Violet Lovely

Hotel Points

7 posts in this topic

I'm pretty new to hotels. Any trips I've ever been on were pre-arranged. 

So far, I have booked with Expedia twice and have already begun to receive offers (that I may or may not commit to). Recently, a client mentioned using his points for the hotel. I think his rewards program is through the actual hotel chain, though. It made me realize that I would love to rack up points and use them for my stays! You all probably do that already, right? Those of you who use hotels. 

Do you have a preference of travel site? Any programs better than others that you've seen? Do you have an opinion on who has the best rewards? 

 

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I have used hotels.com.  every ten stays I get one free night.  Then I can use any hotel and get points.  I do not like the thought of only being able to use the Hyatt or Marriott or I do not get points.  I am already a gold member, and they have really helped me once when I had trouble with a hotel.  I like third party booking.  I would suggest choosing one of those you really like.  There are many to choose from.  Plus, they have better rates then booking directly with hotels.  Stay safe.

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Can you share rewards? That's what I really want to know.  I'm not a frequent user of hotels but those that I know that travel frequently seem to stick with a certain chain and get really good deals. For the less frequent traveler hotels.com or other similar sites are the way to go. Booking.com has been pretty awesome. 

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I travel a lot for work.  I get around 80 night a year, and was using Hilton and Marriott, but after learning more about Hotels.com I transferred all my business to them.  

As was previously stated, they give you the equivalent of 10% of the rate, not including tax of 10 stays.  So when you stay 10 times, they average the total amount spent and divide by 10.  It blows away all the chain programs and in my case it gives me one consolidated itinerary.

The problem with a chain is if you forget to cancel as I sometimes double book for events that I know get busy, you may end up getting charged.  I had a situation where I had a photoshoot in Florida and accidentally booked the wrong date.  Showed up at the hotel and they couldn't find my reservation.  They finally found me, but I had apparently stayed the night before.   When I called hotels.com they actually called the hotel and they paid for the correct night and did not charge me extra.

I have learned to see who is writing reviews.  Are they an infrequent traveller, tourist or just a grouch?   I tend to prefer other business travelers as they have more realistic expectations of what it should be.

They also will match.  If I see a price better, they always match it.  Be aware though, some hotels do not like third party as they give away up to 1/3 of the amount and as a result will place you in a non desirable room.   That has happened and then I happily call the front desk and tell them that I am Hotels gold, used to be Hilton Diamond and Marriott Platinum and am happy to post my review.  Then I ask for the owners name or the district manager and low and behold, they move me to a better room.

@Lucy Kitten I can give the hotel nights away, use them or whatever.   Just be aware that with Hotels.com you get a specific dollar amount, so if you go over the rest is on you, where the chains typically cost points for each night.

Sorry for the ramble, but I am happy with Hotels.  I do wish they had a higher level than gold that had some additional perks though.

 

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I am sure many others may have received the same offers to donate some points to the Houston relief effort from the Loyalty programs. So just a simple way to help......

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