I Prefer Hotel loyalty program
 

I would appreciate any thoughts about this loyalty program. I just recently joined and finished my first stay at the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans. The program updated my points the same day literally a few hours later. my company has quite a number of the member hotels as preferred hotels for travel so I thought I’d try them.

I’id like to know if anyone has thoughts about room upgrades and other benefits with this program. I know free nights are harder to come by since points get you $25 in redemption credits for every 12,500 points. The hotels seem like they are pretty good ones and generally are AAA four diamond quality or better.

You may want to look into the cross-redemption from Choice Prilvileges for Preferred Hotels. It may actually be much easier to earn free Preferred Hotel stays by staying paid at Choice Hotels (especially using their frequent "stay 2 times earn 8000 points" promos) than at Preferred Hotels, if I Prefer earns as slowly as you describe.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/choi...s-resorts.html (in the Choice forum)

Choice Hotels are not preferred hotels for my company plus I don’t really want to spend 30+ nights in choice hotel stays to get a handful of free nights. I was thinking of either staying at Preferred Hotels or GHA/Omni hotels. I’m looking for upgrade ability rather than free stays. Thanks.

Iprefer certificates
 

The certificates can be used at any of the Iprefer hotels and are even transferable. I got quite a lot of those (25, 50, 100 USD) and barely use them. So if anyone is interested in taking some of those off my hands at a good discount, just send me a PM

How were your upgrades when you stayed with them?

I saw that they offer a status match. Does anyone know how long the match lasts?

Just submitted a status match request (actually their email asked me about higher tier status with other programs).

So far in the iPrefer Rewards program they stays have posted very quickly. That's the good news.

The not so good news is that member property front desk staff are clueless about the benefits.

Marriot member for many years. Probably one of the best if not best rewards program there is. All depends on where you are traveling and access to the type of hotel you want.

I have a lot of iPrefer points so I turned some of them into vouchers. However I read - when you get the vouchers - that they can't be used for existing prepaid reservations. I assume that means when you show up at the front desk to checkout - unless you have an expensive reservation that you don't have to pay for in advance - you can only use the vouchers for incidentals like breakfasts and minbars rather than the actual room cost itself. Not as good as, for example, Accor, where I can use my points on the website to reduce the room rate I'm paying whether it's discounted because it's unchangeable or whether it's full price because it's short notice.
So not as helpful as I thought (leaving aside the difficulty of getting access to the website when I forgot my password and after requesting the password reset email I kept getting the message "access denied"!)

I think the website suggests Elite members only get their benefits if they book through iprefer.com

However, rates (and perks) for many hotels through Visa Signature, Mr & Mrs Smith, Tablet Hotels are more compelling.

QUESTION: has anyone been able to get their elite status benefits whilst using a 3rd party booking service? Thanks in advance

This is what I was told: “your benefits are available at hotels regardless of how the booking was made. If you do book through an ineligible point awarding channel please contact the hotel prior to arrival and have them attach/notate your I Prefer member ID and associated Elite status.” In my case I only wanted an upgrade but the hotel was full anyway. The welcome gift was a spa discount.

Review
 

Introduction Recently i just Visited Agriturismo Valle Benuar

Any information about status match? I am spending 15 nights in Sept in Tokyo and I will try a match from Bonvoy.

They will match and instructions at https://preferredhotels.com/page/ipr...sked-questions

Cheers!

Very nice, I will try have them match my marriott status.

pending outage!
 

I received this email from them yesterday:


Dear Member,

We are taking a few days to make some behind-the-scenes improvements to the I Prefer Member dashboard and online account management tools. This temporary service disruption will take place starting November 1, 2019.

During this time, please be aware that you will not have access to redeeming, viewing, or printing Reward Certificates on either IPrefer.com or the I Prefer App. If you have travel planned during this service period, please print the certificates you intend to use at the property on or before October 30, 2019, or ensure that you have received it via email. We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause. The Member Services team is available to help during this time should you need basic account information. Members Services' contact information can be found here.

Once the planned improvements have been completed, for security reasons, all Members will be sent instructions for changing their current password. Please be on the lookout for more information after November 4, 2019.

Thank you,
The I Prefer Team

Well, they're either down again, or still...

Trying to sign up or login sticks you on a planned maintenance page which says down dec 1-5, and also strangely talks about having to reset passwords ... just like your quoted email.

Anyways... has anyone signed up for the elite program through Amex India since 2017? In there, it promises lifetime status, but the maybe more current benefits page seems to offer it for one calendar year.

Anyone has recent experiences with this program as an elite status? How are the benefits when checking in etc? Thanks very much.

I'm iPrefer Elite.
I had a stay in February in Hotel C Stockholm.
That hotel is apparently a member of multiple loyalty programs and iPrefer was not their preferred program (pun intended).
I had to explain them how iPrefer worked, they asked me what I usually got as drinks and welcome amenity (I should have told them that I usually got a fancy handbag, missed opportunity).
I also had a $100 voucher from iPrefer that they happily accepted.

It was a bit awkward explaining all the rules and it felt like I was begging for the benefits but in the end it was OK.

don’t understand why they had the nerve to get back and forth with me for weeks on my missing points request until it is six months away from the stay
Isn’t the cost of issuing points second to none?

Hotel C is primarily a Nordic Choice property. I don’t stay there often — and never as iPrefer there — but from what I recall they are mostly used to the common status amenity auto-populating in the phone app or hading a paper voucher for use at the hotel F&B venue to Nordic Choice Club status members. And while the staff faces there seemed relatively new or back after a break during Covid, I had already gotten used to a bit more genuinely clueless yet curious interactions from hotel staff there even prior to 2020.

Any more recent or semi-recent experiences with iPrefer? They statusmatched me to Elite (highest tier) and I am looking at booking the Aranwa Sacred Valley Resort in Peru. Currently booked via booking.com for ~450€ + 45€ Cashback and free upgrade to Deluxe Room. Via the hotels own homepage, the iPrefer Member rate is 450€ for the lowest room category (Deluxe Room at 500€). I tried my luck and sent them a friendly email with the confirmation of my booking.com reservation, and that I am a iPrefer ELITE member, and if they would maybe like to match the price (because afterall it would still be cheaper for them, I assume, and they advertising "best price" on their homepage), but they simply did not respond at all now for a week, which I find rather rude - they could at least nicely decline or something.

I was considering to change to the 450€ lowest category room on their own homepage in the hope of a suite upgrade with the Elite status, but with little to no upgrade experiences for the iPrefer program found online I think it is probably too much of a risk and again the hotels behaviour of simply not replying is also turning me off.

Here's my data point. I was recently matched to Elite and stayed at Parkhotel Quellenhof in Germany. I did get the room upgrade but had to ask for welcome drinks, amenities etc. It really depends on the person checking in you. Majority of the staff at the hotel seem to forget or are rather ignorant about the ipefer program. Preferred Hotel platform booking was in a mess for a while too.

The members email is very responsive. I suggest you message them instead for help.

Bottom line. I am hesitant to stay at any iPrefer hotels in the future.

Hmm, that's what I feared. Thanks for the data point

I just had an issue trying to do a points booking (only limited hotels participating in this). Provided all information, then the reservation failed, but the points were still taken from my account. Called customer service… told this functionality does not work for any hotels and has not worked “for some time”. Supposedly my points will reappear in “a couple of days”.

:rolleyes:

Update: Was able to get a supervisor to open a ticket and the points were added back within the hour. Reservation agents cannot make points bookings as that functionality currently not working. I was able to make the reservation on second attempt.

If your points are going to expire you can always request a voucher. The vouchers don't have an expiration date.

Has anybody ever stayed at iPrefer hotels in Japan?
I know how hotels in Europe are rather clueless about the program but since Japan is at a whole other level when it comes to hospitality I wonder if upgrades/benefits are better there.

Got a status match from Accor Platinum to Prefer Explorer. Wish I knew status match was possible before my first Prefer stay recently at the Amerikalinjen in Oslo. They did however provide an complimentary upgrade on check-in from their "Standard Cozy" with a single bed to a "Standard Explorer" with a queen bed, even being a base level member, which was kind. Staff were excellent, it was a lovely stay!

On a long stay at Landmark Bangkok, booked as a series of back-to-back shorter stays. I‘ve been paying the bill for each of the substays as I go, and so stays have been duly posting with I Prefer while I’m still at the hotel. Thus I quickly moved up in status — twice — mid-stay. I’m now an Elite member. Hooray!

I asked at the club floor about an upgrade and they gave me a great one, to an 87 m.sq. suite (I had booked and was staying in a smaller suite).

This program seems more laid back than others I’ve been familiar with. Despite having I Prefer desk ornaments at the front desk and club floor, there’s not a lot of branding associated with it and the people at the hotel aren’t all that forward about it, almost like it’s an afterthought. But my sample size is exactly one hotel, so I’m open to being mistaken. Regardless, my experience at this one hotel has been quite generous.

Im going to try to use a voucher or whatever it is I’ve accrued, soon.

Can you stack multiple vouchers for single stays, or can you only redeem them separately?

Also, why are only a handful of hotels available for reward night redemptions online? When searching by state, it only shows a select few properties that can be booked exclusively with points...

Not sure why. I used a voucher last time, didn't have any problems using it to pay for my stay at the hotel. (Hotel C-Stockholm).
The advantage of the vouchers is that they don't expire.

Stayed in 2 Preferred Hotels in Japan

Royal Park Hotel Iconic Shiodome
Sapporo Excel Hotel Tokyu

The Royal Park is a fantastic hotel. Location is also relatively good. Tokyo is a spread-out city so you can't be close to everything but this hotel is near a major station and in a good location for eg. Ginza & Odaiba.
They have an iPrefer hospitality desk in the lobby. I got a welcome drink in the room (full bottle of French wine) but there was no card with a message so I made a call to the reception to verify if it was indeed a welcome gift.
Asked for a late check-out but they charge a fee per hour and I didn't want to beg, bring up the status etc. Just worked for a few hours in the lobby.

Sapporo Excel Hotel Tokyu: Nada, nothing. No mention of status, no welcome drink, no upgrade
Individual hotels might give you something extra for your status but I have the impression that chain hotels only see their own status members in the system and don't really keep track of iPrefer.
The points do always post without problems. I'm not sure how this works but I think the hotels don't have to do anything for this. Points usually already post on check-in.

kcaluwae appreciate the post (can't like your post for some reason). Am planning something for JP under Iprefer. Were you offered any rm upgrade at Royal? Thanks.

No, wasn't offered anything. Didn't ask for it either. They didn't mention anything about iPrefer at check-in, that was one of the reasons I double-checked if the bottle of wine was indeed a welcome drink.

Maybe this only applied to the hotel I made a reservation at, but so far the biggest bonus of iPrefer has been the fact that by booking directly you have breakfast included (and iPrefer happened to have the lowest rate too).

On a side note, do check the price of the same stay a day earlier (or until the last moment you are able to make free changes) as the price can drop considerably. By changing the reservation you can make quite a substantial savings...

Anybody happen to have any feedback on Preferred Hotels in New York or Boston?
(mostly regarding the benefits you get as an iPrefer member in those hotels)

Thanks to kcaluwae 's recent review for Royal Park Hotel Iconic Shiodome. Decided to stay here. Booked a king room. Huge king bed btw cal king maybe? Asked for an upgrade as an Elite iPrefer and they moved me to the highest floor same room type. Received a bottle of wine in the room and drink vouchers for entire stay. Room was clean. Concierge was helpful. Toiletries are very complete. Location is amazing. Will stay here again.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...b53bb34d_z.jpg

Elite Member
 

As an Elite member, have you had to ask for hotel room upgrades or are they given at check in, no questions asked? I’ve now stayed at two properties with Elite tier and haven’t been given an upgrade when there are rooms available. I’m used to having the front desk acknowledge my tier and offer whatever amenity is included with that, but that doesn’t seem to happen with I Prefer.

At the Pulitzer Amsterdam, breakfast is also not even included which seems like a missed perk.

That was my experience as well.

That's what they gave me too. Slightly disappointed it wasn't straight to Elite - I wonder if I should have used Marriott Plat instead (but that's a lifetime status).

Discovered I Prefer by accident when I found the Keio Plaza Hotel in Tokyo, and they have many properties worldwide that I want to stay at.

Does anyone know if they will status match? I am LT Titanium with Marriott, LT Diamond with Hilton, and Globalist with Hyatt. Thanks