Category Archives for Hotels.
Again via Free Frequent Flyer Miles, Chase now has its offer of 20,000 points for signing up for a Marriott Visa (a href=”http://www.firstusa.com/cgi-bin/webcgi/webserve.cgi?pdn=marriott_s20k&page=cont&mkid=65DF” target=_blank>personal and/or small business cards).Free the first year, the personal card comes with Marriott Silver status, and yes you can obtain both cards and even churn them.
In April 2005 I posted that the offer to Citibank Chairmans Card holders of complimentary Hilton Gold status was accessible by anyone. Some folks kept the status after signing up. Others had Hilton take it away. Some had Hilton say they were taking it away, but the status remained… The Fatwallet discussion of this deal suggests that it still works (by phone only, no longer online). Naturally, your mileage may vary.
Starwood’s significant devaluation got plenty of attention, but Marriott quietly made significant adjustments to its own hotel categories to much less fanfare. It’s been discovered, and is being discussed on Flyertalk. The summary:Changes in MR redemption were effective March 2, 2007. 14 hotels went down one category level, 535 went up one category level. And one member’s calculation of the impact of the change:Some quick calculations….approximately 20% of Marriott Rewards properties were impacted and the change is reported to be a 1 category increase. On a 1 night stay, that is an increase of about 33% across the categories. So it appears to be an overall devaluation of about 6-7% (33% x 20%). I can live with this as it is in-line with overall inflation in hotel room rates, unlike the ridiculous almost 20% devaluation…
Book at Hampton.com by March 31, 2007 for stays completed by April 30, 2007 and earn an extra 250 Hilton HHonors points by entering promo code H250.
A new promo for Hilton Gold status – this one soliciting Emirates Skywards Gold members, but apparently anyone can sign up using this link, which just enrolls you with promo code EMOD. New accounts instantly receive Gold status, hearsay suggests the promo will only last through January 31 and that status will last until April 2009 (I would have expected April 2008, but Hilton status sometimes just lasts awhile). Some promos have worked out well in the past. Others, like the Citibank Chairman’s offer for Gold status, have prompted Hilton to revoke the status when used by folks not actually eligible for the offer. (I know of some folks that got the letter revoking their gold status, and yet the status mysteriously remained.) So, as with so many of these things, your mileage may vary…
The Hilton American Express comes with an offer of 10,000 points with first purchase, 2500 bonus points for each of your first four Hilton stays charged to the card, and 30,000 points for spending $5000 on the card by March 31, 2007.
Following on Westin’s move, Marriott announced today that it is going smoke-free in all of the Company’s lodging brands in the United States and Canada will become 100 percent smoke-free, beginning in September. So they’ve taken an idea pioneered elsewhere but expanded it beyond what its competitors are already offering — smokefree not just in a single brand but across brands. Bad for smokers, perhaps, and those renting rooms to throw parties (!) but good for most travelers whose worst nightmare is getting checked into a smoking room. Update: HotelChatter has more: At first, this sounds a little more drastic than it is since 90 percent Marriott’s guest rooms were already non-smoking. But the hotel chain goes one step further banning smoking from public spaces that includes restaurants, bars, meeting rooms and employee work areas.…
Marriott is ramping up their checkin kiosks from 32 properties now to 150 within two weeks. All Marriott and Renaissance properties are targeted to have the machines by the end of September. The kiosks will have the functionality to print airline boarding passes, a nice feature indeed. Marriott is actually a bit behind the curve on this one, Hilton announced the capability of their kiosks to print boarding passes back in April, but Marriott looks like it will jump ahead of its competitors with the ubiquity of the feature across two of its brands within a few months. This is one of the easy no-brainers of the hotel industry. If done right the cost to set up the machines with internet connectivity and a printer should be low, and it’s a major convenience. But in…
British Airways is offering a 30% bonus on miles when transferring points from Marriott Rewards by July 20. For those who aren’t already British Airways Executive Club members — and membership normally requires booking a full fare coach ticket or more — BA is offering accounts via this promotion as well (apparently without any requirement to transfer points from Marriott, so anyone wanting a BA account this is a good opportunity to get one).(Hat tip to Free Frequent Flyer Miles.)
Hotel Hotsheet reports that Marriott will roll out “Total Trip Pricing” — a commitment to show “all in” costs for their hotel rooms on their website. In other words, taxes, surcharges, and resort fees will be fully disclosed. Small steps towards a better world…
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 »
