Category Archives for Hotels.
They’ve tried to grow through strategic partnerships with MGM and SLH hotels, and through acquisitions such as Two Roads Hospitality which has given them Alila, Destination Hotels, Joie de Vivre and Thompson Hotels (as well as the nascent tommie brand).
Hyatt has actually tried and failed at other acquisitions. They were in the running for Starwood, probably even offering more money than Marriott, but their complicated stock structure (the Pritzker family retains outsized control) got in the way. Hyatt tried at the last minute to acquire NH Hotels but that door was already shut. They were also a bidder for Kimpton, but IHG beat them out by $100 million. (Hyatt was right not to overpay the way IHG did.)
IHG hotels – Kimpton, Holiday Inn, Intercontinental, and related brands – has launched a Cyber Sale running through December 17th, with extra discounts for Black Friday and Cyber Monday coming up.
These rates stack with IHG’s bonus offer up to quadruple points.
We’re all familiar with lies, damn lies, and statistics. The new program has higher redemption prices than Marriott Rewards. It has weaker elite recognition than Starwood Preferred Guest. There is virtually no enforcement of elite benefits at the property level, at best paying our rewards to hotels for elite satisfaction scores.
Do you like Marriott Bonvoy more than both Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest? I’d love to see if we’ve got an 8-to-1 margin here… or if this is just Sorenson being Sorenson.
Spending less than $300 for simulator time with an instructor is a great deal – a reason that some people may force an overnight for themselves at Haneda airport even. For an aviation geek there’s nothing like flight simulator time.
But what if I told you there’s an airport hotel where you can spend points to stay the night, that has a Boeing 787 simulator and where sim time is even cheaper?
A hotel program books your room on points. They take the liability on their books for your point balance, and use it to pay the hotel.
Since hotels are mostly independently owned, they need to get real cash from the chain for your stay. Hotels actually benefit by filling unsold rooms with reward night guests, getting revenue from the loyalty program for a room that would have sat empty.
I don’t have an issue with limited-participation hotels, and it makes sense for timeshare hotels not to offer complimentary breakfast as an elite benefit. However it’s not really fair to say that Hyatt is growing and delivering more value to members by adding hotels where redemption is not possible.
And I think we can assume that moving five Destination Hotels into category 8 is just the beginning. We’ll eventually see more at the inflated 40,000 points per night level.
Hyatt’s ‘soft brand’ – the umbrella for independent hotels to join Hyatt without matching specific brand standards – is called “Unbound Collection.” The chain is offering double elite qualifying nights for stays at Unbound Collection hotels through end of year. (Registration required.)
There are 20 Unbound Collection properties.
Many Marriott Platinums see their suite night awards expire unused. Nonetheless, when they work they’re great.
Marriott has made two changes to Suite Night Awards, each reflecting problems with Marriott’s own internal systems that they’ve been unable to solve.
IHG Rewards Club – the program that includes Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Kimpton and related brands – is offering progressively bigger bonuses with each stay booked by December 15 and completed by January 31, 2020.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
