Choice Privileges is a collection of hotels that you mostly don’t want to stay at. Still, if you collect their points you expect to be able to redeem them. And if you redeem points for a free night, you expect the stay to be honored.
Not every participating hotel agrees. And it appears that the chain is comfortable with that.
It appears that the EconoLodge Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina only honors award reservations for active duty military members and only for those active duty military age 80 or above.
Guests are required to be 80 years of age and military personnel to redeem points at this location.
This guest reports that the hotel never even asked their military status or age. Instead, they reached out to let them know their points booking simply would not be honored.
I had an award stay booked, and they emailed me three days before the reservation to say “We here at Econolodge would like to inform you that your reservation for [date] WOULD NOT BE HONORED … Please call Choice to have your points put back to your account. … Please call CHOICE at…”
The guest tells me that they did call choice, who simply told them “This is a policy of the hotel; this is an agreement between Choice and the hotel.”
The U.S. military generally has a mandatory retirement age of 62, though general and flag officers can serve 40 years or until the month after their 64th birthday, whichever comes first. The U.S. military does not allow service until or past age 80.
Therefore, it appears impossible to redeem points at this hotel, since their condition cannot be satisfied by anyone. Not that the hotel even attempts to verify whether the guest qualifies, it would seem.
Here’s another guest turned away by this property on an award reservation. Theirs was worse than waiting until three days prior to check-in. In that case the conversation happened at the property – while the guest was required to remain outside in 20 degree cold.
Although I don’t know, it sounds to me like maybe guests are lucky getting turned away from this property?
Some hotels love points stays. They help fill rooms that would otherwise go empty, and they generate incremental revenue at very little extra cost. Other hotels accept points guests, seeing them as the cost of attracting revenue guests from the chain. They award points, and guests use them at other hotels. Other hotels award points, and they need to accept points bookings too.
But some properties want the benefit of belong to a chain – getting the customers who are part of the loyalty program – but don’t want to honor the benefits. Still, this may be the most creative set of rules I’ve seen yet to avoid honoring award stays. Some hotels just restrict the number of rooms or length of stay available on points. I’ve never seen points redemption only available to active duty members of the military over the age of 80 before.
At some level I have to think that if you find yourself staying at the EconoLodge Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina, it’s a great opportunity to think long and hard about the life choices that brought you to that point.
I would make the reservation in care of U.S. Grant or George Patton. Anyway I hope somebody sends this to the national HQ for EconoLodge, as corporations hate to look stupid.
I’m a veteran, 73 – only seven years away from being able to redeem my “military discount” at this “fine” hotel.
Am I active duty? Hell yes. I’m active and I have the duty (usually kitchen patrol, KP for short).
Retired and age 80, OK. Active and 80 never happens.
I have high status with Choice and stay at EconoLodges on occasion. I make six figures. I have two big reasons why I do:
1) I want a smoking room. Places like EconoLodge tend to have them.
2) My hotel stays are charged to the people I visit on the road. I want to save them money.
So rein the entitlement in, Gary. It isn’t a good look for you.
One place.to avoid permanently.
Hmmm I wonder who owns this place?
This isn’t different from every other Franchised hotel across all chains, they all resent fulfilling promises made by the Franchisor and create unique ways to weasel out / limit out of them. These guys are just honest and upfront about it.
Being honest about their dishonesty – Jon*H Ryan
Thank you, yet again, Gary, for continuing to ‘name and shame’ locations do silly stuff like this.
Trust me I live in Asheville and that is one place you wanna avoid like the plague. Anyone being denied a stay there has dodged a bullet. You can thank me later
As a former Choice MGT/franchisee! Sorry for whoever booked with them! My suggestion? Book with THAT HOTEL STILL and if they don’t honor it, walk directly to the nearest nicest most expensive Choice hotels it will be on that Econo lodges dime!! May cost you a few pissy phone calls!!! Choice will FINE AND reimburse THAT location, and you will win 100%
Id prefer sleeping in my car on a road trip over such a place
@ O’Hare Is My Second Home — Thank you for not smoking at Park Hyatt. GROSS.
And this is exactly why I dropped my British Airways Visa card
I could never ever redeem my points. Never ever could I redeem for Premium Plus seats. Eventually we were up over 300,000 points and finally I paid an outrageous amount of points and had to drive to another city where a family member kept our car for us, finally used up a slew of points on that flight. Just blew the points off on Hotels, basically anything to use up my accumulated points. And then I was done with them. I went to Chase Preferred, and just recently went to Chase Reserve.
Airline points (or hotel loyalty points) are worthless if you are not able to ever redeem them. Now I book with Chase Points at least I can redeem them on flights I want in the cabin class I want. So British Airways, you lost over a 20 year customer by not ever letting me redeem my points for anything other than economy.
I offer free stays to WW1 Veterans!
This seems like one of Nathan Fielder’s helpful suggestions for small businesses.
At least you don’t have to crawl past an alligator to redeem points.
@Brutus — The Rehearsal season 2 is out, and it’s all about aviation. Worth the watch. Nathan’s awesome.
Since the president is the commander and chief of the US military, an older president could potentially redeem points for a stay late in their second term.