Hotels

Category Archives for Hotels.

IHG PointBreaks Changing, Some ‘Discounted’ Hotels Will Cost 3x As Much

by Gary Leff on January 27, 2018

Jan 27 2018

IHG Rewards Club has been offering discounted hotel night redemptions for just 5000 points per night for more than a decade.

At the beginning there were some high value hotels included in the discount properties list. Over time there have been fewer and fewer premium hotels. The ‘good ones’ are almost always swept up and disappear from the list within a couple of days. These deals have been so good that in China people were automating PointBreaks bookings and reselling them.

Hyatt Retroactively Counting Award Nights for Status and Threshold Bonuses

by Gary Leff on January 24, 2018

Jan 24 2018

Hyatt now counts free night awards towards elite status. But they’re doing more than that. They’re re-calculating 2017 status as though free nights counted last year, and they’re sending out emails to members who would have achieved a higher level of status or earned additional suites and points.

Do Hotels Make You Prove You’re Eligible for AAA or Corporate Discounts?

by Gary Leff on January 22, 2018

Jan 22 2018

Five years ago a couple of commenters noted being asked to show their AAA card at hotel check-in when staying on a AAA rate. I have never seen this happen myself.

Later that year when AAA sent me a renewal notice with the card I asked readers whether I should just pocket that to show ‘just in case’ or actually pay for the membership, universally the sentiment was ‘you use the discount you pay for the membership.’

Hyatt’s Chief Marketing Officer is Out

by Gary Leff on January 18, 2018

Jan 18 2018

When Hyatt hired Mark Vondrasek – formerly of Starwood – as Senior Vice President for loyalty and business platforms it was announced he would circumvent the CMO and report directly to the CEO. At the time I noted how unique that was.

Though Hyatt tried to dissuade me of the significance that their head of loyalty wouldn’t report to the Chief Marketing Officer the handwriting seemed to be there.

Marriott Removes Banned Book From Chinese Hotel

by Gary Leff on January 16, 2018

Jan 16 2018

Marriott had to take down their website and mobile app after Shanghai authorities were notified the hotel company listed Tibet and Taiwan as separate countries on a survey.

Then after a Marriott employee working the Marriott Rewards twitter account ‘liked’ a tweet by Friends of Tibet the company was letting everyone know that employee was being fired rather than the usual corporate response of not commenting on personnel matters.

Another Hyatt Cash and Points Award ‘Sale’ Book Before It’s Pulled

by Gary Leff on January 15, 2018

Jan 15 2018

A week ago Hyatt was pricing several hotels below their normal published cash and points award prices. Most of those deals are no longer available.

However several hotels are again charging less than they are ‘supposed to’ for cash and points.

Marriott Demonstrates That China Rules All of Us

by Gary Leff on January 13, 2018

Jan 13 2018

When Austin tried to impose its own regulations on Uber, they learned that they were too small a market to matter. California and New York may be able to influence a company’s behavior, but Austin cannot. As regulation is increasingly global, the most important markets set the rules.

China is the next big thing. That was true 15 years ago, and it will be true 15 years from now. But for companies making a big bet in the country, Beijing is able to exercise global sway.

Travel Companies are Running Scared of What’s on Their Websites Because China

by Gary Leff on January 13, 2018

Jan 13 2018

IHG Rewards Club has issued an update to its terms and conditions. And there’s only one change, repeated a few times in a few different ways. They want to make very sure you know that Taiwan is part of ‘Greater China’.

China’s civil aviation authority demanded a public apology from Delta and changes to its website for listing Tibet and Taiwan as countries.

Airing Marriott’s Dirty Laundry and a 777 Made Out of Paper

by Gary Leff on January 11, 2018

Jan 11 2018

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

Redemptions for Kimpton Hotels Now Live at IHG Rewards Club

by Gary Leff on January 10, 2018

Jan 10 2018

IHG folded Kimpton and its Karma Rewards program into IHG Rewards Club. In the process they sanitized the benefits offered to elites, although they’re maintaining Kimpton’s top ‘Inner Circle’ level as an invitation-only program similar to Intercontinental properties and Royal Ambassador, with no public criteria for how members will earn it.

The upside to all of this is supposed to be for IHG Rewards Club members generally, more nice and interesting properties to use there points at. And that is now live on the IHG website.