Dear “My Hyatt Concierge”, you’re fantastic!
There are a few obvious reasons why Hyatt Globalist status is so nice to have - excellent suite upgrades, waived resort fees on cash bookings, 4 pm late check-outs, free parking on award nights, etc... - but none of these is the reason I've got extra love for the World of Hyatt program right now.
This is the kind of nonsense Marriott Bonvoy needs to cut out
There are a number of serious issues with the Marriott Bonvoy program and a lot of them are a result of Marriott allowing various brands and individual properties to plow their own furrow and to pick and choose what aspects of the Bonvoy program they want to adopt.
Marriott Bonvoy dynamic pricing is yielding some unexpected results
Over the past few days, the Marriott Bonvoy program has moved over to a dynamic pricing model for award bookings, and while some of the results of that move are far from unexpected, some of the things that I'm seeing are a little surprising.
Marriott’s move to dynamic pricing is delayed…but only by a few hours
Yesterday was supposed to be the last day that Marriott Bonvoy members could book awards at a variety of high-end properties (and a number of less high-end properties) at the rates set out in the program's award charts, but that's not how things have turned out.
Can everyone now get 20% off select IHG Rewards awards? (for a limited time)
Last week, IHG Rewards brought back an excellent sale which sees the cost of awards reduced by 20% for stays of up to 3 nights commencing no later than 25 May. At the launch, the sale was only open to holders of select IHG Rewards co-branded credit cards but we were promised that it would be opened up to all IHG Rewards members within a few days.
Marriott Bonvoy eliminates award charts & moves to dynamic pricing tomorrow
Towards the end of October last year, Marriott dropped the bombshell news that it was planning to make significant changes to how the Bonvoy program works, and now that we're less than 24 hours away from these changes coming into effect, I thought I'd post a reminder of what we should expect.
Hyatt’s award costs are going up tomorrow – book now to avoid higher rates
This is a reminder that Hyatt's 2022 award category changes come into effect from tomorrow, 22 March, and that means that we have less than 24 hours in which to lock in the current award prices at 70 World of Hyatt properties that will soon cost considerably more.
Is this a new annoyance on Marriott’s website?
Ordinarily, I find Marriott's website to be pretty user-friendly and mostly free of the kinds of glitches that cause me to want to rip what remains of my hair out of my head (I wish I could same the same about ba.com!) but in the past few weeks, I've noticed one particular oddity appear three times while I've been performing award searches and I like to know if anyone else has noticed anything similar.
Don’t assume that you know a hotel’s award cancellation window
One of the often-mentioned major benefits of making a hotel booking with points is that points bookings are usually considerably more flexible than the cheaper cash rates on offer. Where a discounted cash rate is often non-refundable once booked, a points booking is usually considered to be cancelable, without penalty, until a few days before arrival. This, however, is not always the case so it pays to read the small print carefully before you make an award booking.
Marriott.com adds lowest rates calendar to booking searches
In the past couple of days, Marriott has made a small enhancement (a real one) to its website and it now offers customers the option of accessing a property's rates across a whole month directly from the search results page. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't groundbreaking, but it's a nice addition to Marriot.com.
Ignore this terrible advice from a Twitter travel chat
Yesterday, I happened upon a scheduled Twitter chat that was covering the miles and points world and I watched as various contributors answered questions that were designed to give less experienced miles & points enthusiasts some ideas on how to get good value out of their balances. Usually, I ignore these kinds of chats but on this occasion, I watched this chat long enough to see a truly terrible bit of advice being handed out.
Devaluation: Hyatt announces award category changes for 2022
The World of Hyatt has just announced that 146 of its properties will be changing award categories in a little over a month's time and while the changes are pretty evenly split between properties moving up a category and properties moving down, it's interesting (and a little worrying) to see that Hyatt will be moving nine of its properties into Category 8 which up until now, has been reserved for SLH properties only.
Go to Super Bowl LVI with Bonvoy Moments
Marriott Bonvoy Moments is the heir to SPG Moments and is a program that allows Marriott Bonvoy members to spend their points on sports, concerts, and experiences rather than on hotel stays. Right now (and has been the case in most recent years), Marriott is giving Bonvoy members a chance to use their points to book tickets to Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles.
Hyatt & Exhale will end their partnership from January 2022
Hyatt purchases Exhale Spas back in 2017 and we saw the program added to the World of Hyatt a few months later. Since then, World of Hyatt members have been able to earn and burn points at Exhale Spas around the country, and World of Hyatt elites have been able to enjoy extra benefits at Exhale locations too. Sadly, not for much longer.
Citi Adds Wyndham Rewards as its second hotel partner
It was only a few weeks ago that Citi announced that Choice Privileges would become the ThankYou program's first hotel partner since Hilton departed a few years ago, and now here we are seeing Wyndham Rewards being added as a ThankYou partner too.
Odd: Are IHG free night certificates a little better than I thought?
I have an IHG free night certificate that's expiring at the end of the year and as I was performing a few random searches to see what I could and couldn't book with it last night, I stumbled across something that I'm pretty sure I've never seen before - the free night certificates can sometimes be more useful than points.
Is one of the best World of Hyatt award redemptions effectively dead?
Up until now, most of the research that I've been doing around the World of Hyatt program since seasonal pricing was introduced hasn't thrown up anything that's hugely negative or anything that was totally unexpected. That was until I started trying to work out just how far out I'd have to book to be able to reserve the amazing Alila Venata Big Sur at no more than 35,000 points per night (Category 7 peak rate). What I've discovered is more than a little disappointing.
My first look at the World of Hyatt post devaluation (has value remained?)
On 26 October, seasonal pricing was introduced to the World of Hyatt program meaning that while no properties moved hotel categories on that date, Hyatt stays from March 2022 onwards can now cost up to 25% more than they currently do. With Hyatt's seasonal calendars now live, I've taken a look at a few regular Hyatt properties and a few well-known and higher-end Hyatt properties to see what the calendars show and to see if I can answer three key questions that have been on my mind.
IHG Rewards extends elite statuses through January 2023
It was the last week of April 2020 when IHG announced that it would offer elite status extensions through January 2022 and now that Hilton (in September) and Marriott (yesterday) have both announced that members of their loyalty programs will continue to enjoy their elite statuses into 2023, IHG has followed suit.
The new World of Hyatt award calendars are now live
As most people reading this will probably know, the World of Hyatt introduced peak and off-peak pricing yesterday, 26 October, and while the new pricing system doesn't affect stays made before the end of February 2022, all of Hyatt's properties are now displaying their respective award calendars for all bookable dates from 1 March 2022 onwards.
Devaluation coming tomorrow: Book your 2022 Hyatt stays now
Hyatt originally planned to introduce peak and off-peak pricing back in March 2020 but the pandemic got in the way of those plans and the devaluation was postponed. Now, however, the postponements are over and Hyatt's move to peak, off-peak, and standard award pricing comes into effect tomorrow and with some bookings set to cost up to 25% more, now is the time to make any bookings that you think you may need.
Hyatt peak & off peak pricing will not affect free night awards
Yesterday was the day when we finally had official confirmation that the World of Hyatt would, after numerous postponements, finally introduce peak and off-peak season pricing from Tuesday, 26 October 2021 at 10:00 am CT for stays made on or after 1 March 2022. While clearly devaluation, this isn't as bad as it could have been, and one of the silver linings around the dark cloud of seasonal spring is that Hyatt's free night awards will not be affected by what's on the way.
Sometimes I Have To Force Myself Not Save Elite Benefits For Some Hypothetical Future...
Miles, points, and elite status benefits are all there to be used (it's pointless hoarding miles and points because they'll devalue over time and what's the point of benefits if you don't use them?) but sometimes I have to give myself a good solid kick in the you-know-where when I realize that something is stopping me from acting in a rational and sensible way. One such kick was needed this weekend.
A Good Indicator That A “Best…” List Is Utter Nonsense
If you're immersed in the miles and point world and aren't blinkered in your approach to the various loyalty programs that are available (i.e you don't blindly "love" a single program and see no wrong with it), you probably have a good idea which loyalty programs are good and which are second rate. Unfortunately, a lot of people aren't so fortunate and they often rely on the various "top" and "best" lists that get published all too frequently.
Confession: I’m Breaking A Significant Rule Of The Miles & Points Game
The miles and points game is full of unwritten rules that help guide us away from doing something stunningly stupid, that help us make the most of the opportunities we’re presented with and that, on the whole, help us to travel in a lot more comfort and luxury than the people who know nothing of the game we play. Right now, however, I’m breaking what could be classified as the most important unwritten rule of them all.
My Strange World Of Hyatt Credit Card Statement Credit
As most of you with Chase credit cards will know, for the past few years Chase has been publishing offers that give cardholders a small credit for spending with select retailers and, occasionally, with one or two hoteliers. Recently, a credit from one of these offers hit my World of Hyatt credit card account but, a little amusingly, I have no idea what that credit is doing there.
Another IHG Mess – The Promotion You Were Targeted For May Not Be Valid
Earlier this month, a significant number of IHG Rewards members had a message dropped into their accounts informing them that they could earn 10,000 bonus points for every 10 nights they consume at IHG properties in 2021. Well, there's a very good chance that if you saw that message in your account it was there in error and you weren't really targeted for that promotion at all.
Some Six Senses Resorts Are Now Bookable With IHG Rewards Points
IHG announced the purchase of Six Senses Hotels Resorts for $300m in February 2019 and IHG Rewards members shave been waiting patiently ever since to be given a chance to use their points to book these luxurious properties. Now, that wait is over (at least in part) because 6 of the Six Senses properties are now showing award night availability on IHG's website.
Reminder: Award Bookings At Ten Hyatt Properties Will Cost More From Tomorrow
A couple of weeks ago, Hyatt announced that a total of eleven of its properties would be changing award categories this month and that award bookings at ten of those properties would soon be costing more. Tomorrow morning is when these changes kick in so if you need to book an award at a property that's moving up a category, now is the time to book it.
Mistake Or Deliberate? Did Hilton Just Roll Back Some Positive Changes?
At the beginning of last year, Hilton made a few small but customer-friendly changes to the terms and conditions of its Hilton Honors loyalty program but for reasons that are as yet unclear, these changes appear to have been rolled back.
A Good Example Of A Truly Bad Marriott Bonvoy Policy
Marriott is the largest hotelier in the world (by some distance) so it stands to reason that its Bonvoy rewards program has more members than any other hotel rewards program around. Sadly, size isn't everything, and while a lot of Bonvoys deficiencies are well documented, I've just been given another reminder of just how bad some of Marriott Bonvoy's policies can be...even if you hold top-tier status.
I’m Genuinely Excited To Find Out What Hyatt’s Next Promotion Will Be
Before this year, the last hotel promotions that I genuinely looked forward to were IHG's Accelerate promotions which had all but fizzled out by the end of 2018. Since then, a lot of the promotions that hoteliers have been publishing have been boring and pedestrian but Hyatt's performance in the second half of last year now has me eager to find out what more it has in store.
Earning Hyatt Globalist Elite Status – How Much Did It Cost Me? (And How...
When, in late 2020, Hyatt announced that it would be slashing its elite status requirements for 2021 and that all stays made through 28 February 2021 would earn double elite night credits, I knew immediately that I would set out to earn Hyatt's top-tier Globalist status. Late last month I achieved my target and as a few people have been asking, I thought I'd share how much Hyatt Globalist status ended up costing me (and how much I actually consider it cost me).
IHG Rewards makes earning elite status a lot easier
For 2021, we've seen Hilton take significant steps to make earning elite status easier, we've seen Hyatt make earning top-tier status easier than it has ever been before, and we've recently even seen Marriott making Bonvoy status relatively simple to earn, so it was only a matter of time before IHG followed along and that's exactly what has now happened.
A Workaround To See Your Rollover Nights On The Hilton App
As seems to happen at the beginning of every year, the Hilton Honors website and app don't appear to be showing travelers the number of nights that they have rolled over from the previous year, their current progress to elite status, or their progress to the next milestone reward, but a Loyalty Lobby reader appears to have found a workaround that may help some readers get around this issue.
All Hilton Diamond Elites will be able to gift elite status for 2021
Hilton Honors has announced that from next week it will be extending a "one-time opportunity" to its Diamond and Lifetime Diamond Elite status holders which will allow them to gift status for one year to a family member or friend.
Forget Hyatt Globalist, I May Mattress Run All The Way To 4 Suite Upgrade...
With Hyatt's recent announcement that it has reduced its elite qualification criteria for 2021 by half and with the discovery that this now means that World of Hyatt members can earn Hyatt Globalist status by spending as few as 10 nights in Hyatt properties worldwide, a lot of people seem to be considering doing a mattress run to earn that valuable top-tier status. I may take it one step further. I may mattress run to earn the suite upgrade awards too.
Yes, You Really Can Earn Top-Tier Hyatt Status In Just 10, 13 or 15...
At the time I was writing about yesterday's big Hyatt announcements, two things flashed through my mind. Firstly, I thought that the decision to reduce the elite qualifying criteria by 50% was incredibly generous. Secondly, it occurred to me that the combination of the reduced elite status targets and the extension of one of Hyatt's promotions may open up an incredible opportunity to earn Hyatt elite status with fewer nights than ever before.
Will IHG Now Charge 100,000 Points/Night For Select Basic Rooms?
IHG has now added 400 Mr & Mrs Smith properties to its booking engine and as of late yesterday, most of these properties are now available for cash or award bookings. Since these properties were added, I've been searching the IHG site to see if I could find any particular sweet spots or great-value award redemptions and while I haven't noticed any notable good deals, I have noticed a point of concern.
Earn 3x AAdvantage Miles with World of Hyatt [Targeted]
The World of Hyatt is currently sending out emails to targeted members with an offer of three AAdvantage Miles per dollar on all Hyatt stays through the end of the year. Considering this offer will stack (very nicely) with the upcoming promotion in which WoH members can earn up to four times the usual number of base points, this is an incredibly generous offer to receive.
How To Apply Marriott Suite Night Awards To A Reservation In 6 Simple Steps...
Marriott Bonvoy allows its members to choose 5 suite night awards as part of their benefits package when they earn 50 elite night credits in a year (the Annual Choice Benefits), and it allows members to choose a further 5 suite night awards as part of their benefits when they earn 75 elite nights in a year. That makes it pretty important to know how to apply these upgrades online.
How To Redeem An IHG Free Night Certificate In 6 Simple Steps [2020 Edition]
There are two IHG Rewards credit cards which offer cardholders a free night stay at any IHG property costing up to 40,000 points per night – the IHG Rewards Club Premier Credit Card and IHG Rewards Club Select credit card (not open to new applicants) – and this is a quick step-by-step guide to redeeming the IHG free night certificate once it’s loaded to your account.
My Ritz-Carlton Award Booking Dilemma
From a social distancing point of view and from a 'staying healthy' point of view, the Ritz-Carlton Tenerife and Tenerife itself seem like as good a place as any to visit right now...but I'm hugely conflicted about how to book the accommodation.
Is Everyone Having Issues With The IHG Website? (Cannot Make Bookings)
Yesterday I wrote about the good news that some Chase IHG Free Night Certificates are still able to book any property in the world and, although I'd only gone through the booking process as far as the final "book reservation" button, everything looked in order and no errors occurred. The same cannot be said when just tried to complete a couple of reservations.
Some IHG Chase Free Night Certificates Can Still Book Any IHG Property Worldwide
In mid-April, IHG confirmed that all existing free nights certificates earned via Chase credit cards would see their expiration date extended by 6 months but, when the certificates started appearing in member accounts, the few remaining certificates that would have worked at any IHG property in the world before their original expiration date could no longer book any property costing over 40,000 points. I tested this for myself.
Hyatt Now Lets You Book Suites With Points Online
Unlike some hoteliers, Hyatt allows customers to book suites with its loyalty currency at reasonable rates but, up until now, suite availability checks and suite award night bookings have had to be done over the phone. However, at some point over the past 48 - 72 hours that has changed as suites can now be booked with World of Hyatt points on Hyatt.com and via the Hyatt mobile app.
All 2020 Hilton Elite Nights Will Rollover Into 2021
Over the weekend we saw Marriott's bonus elite nights dropping into members' Bonvoy accounts but Hilton has just upped the ante by announcing that all Hilton Honors elite nights earned in 2020 will rollover into 2021 making Hilton elite status a whole lot easier to earn next year.
Bonus Elite Night Credits Have Now Posted For Marriott Lifetime Elites
Almost exactly a month ago, Marriott announced that on top of the elite status extensions that it has offered to all of its Bonvoy elites, it would also be adding bonus elite night credits to member accounts by the end of this month. On Friday night, most Bonvoy accounts were updated (unexpectedly early) but the accounts of a lot of Lifetime Elites remained unchanged, and this led to some confusion.
This Is Why I Like IHG’s New Variable Pricing Awards
I'm not exactly one of IHG biggest fans nor am I a fan of award pricing that's based on the cash price of a booking, so I've been more than a little surprised to find that I actually quite like IHG's new dynamic price awards. IHG's variable pricing may not work for everyone but, for me and for quite a few other people, it looks like it may actually improve the value we get out of IHG Rewards and, just as importantly, out of the free night certificates issued by IHG co-branded credit cards.
Marriott Raises $920 Million From Chase & American Express
Marriot has just announced that it has raised $920 million in cash through the agreements it holds with JPMorgan Chase and American Express and, in doing so, follows Hilton in using its credit card partners to raise much needed liquidity during the current crisis.
Expired IHG Free Night Certificates Are Reappearing (But Some Aren’t Working Correctly)
The IHG free night certificate that I get through my legacy IHG Rewards Club credit card expired earlier this month and disappeared from my account. IHG had already confirmed that certificates with 2020 expiration dates from 1 March onwards would be extended through December 2020 but it's only now that my replacement certificate has appeared online. That's the good news.
IHG Is Confirming Free Night Certificate Extensions
Lately, I've been giving IHG and IHG Rewards a deserved hard time by pointing out how they have been doing less than their competitors in a number of areas relating to customer care and by pointing out that they only have themselves to blame if customers are less than happy with them overall...but I've finally had some positive news drop into my inbox.
4 Hyatt Status Extension Questions Answered
Last week, Hyatt announced that it was extending its moratorium on points expirations, extending the expiration dates of various award instruments and extending elite statuses into 2022, and there have been four questions that I've been receiving from readers over and over again regarding Hyatt's announcement so I thought I'd address them in this post.
This Status Extension Argument Makes No Sense To Me
In the past few weeks, we have seen a lot of the big airlines and hotel chains offering status extensions to members of their loyalty programs but we have also seen quite a few loyalty programs choosing a different path and, instead, choosing to take much shorter-term measures.
This short-termism doesn't really make any sense to me but what makes even less sense is the argument that I've seen put forward to explain (or excuse) the moves being taken by the likes of British Airways and IHG Rewards.
How IHG Has Gone From Hero To Zero Very Quickly
It was way back on 12 March that IHG Rewards was the first major loyalty program (from the hotel or airline industry) to take measures to make it easier for its members to earn/retain status this year but that appears to have been the end of the program's interest in looking after its members and guests.
Hilton Isn’t Changing Diamond Status Benefits (For Now)
At the beginning of the week, there was a rumor circulating that Hilton Honors may be in the process of withdrawing a benefit that is considered among the most valuable by its top-tier Diamond status holders but based on a recent update, those fears were unfounded.
Marriott Hacked (Again): Have You Been Bonvoyed?
If you've ever had any dealing with Marriott you'll probably already know that its IT systems are pretty useless but what you may not know is that its IT systems aren't very secure. In fact, their security appears to be laughably easy to circumvent.
Huge News: Hyatt Pushes Back Devaluations To 2021 (And More)
We've just had some huge news out of Hyatt that should make a lot of people very happy indeed - the introduction of peak and off-peak pricing in the World of Hyatt program is being pushed back to 2021 and all but 5 Hyatt properties will now be remaining in their current World of Hyatt categories.
I Knew Marriott Would Make This Mistake…But At Least It’s In My Favour!
In August last year, Marriott announced a couple of significant changes to the way its Points Advance reservations work and when these changes came into effect in September, I pointed out that the Bonvoy program's systems appeared to be incapable of dealing with one of these changes correctly. I also pointed out that I thought I could see how Marriott's solution to this system flaw may actually benefit some guests....and I was right.
Hyatt hotel category changes announced (& more news too)
At the beginning of December Hyatt announced that it would be introducing peak, standard, and off-peak award pricing from March this year but the hotelier didn't let us know exactly when those changes would be introduced or if hotels would also be moving categories...but now we know.
How to find your Marriott Free Night Certificates in your Bonvoy account
This post is the first in a series of three which will examine how to find Marriott free night certificates in your Bonvoy account (via desktop and via mobile app), how to apply a free night certificate to a single night booking and how to apply a certificate to a multiple night booking.
Did The IHG Rewards Club Just Get Devalued Again?
Based on recent history IHG usually uses the beginning of a new year to put through some negative changes to its loyalty program (in 2018 top-tier redemptions became more expensive and in 2019 over 570 properties became more expensive) but so far 2020 has seen IHG Rewards remained unchanged...until now.
This Is What Comes In The Marriott Lifetime Titanium Package
I had absolutely no idea that Marriott sends out special packs to Bonvoy members who earn Lifetime Elite status (I haven't even been sent an elite status card for the last 3 years) and, even though I earned the status back at the end of 2018, it was only over the recent holiday period that I received my pack in the mail.
The World of Hyatt devaluation announcement actually made me happy
Ok, clearly I'm never usually happy, delighted or ecstatic when a loyalty program puts through a change that effectively devalues its offering but, in the case of the recent changes we saw Hyatt announce to the World of Hyatt award chart, my overall feelings were those of relief and, yes, happiness.
Annoying: Marriott Has Made Suite Night Awards Officially Harder & More Expensive To Use
I've had mixed fortunes with Marriott's Suite Night awards this year with great success at stays in Sydney and, most recently, in Venice, but I've also had my fair share of frustrations with various properties choosing not to allow me to apply a Suite Night award to my reservation because Marriott allows them to opt-out of offering that particular benefit (the London Edition and the Langley both spring to mind).
Now it looks as if Marriott has officially made Suite Night awards officially harder to use.
39 New Properties Join The World Of Hyatt…But There’s A Catch!
Hyatt's loyalty program has been expanding at an impressive rate over the past 18 months and after integrating 8 Destination Hotels properties into the World of Hyatt in August/September, and after adding a further 49 SLH properties to the program in October, Hyatt has now announced that a further 39 Destination Hotels properties will join the World of Hyatt in the next week....but this time there's a catch.
49 More Properties Join The World Of Hyatt
I have to hand it to Hyatt, they've been doing an exceptional job of incorporating properties from the Small Luxury Hotels portfolio into the World of Hyatt and today sees another 49 such properties join the program taking the overall total of participating SLH hotels to over 250.
Ok, This Is Weird. Why Did IHG Rewards Just Give Me 20,000+ Points?
In the normal course of events I usually find myself having to chase up various loyalty programs to ensure that my accounts are credited with the miles and points I'm due, but right now I'm a little unsure as to why one hotely loyalty program has just credited my account with a nice chunk of points.
So What If Hilton Has Added Another 120,000 Point/Night Property?
A few years back Hilton Honors decided that the practice of publishing award charts was a bad idea as it gave customers a lot more information than Hilton wanted to them to have, and although that's certainly not how Hilton framed their award chart elimination, that's certainly why you'll no longer find them on Hilton.com.
Marriott Bonvoy Introduces Dynamic Award Pricing (Sort Of)
The introduction of seasonal pricing finally came into effect at Marriott Bonvoy over the weekend but, now that we can see how it's going to work, it's safe to say that what we've been given isn't what most people were expecting.
Marriott Bonvoy Program Changes – What You Really Need To Know
Last Thursday Thursday Marriott finally got around to announcing that some long-expected changes to its Bonvoy loyalty program will be coming in to effect from 14 September 2019, and it announced a few small unexpected tweaks to the program to – this is what you need to know about the changes ahead.
We’ll Soon Have Another Points Hotel On The Las Vegas Strip
There was a time, not all that long ago, when the Las Vegas strip was pretty much devoid of any properties at which the mainstream points currencies could be “earned and burned”. There was a Westin just off the strip (opposite Harrah’s) and then Marriott built its “Grand Chateau” timeshare property on Harman but, other than that, there weren’t really any other options.
Marriott Revives Starwood’s Emirates Partnership – Make Sure You Register!
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Destination Hotels Will Start Joining World Of Hyatt Next Month
You have to hand it to Hyatt, there isn’t another hotel chain that seems to be doing as much to expand its footprint, and it’s doing so by adding properties that readers of this blog will probably actually want to visit (I’m bored of press releases informing me of another hotel opening in a location only business people may be interested in visiting).
Hyatt Adds Alila Resorts To The World Of Hyatt Program (Properties From 5,000 Points...
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IHG Adds Three Luxury Properties To The InterContinental Alliance
InterContinental Alliance Resorts are properties that aren't actually part of the IHG portfolio (like hotels branded as InterContinental, Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, etc...) but which have an agreement with IHG to participate in the IHG Rewards program and, to a degree, the InterContinental Ambassador program.
You Will Soon Be Able To Earn & Burn Hyatt Points On Adventure Travel
Over the past year we've seen Hyatt announce significant expansion of its own brands (like on the West Coast and in Canada), we've seen it incorporate brands like Joie de Vivre and Thompson into its portfolio, we've seen SLH Hotels added to the World of Hyatt program in their hundreds and we've seen a nice new partnership forged with American Airlines.
Things have been looking good at Hyatt of late and now the hotelier has announced a further new partnership to keep World of Hyatt loyalists interested. This partnership is with Lindblad Expeditions.
Hate Loyalty Devaluations & Bad Service? Blame 7.1 Million Frequent Travelers!
Last night the Freddie Awards were held at the CR Smith Aviation Museum in Dallas Fort Worth and it was a night on which we got to find out how 7.1 million frequent travelers feel about the various loyalty programs they belong to, the airlines they fly and the hotel chains they stay with.
Is Another Hyatt Property Playing Games With Award Availability?
For the past few months it has been Marriott's Bonvoy program that has been in the spotlight for, amongst other things, increasing the number of points needed for award bookings and allowing its various brands to pick and choose which benefits they're happy to offer elite guests...but Marriott isn't alone when it comes to shenanigans within its loyalty program.
We Didn’t Get Bonvoyed! (A Marriott Success Story)
Joanna and I have recently returned from a trip to Australia where we stayed at the Sydney Harbour Marriott Hotel for 5 nights. I made the award night booking back in 2018 and when I received my suite night upgrades (courtesy of my Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status) I applied five of them to this stay.
Amazing! Hyatt Has Actually Improved Its Best Rate Guarantee
There was a time where the best rate guarantees offered by the big hotel chains were a valuable tool in getting great deals but over the past few years most programs have watered down their guarantees to such an extent that they're not often worth very much (some don't seem to be worth anything at all).
Hyatt Adds Thompson Hotels To The World Of Hyatt (Bonus Points Available)
Over the past year Hyatt has been doing a good job of expanding the opportunities available to its World of Hyatt members by adding a significant number Small Luxury Hotel (SLH) properties to the list of hotels at which members can earn and burn Hyatt points....and now the expansion continues.
Why I’m Probably Going To Buy InterContinental Ambassador Status
As IHG has been devaluing its points on a yearly basis and, more recently, has appeared to significantly devalue its PointBreaks deals as well, I've been spending a lot less time at IHG properties and, as a result, I gave up my InterContinental Ambassador status in May 2018....but now I think I may want it back.
Rio De Janeiro Trip – Introduction (How I Booked & How Much I Paid)
I've recently returned from my first ever visit to Rio De Janeiro and only my second trip to Brazil so, before I start reviewing the aircraft I flew in, the airport lounges I visited and the hotel I stayed at, I thought I'd revive a type of post I haven't written for a while - one that shows my thought process when booking, how much my bookings cost and how many miles/points I earned from the trip.
Marriott’s Loyalty Program May Soon Have An Even Bigger Image Issue
Bonvoy was a terrible name for Marriott to call the merged Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs and whatever they paid the company that came up with that name was too much....but that's the least of Marriott's problems right now.
Hyatt & American Airlines Will Offer Crossover Earnings & Benefits
Ok, now this is very interesting. Hyatt and American Airlines have announced that they plan to offer elite members of their respective rewards programs the opportunity to earn more points and miles when they fly with American or book stays with Hyatt.
Accor’s New Loyalty Program Will Have New Status Tiers & Suite Upgrades
A little under two weeks ago Accor came out with a press release that ranked as one of the most pointless press releases I've seen in a while. The press release told us that the hotelier was planning to revamp its loyalty program but, aside from letting us know that the program would be known as “Accor Live Limitless” (ALL), it told us absolutely nothing else about what to expect.
Hilton Honors Says Its Expanding Its Lineup Of “Extraordinary Experiences”
Over the past few years hotel loyalty programs have expanded the ways in which members can use their points and one of the biggest areas of expansion has been in the field of entertainment. Starwood Preferred Guest (RIP) was the first hotel program to bring its entertainment offering to my attention with SPG Moments and Marriott added 'Marriott Moments' (now Bonvoy Moments) as it began to integrate Starwood into its portfolio.
Marriott Bonvoy Isn’t Really Encouraging Lifetime Elites To Be Loyal
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Marriott Bonvoy Adds New Experiences & Benefits In Asia-Pacific Region
Marriott has announced that it has introduced "exclusive member benefits" across the Asia-Pacific region as it expands its Marriott Moments offering and adds kids, dining and spa benefits too.
Accor Unveils A New “Lifestyle Loyalty Program”…But Tells Us Next To Nothing About It
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9 Marriott Properties To Book Before 5 March 2019
Marriott recently announced its hotel category changes for 2019 which will soon see over 285 of its properties charging more for an award night than they do right now.
These hotel category changes will be effective for bookings made from 5 March 2019 onwards which means there are only 18 full days left to lock in the exiting rates at properties moving up a category....and I've selected 9 such properties which are worth a closer look.
Radisson: 2 Properties To Book & 1 Property Not To Book Before 1 March...
Radisson has recently announced that it will be changing the number of points that 140 of its hotels charge for an award night from 1 March 2019. This means that there's a little over 3 weeks left in which to lock the lower rates at the 84 properties which will be going up in price and a little over 3 weeks before 56 properties will become a better deal.
I Have Lifetime Status With Marriott But I May Defect To Hilton
I have been a Marriott loyalist for as long as I can remember and I recently earned the highest level of lifetime status that Marriott has on offer....but I'm seriously considering a move across to Hilton.
Marriott Unveils Its New Loyalty Program Name – Marriott Bonvoy
It's been a poorly kept secret for some time (although a lot of us hoped it wasn't true) and today Marriott has announced that it will be renaming its new loyalty program "Marriott Bonvoy" from 13 February 2019.
Sometimes I really don’t like spending my miles & points (this may be bad)
I view my miles & points balances as just another set of currencies I have at my disposal to pay for trips. I don't view them in quite the same way as I view cash (cash is clearly a lot more versatile and less prone to devaluation) but, because of the time and effort I put in to building up my miles and points balances, I'm anything but flippant when it comes to using them....and here's where I encounter a contradiction.
Good News & Bad News From Hyatt – Globalist Requalification Just Got Harder But...
Just as IHG appears to be doing with its Ambassador program now we have Hyatt adding benefits to the World of Hyatt program with one hand while seemingly unable to resist the urge to make things a little worse with the other.
Bad News: It Looks Like InterContinental Ambassador Changes Are Worse Than Expected
Last week I wrote about some changes that are rumored to be coming to the benefits offered by the InterContinental Ambassador and Royal Ambassador programs and, by and large, the changes were considered a net positive by most people....but we may have been too quick to judge.
Rumor: Changes Coming To The IHG Ambassador Programs Next Year
The IHG Ambassador Program is made up of a loyalty status that you can pay for (IHG Ambassador) and a status which you can only attain via an invitation from IHG (Royal Ambassador). The former costs $200 to join (more information here) while the criteria for Royal Ambassador are not published and appear to change from year to year.
I’ve Finally Booked A Big Ticket Marriott Redemption For Next Year
Since Marriott introduced its new award chart in August it has been possible to book awards at numerous aspirational properties around the world for just 60,000 points per night but, sadly, that's only going to be the pricing for a limited time.
The window to book these properties for 60,000 points per night will probably close on 1 January 2019 when Marriott is expected to introduce a Category 8 level into its award chart - a category into which all the aspirational properties will be placed.
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