The HotelUpgrade app has finally launched. I met folks from hotel upgrade last July in Chicago, and was intrigued by their model.
The idea is to offer hotels that are part of major chains, and reservations that will still earn points and accrue credit towards elite status while offering additional perks for booking through them.
They offer bonus points, club access, upgrades, and other perks just for booking through their system. In some sense they’re like a Virtuoso or American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts platform — still points and elite credit earning, with extra benefits for booking through the channel.
For participating properties, there seems no downside to booking through them — unless you don’t care about the points and perks, in which case you may prefer miles from a site like Pointshound, Rocketmiles, or Kaligo.
HotelUpgrade just launched and is working with hotels on a one-by-one basis it appears, rather than booking through a global distribution system and just kicking back some of the commission.
As a result right now they have just ~ 70 hotels across ~ 25 US cities.
Here’s a sample of the perks for booking through them:
- Renaissance Suites O’Hare (Chicago)
Book 1-4 nights, get an extra 2000 loyalty points.
Book 5-9 nights, get executive lounge access, a suite upgrade (when available), plus an extra 5000 loyalty points.
Holiday Inn Express Fifth Avenue (New York)
Book 1-4 nights, get an extra 2000 loyalty points, plus 50% off self-parking (Mon-Sat).
Book 5-9 nights, get a suite upgrade (when available), plus an extra 5000 loyalty points and 50% off self-parking (Mon-Sat).
Hyatt Place Las Vegas
Book 1-4 nights, get an extra 1000 loyalty points.
Book 5-9 nights, get an extra 2500 loyalty points, a daily drink coupon and a high floor room.
Unfortunately at this point they’re available only for the iPhone. They don’t offer website bookings, and Android users like me are out of luck.
Android user here, so I too will have to wait. But I’m wondering, what sorts of rates does it book? Can you book AAA, Government, or corporate rate codes? Can you book special rates that the hotel website may offer, like “pay your age”? If I can book the same rates, and get extra perks, it does sound like a nice deal.
When they were launching last Summer, I emailed politely about asked about Android and then asked about an upcoming reservation in the gaslamp district of San Diego. Although the hotel wasn’t in their network, they offered to pay for my parking for five days! Super nice people.
If you book a Points/cash reservation with Hyatt, is that allowed? I noticed on the app. it says you can’t use corporate codes, but I am wondering what else they restrict? How about if you book a points only stay at Hyatt?
I look forward to them expanding, depending on what type of reservations (e.g. points – cash/points, etc.) they allow…
@pointie you cannot book award reservations through this app
I tried this app last year in Chicago. It didn’t work, but I did get an email asking me to forward my booking confirmation. Obviously I didn’t do this for security reasons.