Points Programs Are To Expensive
 

I was in the Hilton Honors as well As Starwoood programs from 1996 to 2005. All good programs. Then in 2006 I decided to try Hotwire for all my Hotel travel. Saved the company $22K this year which came back to me in a bonus, which is worth far more money in my pocket than the Hotel Programs are. Cash has no blackout dates. No I do not work for Hotwire but when I can stay at the same I was staying for $69 to $89 versus the $129 to $199 I would have paid just so I earn points it does not make business sense to be part of these hotel programs, its to expensive.

well my employer would never give a bonus back to the employee so there is no incentive to use discounters (on the employee's part).

and when I travel on my dime I will use priceline but usually not hotwire because hotwire is always more expensive than PL.

also it is not ALL about the points...

My company does a free round trip to the most frugal traveler, but I'm not going to eat every meal at Bob Evans and give up point programs to get a free trip when I can earn one and not worry if I was the cheapest traveler.

This is a good topic which should be discussed, but it is not specific to the Hilton HHonors frequent guest program.

This is an unusual move as the reverse usually happens, but this thread has been transferred to the MilesBuzz! forum. This will give a chance for FlyerTalk members who are members of frequent guest programs other than Hilton HHonors to post their thoughts and opinions.

Regards,

Canarsie
Co-Moderator, Hilton forum

If you saved $22K in hotel stays over the course of a year, does that mean that you sleep about 200 nights a year away from home? Did your employer give you all of that $22K back in the form of a bonus or just a fraction of it?

Well, there are two variables here:

1. Loyalty to one hotel chain versus choosing each hotel individually without regard to hotel loyalty.

2. Using hotwire or similar opaque booking services versus normal methods of booking.

Of course if you are paying for travel anyway, you might as well use a CC that gives you something (be it points or cash).

I find myself in the same position all the time, granted i dont travel that much and that too mostly for pleasure, but when you can get in hilton type hotel using hotwire for 80.00 when their website says 130.00, well i think its worth it. One thing though, recently i found that miles4mart gives you points for every purchase through most of travel companies, and these points are converted to mile at 1:1, not a bad deal i think.

I now regularly book rooms for myself and others in the company for business travel using Priceline. My company is not cheap, but we also would not be staying at high end hotels usually when we travel for business, but by using Priceline I am usually able to secure rooms at nice hotels for less than we would be paying at the Hampton Inn/Courtyard by Marriott type properties we would otherwise typically be staying at. The loss of points doesn't bother me or others in our company since we like staying at the nicer hotels instead, and elite benefits are so hit or miss with hotels anyway that's almost a non-factor.

Why are you losing points?
 

I've gotten points on my Hyatt account when stays were booked through PL.

Has something changed that hotel points are no longer awarded?

At least the HHonors T&C specifically state that stays bought through opaque sites do not earn points! :( (I don't know about the others.)

Troll? (as evidenced by glaring spelling error)

I am a big fan of priceline but there are many times when priceline rates are not available for the date/location I need. So points programs have a place in my travel portfolio. Also, there are many many bonuses, i.e. Hyatt's FFNs where you end up spending less to buy rooms directly than you would by using priceline. Plus you get the points which will get you free rooms in the future, and status which will get you better rooms.

The fact that OP (and I) both save money through opaque websites does not mean "points programs are to [sic] expensive" - it just means that there are times when the cash savings from opaque bookings will be worth more to the traveler than points and status.

Question for Priceline Fans
 

A question for you folks who think Priceline is so great: are you referring to making a low bid and getting them to agree, or are you saying that Priceline`s shown prices at named hotels are cheaper? I hear that Priceline is so great, but the few times I`ve used the site to bid, they have rejected my offer and suggested a price that isn`t any better than a price I can get myself and thus I could get points too.

By using the "name your own price" [low bid] feature. You should however be equipped with what to expect by viewing the list of hotels in each category as well as recent winning bids from sites like biddingfortravel.com. One caution: don't select a certain category if even a single hotel on the list would not satisfy you.

I beg to differ ;)

i dont get it.. if you think they are too expensive, dont use them.

DUH !!! no kidding if I was getting a bonus back on how much money I saved my company I probably would do more hotwire or priceline.

So nice to pick a point that applies to so few travelers.:rolleyes:

FWIW, my company will not let us use PL or HW to book.

--

Hotwire Never has been Cheaper for Me
 

I have never once found Hotwire to be cheaper (after accounting for total net cost for the room) than booking directly with my preferred hotel. Bidding with Priceline might get a lower cost, but you won't get future rooms for free from earned points, so it would have to be substantially cheaper. Of course, YMMV.

Do Priceline and Hotwire apply to international hotels?

PL does, do not know about HW.

|I have always had problems with hotwire and priceline with hotel switching. I understand that they do not do this anymore (this was years ago), but I would rather have a certain level of certainty in my booking and how it was done. I regularly buy cheap fares that do not accrue full miles (but they have to be significantly cheaper.)

That's it exactly -there is no Benefit in kind for NOT being part of a reward programme with my company either, plus, it can work out cheaper if you want something like a suite, as an IC Platinum RA member, I get upgraded wherever I stay (within the IC hotels group) and it pays dividends every time.

The other benefit is the guaranteed room availability which has saved me from staying miles away from a last-minute meeting. But I do accept that frequent traveller programmes are not worth it unless you stay fairly frequently at hotels.

As I am a director in the organization I work for, I don't have a budget enforced for my hotel/flights, so price isn't really an issue. But I suppose if you can get exactly the same room for a cheaper price, then you may as well go for the cheaper option, as I keep telling people "further down" the line of command; they need to economize!

Happy Travelling.