Category Archives for Hotels.
A week and a half ago IHG was pricing many of its best hotels around the world for about half the usual points. This didn’t last. I told everyone to book quickly, and many did.
Some people were worried that IHG would cancel the reservations, claiming they were a mistake, but this did not happen. IHG has been silent on what happened. However this strange pricing is back.
With summer ending, kids going back to school, and corporate travel not yet fully returned Hyatt is out with a new offer. It’s not as generous systemwide as what we’ve seen in the past, but it’s something, and it includes a kicker to push awareness and program engagement with their new broad portfolio of all-inclusive properties.
The member was completely locked out of their account while the account was placed under audit. They thought their account might get closed through no fault of their own.
In the end it didn’t take 45 days for the investigation as they were told to expect. Their account was taken of of audit, and points were returned, after 44 days.
Not only does it take more base points to become a Diamond, those base points are going to become harder to accumulate.
A TikToker booked a night at an Airbnb in Bali for her anniversary. She’d found a ‘villa’ with an infinity pool that overlooked a rainforest. It was part of a larger property with amenities (plenty of hotels sell rooms through Airbnb!). There were good reviews.
She showed up and found an abandoned villa, a pool filled with algae, a restaurant that was shut down – the entire property abandoned. Broken windows abounded.
The CEO of IHG says that the revamp of the chain’s loyalty program, IHG One Rewards, is starting to pay off. Every company says the bets they’re currently making are great, and they’ll marshal out of context numbers to prove the point.
Here all we know is that travel is rebounding broadly, and IHG has historically gotten less mileage out of loyalty than competitors, so there’s nowhere to go but up.
IHG One Rewards is pricing many hotels at about half their usual award rate. This isn’t true everywhere or for all dates, but does appear to be worldwide.
You’ll find some Kimptons at 45,000 points; Intercontinentals between 35,000 and 45,000 points; Crowne Plazas from 25,000 points and Holiday Inns from 20,000 points. Again, not everywhere, but there are reports of Maldives and Bora Bora properties showing up at just 35,000 points.
There’s both a Hyatt Place and Hyatt House in the same building, the Hyatt Place Allentown / Lehigh Valley and Hyatt House Allentown / Lehigh Valley. They just opened last fall, and Hyatt.com even uses the Hyatt Place exterior for both properties.
They share amenities like gym, pool, and bar (there’s an indoor pool). Unless you need the long-term stay kitchen stuff of a Hyatt House, pick whichever one is cheaper. You’ll note that the property can even be a good use of Hyatt points, here’s a nice ~ 3 cent per point redemption scenario.
>Le Meridien Essex Chicago warned guests not to stand in the windows of their room or open the windows, because they’d be treated as an active shooter by Chicago Police.
Advertise one thing, charge something else, is the very problem with resort fees to begin with – but charging a different resort fee than what’s published on the hotel website seems next level.
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 »
