With all the hotel promotions, which one should you stay at, and which one will give you the biggest bonus? Here is a compiled list of the various promotions:
- Starwood “Power Up Promotion”:
- Dates: January 15 – April 15, 2013
- Promotion:
- Earn 2,000 bonus Starpoints for every four (4) eligible nights you stay – you can earn up to 8,000 bonus points which will take 16 nights. The nights do not need to be consecutive, but you’ll only earn the points after each increment of 4 nights.
- If you stay a total of 20 eligible nights, you’ll earn an additional 10,000 bonus Starpoints – for a total of 18,000 points
- Registration Info: Must register by February 28
- Other Info: Only qualifying nights count, meaning it must be a paid stay (not a free night stay on points or cash & points) and must be a stay which earns points (which typically excludes friends & family rates). You can learn more about this promotion in this prior blog post
- Hilton “Double Points or Miles”:
- Dates: January 7 – March 31, 2013
- Promotion: Earn either double points or double miles per stay – pretty cut and dry!
- Registration Info: Must register prior to your stay. You CANNOT change your earning preference per stay.
- Other Info: Here is a list of non-participating properties. You can learn more about this promotion in this prior blog post.
- Hyatt “More Possibilities”:
- Dates: March 1 – May 31, 2013
- Promotion:
- Earn 3,000 Hyatt Gold Passport® bonus points after every three eligible nights, up to 45,000 bonus points
- If you have a Hyatt credit card you’ll receive a 20% bonus, so every 3 nights will ultimately earn you 3,600 points
- Registration Info: Must register for this promotion by April 30
- Other Info: The total number of points you can earn is 45,000 points, however, if you have the Hyatt Visa credit card, you can earn a 20% bonus on points earned for a total of 54,000 points – you can learn more about this promotion in this prior blog post
- Marriott “Megabonus”:
- Dates: February 1 – April 30, 2013
- Promotion: Megabonus promotion where most people will typically earn one free night at a category 1-4 hotel after 2 stays (up to a maximum of 3 free nights) – check your account to see which offer you were targeted for (offers cannot be changed) – learn more about the various offers in this prior blog post (this is for the promotion that ended Jan 15th, but the way to register and the offers are exactly the same as this time around)
- Registration Info: You must register by March 15 (make sure you are signed into your account prior to registering)
- Priority Club “Get Double Bonus or Gift Card:
- Dates: January 7 – April 30, 2013
- Promotion: Earn either double points, double miles, or a $50 reward on your 2nd qualifying stay at any Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, InterContinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn Resort, or Holiday Inn Club Vacations hotel. For Staybridge Suites and Candlewood suites you will start earning on your first stay.
- Registration Info: Must register prior to your stay
- Other Info: With Priority Club you can double dip with many promotions, so make sure to take advantage of this one along with the other one offered mentioned below.
- Priority Club “Stay X Nights, Get X Points”
- Dates: January 7 – April 30, 2013
- Select one of six different promotions to register for (you can only register for one, so choose wisely):
- Stay 2 nights, earn 2,500 points; stay an additional 2 nights, earn an additional 2,500 points. Offer code: 5521
- Stay 3 nights, earn 2,500 points; Stay an additional 3 nights, earn an additional 2,500. Offer code: 5528
- Stay 4 nights, earn 5,000 points; Stay an additional 4 nights, earn an additional 5,000. Offer code: 3411
- Stay 5 nights, earn 10,000 points; Earn an additional 5,000 points for every 5 nights after; Offer code: 3414
- Stay 10 nights, earn 15,000 points; Earn an additional 5,000 points for every 5 nights after; Offer code: 3415
- Stay 15 nights, earn 20,000 points; Earn an additional 5,000 points for every 5 nights after; Code: 3416
- Registration Info: Must register prior to your stay
- Other Info: You can only sign up for one of these offers, so choose accordingly; Also make sure to look at some of the other bonus point offers on the Priority Club Insider website
- Club Carlson “Triple Points Returns”:
- Dates: January 8 – March 15, 2013
- Promotion: Earn triple points
- Registration Info: Must register prior to your stay
Personally, none of these promotions are really wowing me, but free points is free points so I cannot complain. While I know this won’t help with the aspirational award stays, getting a free category 1-4 nights after two stays at a Marriott hotel can really provide some money saving value down the line. Since these free night vouchers have an expiration date of a year from earned, see if you have any opportunities to stay at a low level hotel and save some money. I’ve always been able to find some great redemption opportunities for them – such as the Courtyard Marriott in Marina del Rey, California. Other than that, go with the hotel where you can hit the X number of nights threshold to earn the bonus points. For instance, don’t stay at Starwood 2 nights and Hyatt 2 nights as you”ll get nothing, but you’ll need 4 nights at Starwood or 3 nights at Hyatt to earn a bonus. In the past I’d recommend Hilton as an easy promotion, but with the massive devaluation (more to come on that soon), I am pretty anti earning Hilton points right now. Also, if you are on a Club Carlson kick, don’t discount the triple points, they can add up fast!
Where will you be staying? And, make sure to register…NOW!
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