I am no hotel expert. There are other boardingarea.com bloggers that know hotels and do a great job and I encourage you to take some time and read and learn from them. They are very good. Having said that, here are my favorites and why I like them.
Priority Club. Like American Airlines of olden days, everything you do earns you points toward status for the current year and if you meet any status level you have it for the following year as well. The CHASE priority club card is a great credit card to have if you stay at PC hotels on points because they give you a 10% points rebate on all stays even if you do not pay for the hotel stay with the PC card . I do tend to pay for any incidental when I stay as I do get 5x points per dollar spent. Also, there is a 60k bonus for getting their Visa card that earns you platinum status once the points are awarded to you (not my link – Chase 60,000 point PC card ). If you elect to get this card I would wait until after Jan 1st either to get it or use it as that way you will earn status for 2012 + 2013! PC offers very good upgrades at Crown Plaza and Holiday Inn’s but not so much on Intercontinental. The other reason I love PC is points break nights. To stay at a crown plaza or intercontinental for 5000 points is an unreal deal. If you get an upgrade to a suite it is even better. Almost always you can expect free wifi and breakfast! The way I use these is first look for rooms, book them, then look for airline seats to match up. If I can not find them I can cancel the rooms up 24hrs before stay and get the points back.
The other program I love is SPG. Everyone into points loves SPG and the SPG AMEX but another option is the AMEX Platinum Membership Rewards card as it gives you annual SPG GOLD status. I have found that GOLD status does almost always give you small upgrades and free stuff. Plus, starting in 2012 any stays including free point stays count toward re-qualifying for the next year’s status.
So if you are searching for a hotel reward program to call your own after you get off your DELTA flight I hope you look at these two as good options – Rene
Another update is I have added a feature to get the blog auto-emailed to you each day. There may be some bugs to work out but check it out and see if you like it here: Subscribe to Delta Points E-Mail
Now to today’s giveaway. All us bloggers just love Awardwallet and check it all the time. So, feel free to use my link to get a FREE account and if you post a comment below you have a chance to win a CODE for a 6 month free PLUS account upgrade.
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Responses 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.
Thanks for the info about hotels. I think I will follow your suggestion about the Chase card after the first of the year.
I sure wish that AA would reconsider awardwallet access.
Yes! yes yes! Emal AA about it. Let them know you want AW to be able to use them. It takes help from all of us! – Rene
Thanks!
Like you, I like PC (for availability) and Starwood for upgrades and transfer conversion. I also like Marriott for availability. Thanks for giving us a chance for the upgrade. Love your blog!
Upgrades of any form are always a good thing.
i’ll admit. i’m a hyatt person. if only because thats where i stay for work so then i keep staying there… its a vicious circle!
I’ve recently stayed a few times at La Quintas. The one in Downtown Chicago was very nice…clean, safe, and in a great location. I think I might be upping my stays there, but I haven’t heard very flattering things about their awards program. Is that a truism?
Hi Richard. I have been a LQ returns member for years. My ski group in the past always used them. I agree. Clean. Good breakfast. Good prices ( the corp codes always work for lower booking prices ). The program is OK imo but the others I talked about I like more. Thanks for reading the blog – Rene
Helpful upgrade info — thanks.
I prefer Marriott myself. Being someone who is still in the early stages of their traveling career, I can’t/don’t want to qualify for credit cards. I find that Marriott has the most/best offers from someone like me in earning airline miles, but Hilton and Hyatt have the best for earning hotel points and free nights.
i like these two programs too.
I do Hilton Honors and Priority Club and am pretty happy with both. Although I may reconsider Hilton since they have been messing with the point levels for “premium” rooms.
I love Award Wallet! Trying to figure out if a card with a $450 annual fee is worth it for me. The lounge access would be nice, as would 50,000 membership rewards points. Isn’t this the card that had 2x pts on gas/grocery spend?
You can read all about it here: https://www295.americanexpress.com/cards/npz.do?pmccode=137#CARDS/137/0/0/-1
Thanks for the great work. please email me the code for the 6-month award wallet pro account.
I will if you win! 😉
Great info Rene – keep up the good work. Thanks for adding the e-mail option – makes me so happy!
Txs Jen – do’in what I can to help out! – Rene
Thanks for the tip one PC credit card. I’ve been targeted for the 80K offer and have had it on my list for app-o-ramas, but other offers have always won out so far (Plat Amex, Citi AA, etc). I will probably pull the trigger on this one after New Year’s.
Totally agree on SPG — great program for nicer hotels. For lower-end properties, I’ve fluctuated between Marriott and Hilton, but may give IHG a second look once I get the points. 🙂
Thanks…a lot of the bloggers don’t seem to post as much about hotels, so this is helpful for sure!
Thanks!
Hi Sandy – love your work: http://sjbvision.com/SJB%20Vision/Sunset/index.html#plane_landing.jpg wow! Can I show this on the blog some time? txs – Rene
I started with Hhonors since their credit cards are free. Nice post.
great tip on the priority club award strategy!
Yay award wallet!
I keep hearing about awardwallet and would love to try it. I’ve been using Pointshub, which offers a slightly different service. Thanks!
hi-ya, I like all your posts, keep them coming.