hotel program for less-frequent travelers?
 

I believe this is the right forum, as it's related to Points and the "Read Me First" says it's for -- among other things -- those who are just getting started. That'd be us.

We are a young couple in NYC, no children. We are finally at a point where we will be traveling more consistently and wanted to know which hotel program would be best to join, if any. (We're not as concerned with airline miles.)

I've read through hundreds of threads, and I realize there are some discussions about this already. But it seems most of those are geared toward those who have or want to have status of some sort and/or stay quite frequently.

For us, we will not be traveling for business, and we certainly will not be staying enough to hit Platinum or Diamond. We are not planning to do any "mattress runs," status challenges, or generally going out of our way to earn points. Our combined income is less than six figures, and we are not big credit-card spenders generally. So while status would be nice, it doesn't figure too highly for us.

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Instead, we will probably have a weekend trip (2 nights) every other month, usually to a major metro area in the US. We'll probably take one weeklong trip (4-5 nights) per year, possibly two. All told, probably averaging from 16 to 24 nights per year, on 6-8 stays.

To begin with, probably in the Northeast due to distance, but eventually spreading to the South (Memphis, Atlanta, Florida, etc.) and into the West (NM, AZ, southern UT, Vegas, CA, OR, WA -- with maybe one or two trips to ID/MT). We're not too interested in most of the Midwest/Central states nor small towns. But we are interested in National Parks and their likes.

Once every other year or three, we hope to go off continental U.S. -- in the mid-term, that would probably be Hawaii mostly, Alaska, Vancouver/Montreal/Toronto, and then Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Japan, Shanghai. In the long-term, of course, we'd want to visit everywhere else (Latin America, Australia, India, Europe, Africa).

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Over the years, we've stayed (randomly) the gamut of low-end places and a handful of mid-range places, thanks primarily to Hotwire, Orbitz, Priceline. Didn't particularly care for Motel 6/Super 8, nor the one Four Points we stayed at (LAX). We liked places such as Hilton Garden Inn, Sheraton, Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn, Marriott Courtyard, Best Western, etc. We haven't stayed international nor in high-end places, so not too sure on that front. I did stay in a Hyatt once (company paid) and was impressed.

So, generally speaking, we're not too picky on the domestic stays. If we go off continental U.S., of course we would like to stay higher-end and ideally on award redemption.

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Hopefully, this is enough of a profile to garner some suggestions for a hotel loyalty program (again, not as concerned with miles). From what I've read, it sounds like a credit card in a hotel program is the way to go (earn points from stays as well as everyday spending). And in particular, SPG AmEx is the favorite, but again, most of this talk is usually centered around earning/using Platinum, which we won't do. So maybe there are better suggestions for less-frequent travelers.

Of course, the other option is to go with a cashback credit card and continue to use Hotwire/Orbitz/etc for domestic stays (we've had luck getting Hiltons and nice Sheratons for $45-75/night), then splurge with our own money (that we invested thanks to savings on Hotwire/Orbitz/etc) on longer international vacations.

Thoughts?

No answer from me, but an excellent question. I look forward to some responses. ^

I'd personally add that Priceline seems usually to be cheaper than Hotwire/Orbitz/... if you choose to remain away from the hotel programs and just choose on price (which is what I've chosen to do, but would be happy to be proved wrong about).

first the real answer is to join all of em. you have nothing to lose.

But the honest truth is that priceline, and discounters like asiarooms are often still better overall, but again you have nothing to lose.

then the question becomes, are you willing to take out a credit card, which could get you some status, start you on your way to earning (with points).

finally the question becomes which card.

there are long, long discussions of the advantage of one card versus another, with the cards differing somewhat on bonuses, transfers etc, and of course the hotel chains differing on who has hotels.

But here's one view:

the Hilton card offers probably the best deal for non hotel purchases. It gives 5 points for purchases of gas, groceries and postage, which means you can get points even if you don't travel.

the Starwood Amex card is the best card overall because it easily allows transfers to airlines and other programs. Starwood, however, isn't as strong in smaller cities.

the Hyatt program is the best program overall, regularly offering some incredible bonuses that make mattress runs or night out pretty incredibly cheap. (the current one offering a $50 amex gift card with a stay means you can stay at some suburban Hyatts for less than $50 net). And Hyatt is incredibly good at finding rooms for you even if you arent a gold premier extraordinaire. Further some of the smaller chains they recently bought offer suburban rooms for 3,000 points

I'm in the same situation and I'm a Starwood member. Starwood works ok for me, don't know much about other programs though. Starwood's gold level is nice to have, mostly for the late check-outs. Also from my experience Starwood hotels often let me check-in much earlier than the regular 3pm. I don't know if this is because I'm Gold SPG or they do it for everybody. It takes 10 stays/25 nights to reach Gold and that maybe a difficult thing to do if you going to stay about 25 nights total per year because you cannot always stay at Starwood hotels (at least I can't) because very often there is no Starwood property which suits me in a specific city/area or maybe no Starwood property at all. But if you are not as picky about where to stay it may work, or you may do more one-night stays to reach 10 stays requirement.
And of course you need Starwood Amex credit card and to watch out for the bonus points promotions to make most of the program.

Something to keep in mind, which may shift you to SPG, is that without status, you may have serious issues redeeming your points in desirable/more expensive areas. Although your SPG earning will be pretty slow, at least when you earn enough for something, you can generally use it without issue. I know HHonors can be an issue with less than Diamond. I don't know how Priority Club is, which seems like another option in your price range. I'll tell you from plenty of experience that low/mid range HHonors properties are better than Starwood properties. On the top end, Starwood properties can be a lot better. Let us know what you decide.

I have the Amex SPG which I think is great. But whenever I travel for leisure (and am not redeeming points), I always use Priceline. SPG is pretty stingy when it comes to earning points for staying at their hotels. 2 pts/$ for regular members. I value each SPG point at about 2 cents, so essentially 4% back in the form of points. I save a LOT more than that by booking with Priceline and have never had a major problem. I think the math is a bit better with other chains, but you still come out ahead with Priceline. Priceline + hotel credit card (for points to use for splurging or locations where Priceline doesn't make sense) is a good combination for those not chasing status.

Since you dont care about status, Priority Club typically offers better bonuses. For example, 6 nights with the current promotion would net a free night at a HIEX. That being said, I agree that Priceline would probably be cheaper.

I'll put it very simply - after reading your post - don't do anything different.

Many here will boast about this program or that program....well that's fine, but here is the real story.

Most members here get the status, perks because of their jobs, not because they just decided one day to get it. There are few on the opposite side, but don't fool yourself. If status was that easy to get, everybody would have it. It's NOT! and if you get it this year, can you maintain it next?

I'm sure you read the stories here how a diamond at a Hilton got upgraded to a suite or a Gold at ? gets free drinks and breakfast at some other chain. All very nice perks, but nobody ever talks about the fact that they are away from their families for the other 50+ nights out of the year.

Loyalty programs are geared towards the travelling business person, not towards the occasional once a month weekend getaway. They are meant to convince the employee/employer to give the hotel/airline the business in return for ???

The point I'm trying to made is this. Do your weekend getaways without being stuck to one program. Play the Priceline game, the occasional great rate from the hotel, or whatever works. Without being stuck to one program you will be able to move to whatever is the least expensive option and agrees with your budget, yet gives you the level of service/class that you require. All the money you save doing that, put it away for that one special yearly vacation. Use it to buy yourselves the suite, better room or whatever you want at that time, knowing that you don't have to depend on some hotel desk clerk making that decision for you.

Unless you can spend the "regular" money on your weekends getaways, because that's what you will be doing if you tie yourself to one program, forget about it. Next weekend the rates the Florida Hilton may be ok, but what about 2 weeks later? when the Doubletree at the location that you want to visit is charging double what the other, same level properties are charging, and there are no other Hilton properties in the area? and at some point, you will be doing it.....trust me. Or, you will be moving from a hotel to a hotel on a nightly basis just so you can get stay credits. That's all fine and dandy when you need 1-3 or 5 stays to complete the yearly requirements, but do you want to do that for 20-30 maybe more stays/nights a year? especially during the few special weekends when the 2 of you just want to enjoy themselves?

Finally, there is nothing wrong with getting a membership card with any chain that's outthere and using it at every chance you get to build up the "points" bank, but your post gives me the impression that you are still budget minded when it comes to travel, although you decided to do more of it than the average Joe/Jane. If I'm wrong, I apologize.

Just my opinion and nobody has to listen to it! :D

when i'm traveling by my self, i take the low bidder.....

when driving, i'm interested in low cost where you are trying to get someplace that requires an overnite stay....

my wife likes name brand hotels when we are together and they are cheaper than a divorce....

i have used choice hotels because there are 3 in the northampton ma area and we go there a few times a year....however, their programs are different domestic and international which irritates me, and they have put in an expiration on the points....

anyway, my advice is to pick 1 program if you want to get free nites....

note...my last business trip was circa 1987......good luck

I would agree with all the above, and would only add that it is often worthwhile to check rates through the Entertainment coupon book. Your local Entertainment book can get you 50% off hotel rooms all over the country, and some foreign destinations. You indicate that you don't want to stay at very low price & quality places, and apparently don't want to stay at very high price places. Priceline seems to work best with the very high price places (they can bring the cost of a $400 room down to $150), but not so well on the mid-priced rooms you describe (Holiday Inn, Best Western, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Marriott Courtyard, etc.). Entertainment works well in these properties, we often get an $80 room at one of these for $40, or a $60 room for $30. Good pricing when it includes breakfast. :D

As you can see from my program affiliation I have the top tier with four hotel programs.

I would say as most of the other posters too that you might be better served to go through the Priceline or other hotel discounter.

Some would consider a Clarion, Comfort or Quality Inn to be utterly déclassé, but if you don't, Choice Privileges from Choice hotels is a program that runs promotions that could actually get an infrequent traveler an actual free room, such as:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=516585

Choice Privileges doesn't have its own FT forum, but there are occasional discussions in the Other Hotel Programs forum:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=431

There are Choice hotels in unexpected places. In 2004 I stayed at a very nice Comfort Inn in Osaka (short walk from Shinsaibashi station) for about $50 US a night with the AARP discount. (Non-North American locations don't earn points, but points can be redeemed worldwide.)

andrzej, that is an excellent post! Many around here (myself certainly included) ought to follow your sensible advice.

Loyalty programmes are designed to generate loyalty. They are not just random acts of charity directed at high-earning businessmen. They are used as tools by companies deliberately to limit your choices as a consumer, and (as you eloquently point out) to encourage you to pay the full rate once the loss-leader promotion has ended. We are all susceptible.

The beauty of FT is that like-minded people across the globe have made a hobby out of maximising the return from such programmes. Much of the wisdom sources from the poor souls that have to travel excessively for work, and we all benefit to some extent ^ .

The catch is that we must avoid falling into the trap that loyalty programmes set -- we must not become too loyal! I read of frustration when upgrades fail to materialise, when status is lost, and when the airline/hotel changes the programme rules and I do sympathise with the disappointment. But for someone like the OP, it seems more sensible to expect nothing and then be pleasantly surprised if one day you do earn enough points to redeem an award.

So back to the OP:

That's what you think at the moment! I once thought the same, and I urge caution. The very fact that you have discovered Flyertalk and made a post shows that you are half way there....

The longer you stick around here, the more tempted you will be to get into such practices. There's nothing wrong with enjoying travel for travel's sake, and I'll admit that I'm addicted to the hunt for luxury and value. I'm certainly not trying to scare you away from Flyertalk itself! But maybe it's like investing or gambling: don't stake more than you can afford to lose, and be prepared to cut the losses and move on if the returns are poor.

Meanwhile, welcome to Flyertalk, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Try to take a look at the programms and if a nice signup comes, do join them, just in case. You will not loose anything if you will be in there.

As far as I can see you do sometimes have the possibility that points / stays post even if you go through a service like priceline (nothing to loose there).

Additionally you could take into account to use a credit card with a hotel programm to earn points based on that, but just as a byline, not as a main cause.

Also, if you are American, you can use Idine and collect points. Again: not to say "oh let's go to an idine" but perhaps for "hei, we ate here and look, we can have points too". Please keep in mind too, that these kind of loyalty programms are also perfect for data mining by the companies.

I am too only an occassional traveller and have the additional problem to live in a country where all those nice bonusses are not available. :) I settled with Priority club for the moment, because they have cheaper rates available on some properties. Of course I do like to stay in such nice surroundings, but one has to mind the business side too.

I did buy the Intercontinental Ambassador "privilige" for 150$ which gives me Gold on Priority Club for a year and some additional nice things if I stay at an IC. Now, this sounds stupid at first, but with this comes a weekend certificate for one night which I will use on a rather expensive stay and make the cost half for the two days. With this, I also start to collect points with my upcoming trips and either I do receive a better status, or not; but I would not loose anything.

For one upcoming stay, PC still was too expensive and I now settled for a part of my trip for a Days Inn which is with Trip Rewards. They for example have a guarantee that their price is the lowest or you will get the first night for free.

My suggestion is:
Sign up for several of them, try to compare them if you want to book a property and keep a look at some of the bigger programms here on Flyertalk and read at least the headlines to get tips for promotions.

Then try to map out where you would like to go and start to get a feel for the prices on those properties and try to get a feel for which programm might work better for you.

Remember: you can calculate the prices which you want to invest in your travel and not only built up points with this but also use those rewards on higher priced locations. So investing a bit more in travel to such hotels in programms is at first more expensive but if you calculate right can be interesting and rewarding.

Another example: In Germany, Hilton allows you with their credit card a so called gold challenge. The card makes you silve automatically and with only 4 qualifying stays in 90 days you can be gold. If you had planned such stays anyhow and the difference between Priceline and the real website is not that much, that may be an interesting thing.

Most of all: Don't worry too much. If you don't get status, so be it. Have fun travelling! :)

Two other comments. Whatever the terms may actually say, in parctice, neither Marriott or Hyatt points seem to ever expire. I have re-activated accounts dormant for years with both programs, and nothing was lost.

Starwood and Hilton points will expire.

For slow earners, this may be important.

I second the earlier comment about joining all hotel programs. It doesn't cost anything, you'll earn points (and/or airline miles), and even the non-elite levels sometimes earn valuable bonuses. For example, I stay at Wyndham Hotels two or three times a year. Joining the "Wyndham By Request" program gives me free Internet, free local and long distance phone calls, and a welcome basked of fruit and a bottle of wine when I arrive. Just for signing up I save a minimum of $10/day for the Internet access.

I echo the "join 'em all!" posts. No brainer: grab all three of the major-program credit cards with the best sign-up bonuses you can find, even if you just toss one or two of them in a drawer.

After that, I'd definitely take a closer look at both HHonors and Starwood.

The advantage of Starwood is twofold:

(1) The program isn't so structured around the big awards that you feel terrible about spending your hard-earned points on modest-value weekend stays. Yes, most of the road warriors here shoot for the 5-night stays at higher-end properties, but when you run the numbers (even against what you'd pay via a wholesaler), a Cat 2 weekend stay for 3,000 points per night is a reasonable ROI for your Starpoints.

(2) Even someone who isn't a huge credit card spender can quickly accumulate enough points to yield a few free nights in the lower-level properties. Lower-level doesn't mean crappy - there are some good Cat 2 Westins and Sheratons out there, and the Four Points aren't all bad either. SPG Amex comes with a good enough sign-up bonus, a low enough annual fee, and a "quasi-elite" status (good to help ensure you get your room preferences, mainly).

The upside to HHonors is better rural coverage and simply more properties, particularly in the mid-scale levels in a lot of cities. HH Amex is free, includes sign-up bonuses, and includes low-elite status as long as you hold the card. So at least join and have it as a backup in case Starwood doesn't have what you need.

Marriott is my current preferred chain, but it's definitely more geared towards the business traveler with rewards focus on the major awards. I have 180,000 points in my account right now, and I know I have another 55,000 to go before I get to the first award I'd consider redeeming. And the credit card isn't very good as a primary spend card, regardless of whether you are a big-volume CC user or not. Getting to 235k would be too long of a slow grind if I weren't actually doing revenue stays on a frequent basis - I'd be at HHonors or Starwood otherwise.

And of course, with any stay, I'd always compare back to the going Priceline rates. You're paying extra for the right to earn hotel points and some level of better treatment at the hotels. Sometimes that number is a little, sometimes it's a lot. Even though I hardly ever use Priceline, I always like to know what the number is. Through promotions and certificates (e.g., Marriott Premium Pounds), I can usually get my rate *close* to Priceline level, but in the end I always find that I'm paying *something* to play the game. Only you can decide if it's worth it.

There are also some "stay 2 nights get a third free" which will probaly earn you points and will bring down the price to something near priceline.

One should not forget that to take into calculation. :)

My travel patterns are fairly similar to the OP, so perhaps it'll be helpful to share what I've experienced.

I have joined hotel programs at one time or other, but ultimately I've found these to be the least productive. I do travel a little bit for business, but it's fairly far between, only a night or two here and there. I do one off bookings, sometimes local hotels rather than chains, even Priceline bids occasionally for the biz travel. For leisure travel, it's more of the same, except with even more emphasis on Priceline bids. What the Priceline bidding allows in my case is to stay at a higher quality hotel for a price associated with those low-rent brands. The more times you stay in a major metro area, the more Priceline can help you as long as you are NOT married to one particular brand of hotel. So you may want to check out the Travel Bidding forum here on FT and familiarize yourself with bidding strategies.

Still, it can be helpful to join hotel programs. I joined Wyndham ByRequest because it has extra benefits, though you no longer get those benefits on a Priceline stay. I sometimes stay at Wyndham on a normal booking, though, where it comes in handy. I don't earn Wyndham points, though. I get airline miles from United. I have a Marriott Rewards card too, which netted me a few more United miles recently. (See a pattern here?) I once had the Starwood, but that's gone from not having any stays. In fact, I can remember only one Starwood stay in many years. I earned several thousand Hilton points only to have those disappear because I didn't stay enough. My account with them isn't active anymore. I never joined Hyatt even with several recent stays, although they've all been Priceline so no real benefit. So join them if you like. But I really think with your travel patterns you'd do better and have more variety to be more flexible with hotels.

Here's the thing, though: you said you're not as interested in airline miles. Why the heck not??! Airline miles are way more forgiving than hotel points for the infrequent traveler in most cases, they can be renewed with a little activity once every three years, and it's easier (IMHO) to concentrate on one program. I've banked 135k United miles with really infrequent travel (generally only a couple of round-trips a year, though a few have been to Europe or the west coast), and that's after taking out 50k for a Europe award once 10 years ago and 25k for an ill-considered domestic award for a friend one time. That's over 200k, earned mostly by not flying (credit cards, telephone, etc.) Plus I had 60k on Delta that I turned into an Asia award about a dozen years ago. It's not a lot in the grand scheme of folks around here, but it's all earned without really trying, no mileage runs, no out of the way maneuvers, just taking advantage of the ways I can earn miles for all the stuff I already do.

So unless you're planning to DRIVE to the south, southwest, west coast or Alaska, I can't figure out why you wouldn't want to earn airline miles. You'll earn much faster since it's two of you. Most of my travel and earning was solo, so anything I want to do with my UA miles involves covering two tickets assuming I want to take my girlfriend with me. ;) I think UA is best as long as you don't care about status. That's the way I've looked at it. AA is a little better for status because miles earned from methods other than flying count towards lifetime status. If my 200k miles was on AA, I'd be 1/5 the way to lifetime Gold. Instead, I only have about 50k or so flown miles counting towards my lifetime Premier Exec on UA. But the award redemption amounts are better with UA, seems to me (60k for economy Saver award can get you to Australia/NZ for less than anyone else). And you can earn UA miles (and redeem them for that matter) on US Airways too, useful when you're based in the northeast. This does have me mainly looking at UA/US when booking air travel, but in general this is not a problem. I took a Southwest flight in early January, but earning Southwest credits would be pointless for me because I still don't earn fast enough. Slowly accumulating UA miles has gotten me to the point where they're good for a long trip for two. (If I wait long enough, they'll be good in biz class, if there's a seat. ;))

I've added one new thing to the mix recently. All my biz travel (with rare exception) is by car, and beginning early last year it is now all by rental car. So I joined Hertz #1 Gold and started accumulating Hertz points towards free rental days. I've been very happy with that setup, and it's the one place I might make a low-level elite (10 rentals/year). This is mainly useful if you rent several times a year, though, which I'm now guaranteed to do.

I am a HHonors Silver and have never had any problems redeeming my awards. I believe that the majority of problems come when trying to redeem awards in very popular places (i.e. Hawaii) and/or peak travel seasons. I use my points for shorter vacation trips during the years and have never had an issue finding a hotel with available. Occasionally, the most desirable hotel is sold out but there is always an acceptable alternative nearby.

In addition, HHonors has a better selection of quality lower end properties than SPG.

If you have to pay the bill yourself and don't want to spend too much money, consider Sleep Inn/Comfort Inn/several others' Choice Privileges.

Econolodge/Rodeway Inn has a program that's easy but some people want a bit more luxury. This program offers $'s off (a better deal) or airline miles once you save up 6 or 10 stamps. They give you one free stamp and during the winter, sometimes there's a 2 stamp per day promotion.

Red Roof Inn's program is ok but the best prize, in my opinion, is a free stay. They don't capacity control it or, if they do, it's easy to get.

I don't like Travelodge/Days Inn program because quite a few stays aren't awarded points (depends on individual hotel's whim).

Programs like Starwood and Hilton are for people staying while others pay the bill. I belong to those and have quite a few Hilton points but I also save Econolodge stamps and Choice Privileges points.

First of all, I think you should join them all. I see the loyalty programs as unredeemed disounts. You have to be on top of their "rules" to get that discount at a later date. FT will help you keep up with the latest buzz.

Priceline/Hotwire are great for a better price. After all, would you rather get a Hyatt/Marriott for $65 and no points Vs spending $168-$249/night with points?

Starwood is a great program. But the Shraton 4 points is a tired product and not every where. I prefer New Hampton Inns to Sheraton 4 points. Hampton Inns are great in small places but the points awarded are miniscule for the Hhonors program.

For your non priceline/Hotwire stays, you may be better off with Choice Privileges. If you plan right, you can usually get 1 night off for every 2 nights. That is like getting 33% discount.

Go ahead and join them all. and try to "plan" your stays. For example, I stayed in a La Quinta recently so I could get to a certain point threshhold to "cash" the points.

IMHO, a person should be known for how many miles/points they have redeemed in the year.

Happy Travelling :)

That's not true. Few of my points in both programs have been paid for by a company or client. When I'm paying for a hotel, I look at the Hilton family first and usually choose Hampton Inn or Hilton Garden on the lower end. But I spend the points at high end properties like Hilton resorts in Hawaii or Hilton in London. I add a lot of points through credit cards and promos.

Like others have said, join all the programs. After a couple of years, you'll probably find you're gravitating to one or two chains, so then concentrate your earning there. Even though I have a membership in almost every hotel program, most of them have never been used or are dormant. I accumulate points in two programs (Hilton and Starwood) and have everything else set for miles when given a choice.

Only you can decide what kinds of hotels you want to stay in. I racked up a lot of points and free rooms in a different program, but bailed when its properties started going downhill. Also, my tastes in hotel rooms and amenities have changed through the years.

:confused: Those are the best two programs (of the biggies) - by far - for amassing a huge points balance without doing revenue stays in the chain's properties. (Starwood is superior on the credit card front; HHonors has some decent airmiles transfer-in rates plus a passable credit card.)

If you are Joe Sixpack that never travels for business, but wants an occasional free vacation stay, these are your programs.

I'm not familiar with the roadside motel loyalty programs. But they seem to be more simple - stay in our roadside motel X times, get a free night. While I certainly have stayed in my share of roadside motels throughout Big Ten Country, the problem with earning awards there is twofold: (1) I usually don't pick which motel I'm going to stay in until I'm on the highway, starting to get tired, calling the 800 number for my preferred chain, asking about the properties that are 20, 40, 60 miles ahead. So it's hard to rely on using awards at that point. (2) The "yield" is, by definition, a one-night stay worth maybe $50-60, which just isn't compelling enough as I'm slogging through those X paid stays, collecting stamps or whatnot. The nice thing about Starwood and HHonors is that your points are going to go to a nice, multi-night award, even if your occasional hotel stays are cheaper properties, augmented by modest credit card usage.

Pacific, one warning. If you hang around here for even a short time, you'll get addicted to the miles and points. You may even get sucked into mileage and mattress runs to get status!

The Choice program and Choice credit card may be a fit. Search the Southwest forum for a few threads on how to maximize your redemption for Southwest awards. Unfortunately the latter just suffered a major devaluation with the institution of unexpectedly (to me) tight capacity controls. But you still might find this your best FF value.

Also note that Hampton gives you Hilton points plus 0.5 Rapid Rewards (Southwest Airlines) credits, same as any other Hilton brand. This is an excellent value for the less expensive Hamptons.

Pacific mentioned that he had no kids. If that changes, the Priceline hotels start to look less desirable as you cannot guarantee you will get two beds in a room (unless Priceline has changed).
I started out with HH credit cards since Mr. BOGO did not want an annual fee airline credit card. Now we have both with no annual fee. With kids, it is harder for us to accumulate enough miles to go on a family vacation and use airline miles, but there is usually a Hampton Inn or other Hilton brand wherever we go. With putting $25K on credit cards per year and reading Flyer Talk for extra tips, we have been able to get about 10-15 free nights a year for the last couple of years. :cool:

Wow. We're blown away by all the insights offered in just 24 hours. We really really appreciate it.

We will heed the general consensus of joining the various hotel programs, but will also try to concentrate on Starwood and HHonors. I guess our general strategy (based on everyone's wonderful input) could be:

1) check Starwood/Hilton/Choice price & availability
2) compare directly to Orbitz/Hotwire
3) get some rough estimates for Priceline and maybe place a strategic bid
4) if bid is successful, go with Priceline (and hope it still counts if the hotel is with one of the programs)
5) if bid is unsuccessful, choose a hotel from steps 1 and 2 that is the best balance of price and quality
6) enjoy ourselves :)

I guess my original concern was diluting points by being part of too many programs. But I do agree that as a less-frequent traveler, I shouldn't be too loyal to any one program anyway.

We're also looking into SPG Amex and HHonors Visa.

Thanks again for all the great suggestions!! There are a lot of finer details too in what was written that I didn't necessarily want to address point by point (thereby dragging this out longer). But some of those details are really excellent and I hope it helps others as it has us. Much appreciated.

I can second this. At first I only wanted to take a look how I can manage my bookings, now I am looking out for cities with cheap possibilities for a mattress run.

"Berlin is great. You love Berlin. If you do a hopping around you can have your stays more easily managed. And if those IC bonusses come in, you could try a Gold match run with Hilton. You don't know what to do in berlin? Hei, but you would be gold afterwards!" ;)))