Earn or burn your HHonors points at Hilton’s newest hotel in Waikiki- The Hokulani (Photo: Chris McGinnis)
As Labor Day passes each year and the flood of summer leisure visitors dries up, hotel marketers have traditionally tried to prime the pump of autumn business travel by rolling out special bonus or discount promotions for members of their loyalty programs — and this year is no exception.
Even though the autumn offers are not as rich as we’ve seen in recent years due to higher business travel spending and increasing occupancy, they still shouldn’t be ignored. Here’s a rundown:
Please note that some of these promos are targeted to certain members and may not work for everyone.
InterContinental’s IHG Rewards Club just launched an “Into the Nights” promotion offering members a choice of bonus points, bonus air miles or free nights, based on their stays at its 11 hotel brands from now through December 31. How generous are the bonuses? Hard to say, because they apparently vary from one individual to the next. The company says only that members who register online (at www.ihg.com/freenights) “will receive personalized offers” — although they do mention that the promotion will let members earn “at least two free nights or 50,000 points.”
Marriott Rewards members can earn up to a maximum of 25,000 bonus points when they register online by November 15 in the company’s Megabonus promotion, for stays at any of Marriott’s 15 brands (including Ritz-Carlton) between September 15-January 15. The offer provides double the usual program points for every stay — starting with the second one — during the promotional period, up to the maximum bonus.
Hilton HHonors’ fall promotion, currently in progress, matches Marriott in providing members with double points (for stays through October 31, not November 15) — but it goes a step beyond that by upping the ante to triple points for weekend stays (Friday-Sunday). Hence the promotion’s name: Triple Your Trip. The offer actually started August 1, but the bonus doesn’t kick in for your stays until you are registered prior to check-out. Bonus points are based on the average nightly folio of your total stay. (Caveat: Not all Hilton family properties are taking part in the offer; here’s a list of dozens that aren’t.)
If you belong to Best Western Rewards, you can score 1,000 bonus points per stay from now through November 23 when you book that stay — at any qualified rate — through the group’s website at bestwestern.com. (Elite members get another 500 bonus points on top of that.) Select the Best Value or Web Special rate when you book, and you’ll get up to 20 percent off the hotel’s Flexible Rate. To take advantage of the promotion, members must register online.
Choice Hotels is offering members of its Choice Privileges plan the ability to earn one free night’s stay for every two qualifying stays at Choice brands from September 4 through November 12 when they register online. (Clarification: The “free night” is based on picking a property from the 8,000-point reward level in the program; most require more points than that.) While a single night qualifies as a stay at some Choice brands, the promotion sets a minimum of two nights for qualifying stays at its MainStay Suites, Suburban Extended Stay, Rodeway Inn and Econo Lodge brands. And members who have set airline miles instead of Choice Privileges as their program earning preference are ineligible.
Members of Kimpton Hotels’ new Kimpton Karma Rewards plan should act fast to take advantage of its Luxe Liberation offer. They can snag a discount of up to 20 percent when they stay in a Kimpton suite from now through October 31 — but the booking deadline is September 13.
Starwood has a fall promotion called Triple Crave that rewards Preferred Guest members for dining at many of its hotel restaurants. It offers triple SPG points for restaurant purchases of $50 or more Monday through Thursday from now throughDecember 30, and requires online registration. The site has a link to a list of participating restaurants worldwide, including 144 in the U.S. For weekend stays, Starwood also has launched its More For You campaign offering double or triple points for weekend stays.
Country Inns & Suites by Carlson will serve up double Club Carlson Gold Points — along with early check-in or late check-out — to members who book a “Business Package” stay at its North American properties from now through December 31. The Business Package rate also provides a hot breakfast, high-speed Internet, use of the fitness and business centers and a daily newspaper.
With the Sweet Dreams Sweet Rewards promo, Hyatt Gold Passport members earn 5,000 Hyatt Gold Passport bonus points after the first five nights and “thousands more” for every additional five nights at any Hyatt hotel worldwide from September 1 through November 30, 2014. After 20 nights, that’s 50,000 bonus points.
–Jim Glab
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