Hotels and Points, Loyalty Traveler blog: PointBreaks

Showing posts with label PointBreaks. Show all posts

Friday, June 13, 2008

Priority Club Summer PointBreaks Hotels List

Friday, May 2, 2008

Points Concierge - IHG Priority Club VISA

Holiday Inn Park View, Singapore

New Card Members Only
Priority Club VISA Signature Card
25,000 points after 1st purchase
25th Anniversary Priority Club Visa Signature Bonus: 15 points per $1 spending at IHG hotels through July 31, 2008 (12 points Bonus + 3 points regularly earned with IHG hotel spending).

Promotion: InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club Visa Signature Bonus
Dates: May 1, 2008 through July 31, 2008

Bonus: 25,000 Bonus points for Visa Signature card, after first purchase. Other card offers award 30,000 points after first purchase, but depending on your hotel stay plans for the next 90 days, the added bonus below can make this card offer a better deal.

Added bonus: 15 Priority Club points for purchases at IHG hotels through July 31, 2008 charged to Visa Signature Card holder. Only new account members are eligible for this offer.

Target Audience: Loyalty Traveler thinks this is a great deal for someone looking at 10 to 20 hotel nights in the next three months. The potential value of Priority Club points earned will provide a significant future rebate on IHG hotel stays.

I received a VISA offer from Priority Club today. A 25,000 points bonus is given after the first purchase. In addition, VISA will award 15 points per $1.00 spent at IHG hotels.

Add the VISA bonus offers to the 10 base Priority Club points regularly earned for hotel stay spending + any bonus points for elite status.

Another card offer I saw on the Priority Club website gives you 30,000 points and the regular 3 points per $1 IHG hotel spending, but not the 12 bonus points with this Visa Signature card offer through July 31. This is a great opportunity to earn lots of Priority Club points with summer travel. If you are making business or vacation plans, this offer may be a large enough rebate to steer you to Priority Club loyalty.

By the numbers:

Spend $1,000 with VISA at IHG and get 12,000 extra points. $1,000 should buy 3 to 12 hotel nights, depending on location. 12,000 Priority Club points has a base value of $120 which is the purchase price through Priority Club.

Redemption value for a free hotel night is 30,000 points at a Crowne Plaza hotel or at some InterContinental Hotels. 30,000 points may be worth as little as $125 or as much as $400 at most upscale hotels in the 30,000 points redemption bracket.

The best redemption value is Priority Club PointBreaks which offer hotel rooms at 5,000 points per night. The hotels being offered at PointBreaks special redemption rates change every couple of months. Occasionally there is a luxury InterContinental in some part of the world or an upscale Crowne Plaza on the list.

Currently there is the Crowne Plaza, Montauban, North Toulouse, France on the PointBreaks list for bookings through July for only 5,000 Priority Club points per night. This hotel is located in a 17th century refurbished monastery and typically rooms sell on the low end for around $160 per night.

Sample Scenario to Illustrate VISA Promotion Value
A 10-night international vacation may cost $2,000 in hotel rooms. 15 to 20 nights in the USA could be about $2,000 in spending and would make a long summer vacation. The rebate on a $2,000 hotel vacation with Priority Club will be generous if planned carefully.

Points earned (The Priority Club Visa card will grant you Gold elite status, a $50 value.)
*$2,000 in hotel charges at Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, and Crowne Plaza hotels (10 Priority Club points per $1 for base earning) = 20,000 base points.
(If you plan to stay in InterContinental Hotels, you will earn 2,000 base points per stay and you should look into InterContinental Ambassador Club membership for $150).

*Elite Bonus for Priority Club Gold = 10% of base points (Elite status is a complimentary privilege for the first year of Priority Club Visa card holder membership. Gold elite membership can also be purchased by any Priority Club member for $50) = 2,000 points.

*Other promotions should add at least 5,000 points for multiple hotel stays over next 90 days, and likely other promotions can be used to earn as much as 20,000 additional bonus points without extra expense. Assume 8,000 points will be earned through other offers.

*Visa Signature Card 1st Purchase = 25,000 points

*Visa Signature Card hotel spending bonus = 15 points per $1 for $2,000 in hotel charges = 30,000 points.

Summary: $2,300 spent on hotels by July 31, 2008 using new Priority Club Signature Visa card

Spend $2,000 in base hotel charges for room rate, food, etc.
Assume $250 taxes depending on location. Europe tends to have hotel rates with taxes already included.
$50 Gold elite membership in Priority Club.

Rebate Value: 85,000 to 100,000 Priority Club points earned with a purchase value of $850 -$1,000 and a potential value of $3,000+ if redeemed strategically with awards like PointBreaks.

85,000 -100,000 points are enough for 3 free nights at high-end hotels or up to $200 per night value for 17 nights ($3,400 value) if used for PointBreaks award nights at upscale locations.

Strategic use of Priority Club points earned can provide future room value equivalent to the $2,300 paid for this summer's vacation travel.

Pay Now and Redeem Later will be a strategy that pays off over the next year.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Points Concierge - IHG Priority Club 20,000 Bonus Points

Holiday Inn Express, Cannery Row, Monterey

IHG 20, 000 bonus points promotion

Offer: Earn up to 20,000 Priority Club Rewards points or 5,000 airline miles.

Details: 2,000 bonus points or 500 airline miles after every 2nd eligible night.
Promotional period: eligible paid stays between May 12 and August 31, 2008 at any IHG hotel worldwide. Registration is required and no retroactive credit will be applied for stays prior to registration.
Earnings preference must be set for miles to earn airline miles.

This Priority Club promotion allows a member to earn on average 1,000 bonus points per night for IHG hotel stays through the summer months. Think of this as a $10/night rebate.

This offer is more favorable to travelers on vacation with multi-night stays because a 4-night stay will earn the 2,000 points bonus twice for 4,000 bonus points. An 8-night stay would earn 8,000 bonus points.

The 4,000 points bonus offer from Jan 14 – April 30, 2008 for every 2nd stay was not as good a bonus for extended hotel stays. The one-night stays were best for maximizing that bonus at the least cost.

Summer travel strategy: Priority Club members can earn points from this bonus, possibly save cash with IHG 2-for-1 offers, and also buy up to 20,000 points for $200 in a calendar year.

Points earned from the 20,000 points bonus opportunity and through purchases, if used for PointBreaks 5,000 points/night awards, may be redeemed for a substantially higher value in the range of $20 to $40 per 1,000 points.

The current set of PointBreaks awards are available through June 9, 2008. A week-long hotel stay in Brno, Czech Republic or Moscow, Russia for 35,000 Priority Club points is a high value opportunity that can be easily secured with points purchases and/or hotel stays. Moscow has the distinction of having the world's most expensive hotels for 2007 and this deal for the Crowne Plaza Moscow can save well over $1,000 on average hotel rates for a 3-night stay in Russia.

Expect a new batch of PointBreaks hotel offers for summer months to come out around late May-early June. In conjunction with IHG’s 2 nights for the Price of 1 offer for some European hotels, IHG and Priority Club are one of the best ways to cut the cost of European hotel travel. The new set of 2-for-1 hotels should be coming out soon as the current web offer expires on April 30.

Last summer there were incredible savings available with the IHG 2-for-1 offer and the PointBreaks hotels in Europe. These two offers from IHG and Priority Club can easily cut $1,000 off the hotel cost for a 10-day trip out of the country. PointBreaks have more than half the hotel offerings in the USA, Canada, and Mexico to provide some cost relief for USA summer excursions.

April -June 9, 2008
Europe PointBreaks
5,000 points/night

Belgium, Mechelen
Express by Holiday Inn Mechelen City Centre

Czech Republic, Brno
Holiday Inn Brno

France, Toulouse
Crowne Plaza Montauban Toulouse North

Germany, Baden-Baden
Express by Holiday Inn Baden Baden

Germany, Minden
Holiday Inn Minden

Germany, Zwickau
Holiday Inn Zwickau

Italy, Siracusa
Express by Holiday Inn Siracusa-North

Italy, Cosenza
Holiday Inn Cosenza

Italy, Rome-Pomezia
Holiday Inn

Netherlands, Eindhoven
Holiday Inn

Russia, Moscow
Crowne Plaza Moscow World Trade Centre

UK, Aylesbury
Holiday Inn Garden Court

UK, Hull
Express by Holiday Inn Hull City Centre

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Spring Break or Spring Broke?

An article appeared today in PR Newswire for Journalists, Economy Foreclosing on Spring Break?, based on a survey by AccessAmerica, a travel insurance company. “Access America survey finds half of American families scaling back spring break plans...or forgoing their vacations altogether”

The not-so-surprising conclusion of the data is poorer families are cutting back on vacation spending this March 2008. The website says the full report is available upon request.

My observation, as someone who has traveled nearly every Easter to Europe for the past ten years, is airfare to Europe is dirt cheap right now for long-haul travel this Spring 2008. The fares are comparable or lower than commonly available fares at Easter time since 2000. Airfare is probably near a record low right now for purchasing trans-Atlantic travel in just 14 days or so from today.

I have seen fares from Monterey, San Francisco, and Los Angeles hovering around $500 all-in to Frankfurt and London. The fare was $541 Monterey to Frankfurt last week, 21 days before Easter travel. I think that airfare has to be near the record low over the past five years for a ticket purchase from Monterey this close to Easter. There were flights costing less from Monterey to Europe than San Francisco to Europe. The flights route from Monterey to San Francisco and then on to Europe. $100/barrel oil doesn’t seem to have much of an impact on airfare prices.

I commented a couple of months ago that trans-Atlantic travel was down 2006 to 2007 year-over-year. American Airlines reports February passenger loads have increased to Europe. The low prices are getting people across the ocean, but are you prepared for the $7.00 Coca-Cola and $18 fishs & chips pub tab?

Hotel Tips from the Loyalty Traveler –
Planning a Spring Break European hotel stay?

Here are links to some of the best hotel opportunities for a lower-cost trip. I provide a hotel sample, but there are many choices of hotels and locations offering these reduced hotel stay awards. And there is good news for those of you not banking enough points at the moment for a free hotel stay this Spring trip. Hotel points can be purchased and there is a possibility you can save money by just purchasing the hotel points you need to book a free hotel stay.

Hilton Point Stretchers and London.

Hilton London Canary Wharf has PointStretcher dates from March 16-28 and May 1-7. This 40,000 HHonors point/night Category 6 hotel can be booked for 24,000/points/night with an HHonors Point Stretcher reservation.

HHonors members can buy 40,000 HHonors points in a calendar year. Purchases of 10,000 points reduce the price to $10/1,000 points.

Hilton London Canary Wharf can be booked for 24,000 points. If you don’t already have the points, you can buy 24,000 points for $240.

March 20, 2008 rate check of Hilton London Canary Wharf
The nightly rate ranges from $454 low to $500+ for most rooms. This would be a high value use of a PointStretcher night, if you could get a reservation. In contrast, the Friday night rate at the London Canary Wharf is under $175/night.
S
ample trip for a couple: Each person purchase 24,000 Hilton HHonors points and redeem for one free Point Stretcher night ($480 total cost). Pay for two weekend nights when rates drop to about $175/night from the $400 to $500 midweek rates. Friday and Saturday night will cost $350. Four nights at the Hilton Canary Wharf London for a little over $200/night.

Other HHonors Point Stretcher hotel opportunities

Marriott PointSavers
Marriott has several UK hotel properties available for Spring break trips at reduced points rates.

InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club PointBreaks

These awards are an unbeatable deal if you have a trip to a hotel location where IHG Priority Club is offering a PointBreaks award. The cost is only 5,000 points per night. Priority Club members can purchase 10,000 points for $100, up to 20,000 points per calendar year.

Sample Award night:
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Caserta, Italy (near Naples)
March 19-21, 2008 for 10,000 points (=$100 for 2-night stay)
Paid rate for a 2-night stay March 19-21, 2008 = 77EUR/night or $230 for 2-night stay.

Another incredible deal with IHG Priority Club is their Pay 2 Nights, Get 1 Free offer. Dozens of hotels in Europe are participating this Spring season. Check the link and search for a hotel.
Naples, Italy Holiday Inn for March 19-21 is only 45EUR/night. That is a budget saver.
If you are lucky you may save hundreds of dollars between this offer and a PointBreaks stay.

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