I use a combination of PL and discounted rates at Hyatts on business to earn free nights at Hyatts for vacation. I am much more selective about where I take my family on vacation than I am about my business trips. I want to know EXACTLY where I am taking my family on vacation, and PL cannot provide this, even with assistance from BFT.

My strategy is supported somewhat by my company which has a reasonable expense policy. But I still spend less per night on my hotels on business trips than many of the people I work with who don’t even participate in the hotel programs.

You can't get the hotels I mentioned above on PL. For example, any four star Tokyo room you might be able to get for $100 on PL is not comparable to Park Hyatt Tokyo.

Sure, you can get decent 3* rooms for $65 on PL. But you don't have the $400/night hotels for free at the back end. Right now, you can earn a free night at almost any Hyatt worldwide by spending as little as $100. You need to check the Hyatt forum for details.

I have used Priceline extensively, and I disagree. The hotels I mentioned have few peers in their markets. They are 5 stars or boutiques. PL does not cater well to this market. You cannot get these hotels on PL. If you are looking for basic accommodation on your vacation, PL is fine. I want something more if I can get it.

There have been many times where PL makes sense for me. But there are also many times, even when I am paying out of my own pocket, that I will go for a qualifying stay at a Hyatt.

My reward at the back end is an experience that PL could never give you. I am talking about rooms that you couldn't confirm for less than $1,000 a night minimum. And I stay in them for free. I consider these hotel stays more memorable experiences in my life than when I flew Concorde.

another reason for "cluelessness"
 

I made a halting attempt to "evangelize" my brother-in-law the other day, who loves to travel, but lives on a relatively modest income. His job occasionally involves travel, and often involves purchases that could be made on a personal credit card and reimbursed by his employer. So I suggested he should look into a credit card like the SPG Amex, for instance. He showed polite interest, but shortly thereafter threw in what sounded to me a rather pointed reference to "addiction to credit" being among overlooked vices in a discussion we were having about addictions. I don't know if he was making a specific reference to himself or his wife (who was also participating in the discussion) or not, but the "vibe" of his reference was enough that I decided to drop my suggestion.

I suppose there are all kinds of legitimate reasons for "cluelessness" that we might never imagine.

another reason "clueless" people are good for us
 

Many have noted that "clueless" people mean better award and upgrade availability for the rest of us. Another benefit to us is that when people blindly earn points they'll either redeem ineficiently or not at all, it makes it less costly for airlines and hotels to issue the miles in various programs and promotions. Which makes it cheaper, ultimately, for us to earn them even before you get to a discussion of redemption.

OK - You are right. PL has its limitations. There are some very nice 5 star/boutique PL hotels...but not very many of them and these few cost significantly even on PL.

If my hotel needs increase so I am doing more than 10 stays or so a year, I may consider booking higher non-PL rates atleast part of the time.

Hey, I hope you can earn some free nights at great hotels. That is one reason I love FT - you can turn other people on to your good deals. I really learned how to use BFT and PL here, and it has saved me some bucks. I have taught the system to my direct reports who all travel frequently. Earlier this year, I was even earning free Hyatt nights on PL rates!

I would like to know, however, where you can obtain good PL bidding intelligence for hotels outside of the US. The info on BFT is limited.

Depends where you are looking. For the foreign locations I looked ad (usually major European cities), BFT and betterbidding.com provided enough input for me to make an intelligent decision.

As an example, I scored a 4* hotel in London for 50GBP/night a year or so ago. I was expecting a different hotel, but it worked out just fine. Try getting a 4* in London for that price by other means! :)

Other than that, Flyertalk is probably your best bet -- see the individual forums for the locations you're interested in.

As an alternative to hotels, in much of Europe there are B&Bs, gasthauses, and the like. France is especially agressive in getting their locations on the web. On our first "big trip", I got a 16th century chateau in French wine country at about 100 euros/night. It was really cool! Then a mountainside villa on the Riviera for 60 euros/night.

The internet is your friend.

Other than that, we just drove in the general desired direction and picked places that seemed charming. It worked out well for us, but I know that some people like to have everything planned out before they go. Different strokes and all that.