This post is brought to you in partnership with Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection. I am an ambassador and was compensated for my participation, but all opinions are my own and do not represent those of Visa.
With most of the hotel chains, earning status is no easy feat. While the benefits for many of the chains can be amazing, it requires significant travel throughout the year to accrue enough stays or nights to achieve the desired level. For many, this is not obtainable. While it varies per loyalty program, top tier hotel status typically gets you breakfast, a room upgrade, late check out, etc.
So what if you do not have hotel status, but still want to get the perks?! Look into your wallet, take out your credit card(s), and on the front of the card does it say “Visa Signature” on the lower right-hand side? If so, you are in luck! Some cards, such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred, has the same logo on the back of the card, so make sure to flip your card over as well! Some of the more common Visa Signature credit cards include: British Airways, Southwest, Hyatt, United, Wyndham Rewards, Citi Hilton Visa, Alaska Airlines, Chase Sapphire Preferred, Chase Sapphire, Chase Freedom, Marriott Rewards, CapitalOne Venture, CapitalOne Quicksilver, US Bank FlexPerks Visa, and many more…
If you have a Visa Signature card (if you are in the points and miles game, I am sure you all do!), you can book your hotel room at over 900 luxury hotels throughout the world through the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection website and receive some similar perks as having status! When you book through their site with your Visa Signature credit card, you’ll get ALL these benefits:
- Best available rate guarantee
- Complimentary continental breakfast daily
- $25 food and beverage voucher
- Automatic room upgrade upon arrival, if available
- Free in-room internet, when available
- 3PM late check-out, upon request
- VIP guest status
The best part of booking through the site is that there is a “best available rate guarantee.” That means you are not paying anything extra for these benefits. You are paying the same exact rate as you would if you booked through the hotel directly (although no discounted rates, i.e., corporate rates, AAA rates, senior rates, etc. are shown). If you are eligible for a discounted rate then I suggest comparing the prices and see which one makes more sense.
Since I was just at the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek over the winter, I wanted to check out rates for the summer time (I can see this hotel and the mountains being a lot of fun in the warm weather as well!). I checked a random Saturday night in June and the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection site pulled up a rate of $179 for an alpine view in a king bed.
I looked on the Hyatt site directly to compare prices and found that the best available rate was in fact the same. However, through Hyatt directly there is a prepaid rate for $153/night and a Bed & Breakfast rate for $219/night.
Of course the prepaid rate from Hyatt is the cheapest rate, but it does not come with any of those extra perks or benefits. If you book through the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection site, for $26 more you’ll get a $25 food and beverage voucher and complimentary breakfast for two. You also have 72 hours prior to arrival to cancel (while the prepaid rate directly from Hyatt is non-refundable). What is interesting is if you book Hyatt’s Bed and Breakfast rate you’ll be paying $40 more for the night and only receive breakfast (you won’t receive the $25 food & beverage voucher, room upgrade, late checkout, etc.). With the Visa Signature rate, complimentary breakfast is automatically included and you are not charged more! I personally would opt for the $179 rate that comes with all the perks!
And while this is a great hotel for points during peak season when a room can be north of $700/night, to use 30,000 points/night for a $179 rate is definitely not worth it. Fortunately, when you book through the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection site you should also earn points on your stay. This is something that you typically do not get when you book with a discounted third-party booking site such as Orbitz.com or Priceline.com. There is also a Visa concierge who will help you with anything else required during your stay (special requests, reservations, etc.).
As you can see, having no status with the hotel still gets you some great perks! Since I left my corporate job that required me to travel every week for my full time mom gig, I had to waive goodbye to status. But I am okay with it. Being home with my daughter is much more fun than sleeping in a hotel room almost every night! And since I have many Visa Signature credit cards, I am still able to take advantage of the perks at some hotels!
For a real life application of the benefits received, feel free to read through my recent stay at the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas. My stay was booked through the Visa Signature Luxury Collection Hotel site and overall was great! I was able to reap all of the benefits I listed above. This came in handy as I was able to get free food, a box of chocolates at check-in, and an upgraded room on a top floor with a city view!
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Do you still get the points for the stay?
@Ryan – Yup!
If you book using this website, can you earn hotel points for booking thru that site instead of the hotel’s site? Thanks.
@SRT – Yes you do.
Neat trick. However the listings can be FEW. Example I just checked San Francisco and it only came up with 2 hotels.
I wish someone offered a Reserve card or something like it, that carried high-tier status in the top 10 chains.
One trade-off is, if you would normally use a hotel brand card to book that hotel (e.g., I use my Marriott Rewards card to book Marriott stays), I would not get the 5X points that I would normally get. Starwood may be 3X, and Hyatt may be 3X as well. You would still get points, but not 3x or 5X, right? So, you would need to do the math and see if the perks outweigh the additional points.
@Don – Correct. But, if you are staying at a hotel where the co-branded credit card is a Visa Signature (i.e., Hyatt and Marriott) then you can use the same credit card! Also, Chase Sapphire Preferred is a Visa Signature so you can also use that card and get 2x points.
Wow, yes! Great point! Thanks for alerting me to that. And wouldn’t you know it–I just stayed at a Hyatt on Friday night but didn’t read your email till Monday! 🙁 But, there’s always next time! 🙂
@Don – No problem at all!! Definitely next time
Do you have to book through the Visa Signature LHC site in order to get these benefits? Or can you still get them if you book and pay with your VS card?
@Steven – Yes you need to book through the Visa Signature Luxury Hotel Collection site.