Monday, April 14, 2008

Entertainment Card Rate and Priority Club web bookings

Most websites do not allow you to check for 50% off rack rate deals. Priority Club Rewards website has a reservations page allowing the user t check for Entertainment Card rates online. This is a valued feature since most hotels do not offer an Entertainment Card rate and the user is able to browse quickly through the IHG hotels offering an Entertainment Card rate and quickly compare to the AAA rate.

In general, my experience has been that 50% off rack rate deals do not provide a lower cost room rate than available through hotel website group rates like AAA or special offer rates. The terms usually require a phone reservation and a discount on the rack rate (the highest room rate for that category room).

An exception is the Entertainment Card discount rates available through online reservations at the Priority Club website. These hotel rates may be a good strategy for bringing the cost of a hotel room during weeknight stays back down to a reasonable level. In all cases where an Entertainment Card rate was found, the rate matched or was lower than the AAA rate. In the case of the InterContinental Buckhead hotel in Atlanta, the Entertinment Card rate came in at a whopping $224 per night savings over the AAA rate for the date checked.

The cost of an Entertainment Card membership is only $15 and your membership makes you eligible for the IHG Entertainment Card discount at any participating location in the USA.
Here are some examples of savings:

Hotel Reservation Date Checked: Wednesday, April 30 for 1 night stay.

New York, New York area
Crowne Plaza Secaucus Meadowlands, Secaucus, NJ
$135 Entertainment Card rate
$160 AAA rate
Entertainment Card rate saves $35 on AAA rate

Boston, MA area
Holiday Inn, Boston Logan Airport
$134 Entertainment Card rate
$162 AAA rate
Entertainment Card rate saves $28 on AAA rate

Atlanta, GA
InterContinental Buckhead
$195 King Deluxe (Entertainment Card rate)
$419 King Deluxe (AAA rate)
$275 Club Level (Entertainment Card rate)
$469 Club Level (AAA)
Entertainment Card rate saves $224 on AAA rate

Minneapolis, MN
Crowne Plaza Minneapolis North
$89 (Entertainment Card rate)
$119 (AAA rate)
Entertainment Card rate saves $30 on AAA rate

Dallas, TX
Crowne Plaza Market Center
$98 (Entertainment Card rate) Entertainment Card rate saves $28 on AAA rate
$126 (AAA rate)
Entertainment Card rate saves $28 on AAA rate

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