Category Archives for Hotels.
If you earned Platinum (50 night) or Titanium (75 night) elite status with Marriott in 2021 you only have until January 7th to make your ‘choice benefit selections. If you miss the deadline, you miss out on benefits like suite upgrade priority and free nights.
A reader shares they have a missing stay from December 27 that would push them over the threshold to earn Titanium. And Marriott won’t take a missing stay submission for that until January 10.
IHG is converting expiring credit card free nights to 25,000 points if you call and ask. If you do not call, you get nothing for certificates set to sunset after December 31, 2021.
Hilton and Marriott have extended expiring free night certificates. Hyatt has not. They’ve even said they’ll begin expiring points again December 31st. However they’ve quietly gotten much more generous in offering points for expiring awards, and in some cases even extending them on asking.
There’s even a surprise of points for top tier elites.
I’m going to ignore the math here and just say I don’t need the free night and I’ll enjoy the possible upgrade more if it comes through. In other words I’m going to waste money, perhaps frivolously, on something I’ll enjoy.
Why is it a waste? Because I’m probably better off taking the free night, saving $240 in cash I’d otherwise spend on a room, and using that cash for a better room on another stay or indeed on something other than a Marriott upgrade I’ll enjoy more. I’m going to do the thing that’s irrational because I’m rational enough to know that I’ll enjoy the irrationality.
I don’t look at average review scores for a hotel property on a site like TripAdvisor. A lot of reviews may be fake, and the reviewers may not have similar tastes or expectations even if they’re real. But there’s another thing that skews ratings: incentives by a property to post great reviews. Hotels that do this will get more positive reviews. That doesn’t mean it’s a better hotel.
Housing the homeless in hotels is hardly new. At New York JFK airport hotels it’s even largely expected. During the pandemic the practice accelerated. There were plenty of empty rooms. States like California, New York, and others turned to hotels to house the homeless.
Hilton Honors should treat elites as well as my college dorm! They should provide a choice between free breakfast or the smaller dollar credit. Hilton would still manage their costs while providing guest flexibility. That would turn a controversial move into a win that customers would love.
Hyatt has expanded its partnership with delivery service GoPuff, which offers food, office supplies, toiletries and other convenience store type items.
The reason you care is that most Chase cards are giving you a $10 per month GoPuff statement credit, if you have half a dozen Chase consumer cards you can get $60 a month in GoPuff credit. That, and perhaps also that Selena Gomez is now an investor. And because there’s a Hyatt points signup bonus now, too.
You should definitely register for the promotion – and do it now – because even if you aren’t planning to stay at all with Hilton during the first four months of 2022, you might find yourself surprised (perhaps you get stuck overnight at an airport!) and you’ll never remember to go back later and register. So get that part over with, because earning the bonus is better than not earning the bonus.
On July 1, 2021 Hilton replaced breakfast as an elite benefit at U.S. hotels with a daily food and beverage credit. This was temporary for 2021.
The concept is amazing (use the credit for a meal other than breakfast, use the credit for room service) but the amount was too low and didn’t cover the least expensive items in major cities. At some hotels it wouldn’t even cover a cup of coffee with tax if you tip (which is expected).
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 »
