Hotels

Category Archives for Hotels.

20% Discount Redeeming Award Stays At Intercontinental, Holiday Inn, Etc.

Jan 26 2022

When I spoke with IHG’s Senior Vice President of Loyalty last week about the chain’s revamp of its elite program that is now in progress, she told me that they would be offering an award discount this week for top tier elites.

In fact they’re out now with an offer of 20% off redemptions and it is available to co-brand credit card customers.

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Interview: Shangri-La’s Loyalty VP On Treating Guests Well Every Time & Why Owning Hotels Matters

Jan 24 2022

Shangri-La’s Vice President and Head of Shangri-La Circle Kevin Siew offered both real insight into how the chain thinks about loyalty – and what’s necessary to deliver great experiences for guests regardless of the chain. So this was a very interesting hour, spent together via Zoom since he’s based in Hong Kong. My key takeaways included the importance of treating guests well at each interaction, regardless of their reason for a stay or meal, and contra most of the industry just how much vertical integration – owning the hotels and restaurants – actually matters for a hospitality chain.

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Marriott Won’t Even Tell Members When In March They’ll Devalue Points

outside marriott hotel
Jan 20 2022

Marriott is eliminating award charts, but they won’t tell us exactly when. So it’s a secret devaluation.

They say it’s coming sometime in March. That’s consistent with the original announcement that award charts would cease in March 2022. Some people have assumed this would mean March 1, 2022. And that’s possible, however a Marriott spokesperson tells me “we haven’t announced the date yet.”

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IHG Rewards Senior VP Loyalty Explains Big Program Changes Coming, Starting With New Elite Level

Jan 19 2022

There have been several stories reporting one piece of change that’s happening at IHG Rewards – the introduction of a new mid-tier level, a change in the name of their top tier, and new qualification requirements for status.

I spoke with Heather Balsley this morning. She’s Senior Vice President of Global Loyalty and Partnerships at IHG Hotels & Resorts. And she shared some other pieces of what’s changing now, and what’s coming in the next few months where the focus will be on elite benefits, the area where she seemed to agree IHG has historically had the biggest opportunities for improvement.

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Marriott Travel Packages Are Gone And Bonvoy Failed To Provide The Promised Notice To Members

outside marriott hotel
Jan 19 2022

Last week Marriott dropped into their terms and conditions that they were eliminating travel packages effective January 19, 2022. This was apparently published in the terms and conditions too early, and Marriott removed this from their published terms telling me they “published prematurely..[w]e will have additional details for members in the coming days.”

However Marriott never told members in advance about this change.

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Marriott 5-Night Travel Packages (Airline Miles + Hotel Stay) Still Exist – For One Day Only?

Jan 17 2022

Marriott snuck a change into their terms and conditions saying that they’re eliminating hotel and airline mile ‘travel packages’ from the program. These haven’t been useful in several years because of price increases and the elimination of 5-night packages. Except those 5 night packages still exist and you may have a short window to claim them.

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How A Basket Case Pension Fund Got A Marriott Renaissance Deflagged In St. Croix

Jan 17 2022

The Carambola Beach Resort St. Croix is a sad tale. Marriott has 30 brands, but this hotel is an unbranded Marriott. You see, it used to be a Renaissance. It’s fallen into such disrepair that they don’t show that name any longer.

How this happened is fascinating because it’s a tale of incompetence and, in my opinion, likely corruption on the part of the government employee pension fund of the US Virgin Islands. This story is insane.

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Hyatt Award Policy That Needs To Change: Cash Penalties When You Miss A Stay

Change in T&C for free electronics
Jan 16 2022

If you book an award stay and your flight diverts on the way to your vacation, and you can’t check in as scheduled, call your mortgage broker for a second or third lien on your house – quick!

Hyatt, like Marriott, charges you cash in an undisclosed amount (rather than points) if you have to cancel an award trip inside of the cancellation deadline for your stay.

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