Starwood Preferred Guest Hotel Category Shifts

I spent the weekend building a spreadsheet of the SPG Hotel Categories. I had a detailed SPG hotel spreadsheet I made in 2004 that made the work go much faster.

BlondeBomber's SPG spreadsheet had about 700 hotel rows hidden in the spreadsheet I downloaded. Too bad because that would have made the work go much more quickly. Ultimately, it is a better tool to have my spreadsheet and then I can compare with the BlondeBomber SPG spreadsheet when I can download a full file. This provides a good cross-check of data for both our tables.

I started out with just updating international hotels for 2008 changes. I went through SPG for each country and listed all hotels and cross-checked with the separate files for the March 4, 2008 Hotel Category changes webpages.

This process allowed a double check of hotels for the spreadsheet. Back in 2004, I found problems with the web pages of SPG and some properties would not appear on some of the Starwood web sites depending on search by category or country or city.


SPG International Hotels (Outside USA)
350 International Hotels from 2004 are Still in SPG in 2008

65 Category-1 Hotels
82 Category-2 Hotels
75 Category-3 Hotels
48 Category-4 Hotels
10 Category-5 Hotels
7 Category-6 Hotels
______
350 hotels remain in SPG in 2008 from 2004.
About 38% of hotels in SPG were hotel members 4 years ago.
350/938=0.3731

One Step Up, Two Steps Back -- Not at SPG!

Out of 350 hotels, there are only 3 hotels with a lower category in 2008 (1%) compared to 2004.

1. Westin San Luis Potosi, Mexico from Category-3 to Category-2.
2. Luxury Collection, Hotel Imperial, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from Category-3 to Category-2
3. Sheraton Sana'a, Yemen from Category-2 to Category-1.


65 Category-1 hotels in 2008 were in SPG in 2004.
18 are still Category-1 (28%)
19 increased to Category-2 (39%)
22 increased to Category-3 (34%)
6 increased to Category-4 (9%)

81 Category-2 hotels in 2008 were in SPG in 2004
5 remain at Category-2 (6%)
43 increased to Category-3 (53%)
27 increased to Category-4 (33%)
6 increased to Category-5 (7%)

65 Category-3 Hotels in 2008 were in SPG in 2004
2 decreased to Category-2 (3%)
12 remain at Category-3 in 2008 (18%)
43 increased to Category-4 (66%)
8 increased to Category-5 (12%)

49 Category-4 Hotels in 2008 were in SPG in 2004
10 remain at Category-4 in 2008 (20%)
31 increased to Category-5 (63%)
8 increased to Category-6 (16%)

10 Category-5 Hotels in 2008 were in SPG in 2004
1 remains at Category-5 in 2008 (10%)
5 increased to Category-6 (50%)
4 increased to Category-7 (40%)

7 Category-6 Hotels in 2008 were in SPG in 2004
remain at Category-6 in 2008 (0%)
7 increased to Category-7 (100%)

Logically, where does this lead hotel categorization in the future if hotels only go up in category?

A fundamental question needs to be addressed whether all hotels can continually improve category status or whether the entire family of hotels is evaluated against each other to set up an allocation of hotels distributed within the categories of the SPG program.

SPG Annual Category Shift: Yearn to Burn

The Laguna Resort and Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia

Dec 2003, SPG Category 2, free weekend night =3,000 Starpoints

March 2008, SPG Category 4, free weekend night =10,000 Starpoints



[Note from Ric Garrido Mar 3, 2008:
I apparently misread the "SPG Hotel Category Changes for 2008" chart at the time I wrote this post. I do not see The Pulitzer, Amsterdam showing a Hotel Category Change in March 2008. The Pulitzer remaining at Category 5 made much of my blog text moot concerning that hotel going from Category 4 to Category 6 in just over a year. I have edited the blog post to delete the portion on The Pulitzer. I also corrected some elementary math errors: Increasing from 100 to 250 is a 150% increase, not 250%.]

Gary Leff's post, February 25, 2008 on View from the Wing about the SPG annual category shift got me to thinking about my reaction to the coming changes. I understand the rationale for SPG increasing the categories for high demand hotels. Yet, I feel the pain of devalued points.

I have decided to look at it initially from my personal travel perspective.

Maybe later, I'll tackle a real analysis of the shifts if I can locate charts showing the SPG categories from 2004 and 2006 to help me track the changes. Blondebomber of FlyerTalk has active links to his SPG Hotel Category spreadsheet on the internet. The spreadsheet tracks the SPG hotel category changes from 2005 to the current March 4, 2008 changes.

Hotel Shifts I notice from past stay award rates for a single free night:

Sheraton Noosa, Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia,
July 2003
Category 3
7,000 points

March 2008
Category 5
12,000-16,000 points

Four Points Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia
July 2003
Category 2
3,000 points weekend; 4,000 points weekday

March 2008
Category 4
10,000 points

Westin Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia
December 2003
Category 1
2,000 points weekend; 3,000 points weekday

March 2008
Category 3
7,000 points

The Laguna Resort, Luxury Collection, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia

December 2003

Category 2

3,000 points weekend; 4,000 points weekday

March 2008

Category 4

10,000 points

Royal Orchid Sheraton, Bangkok, Thailand
March 2004
Category 1
2,000 points weekend; 3,000 points weekday

March 2008
Category 3
7,000 points

Westin Atlanta Airport
June 2007
Category 2
3,000 points weekend; 4,000 points weekday

March 2008
Category 3
7,000 points

Sheraton Newark Airport
June 2007
Category 2
3,000 points weekend; 4,000 points weekday

March 2008
Category 3
7,000 points


I have made a very rough estimate of the category changes at hotels I've visited.

I've probably redeemed 150,000 to 200,000 Starpoints for free nights at some of the hotels listed here and other places and locations I've stayed over the past five years.

I estimate it would now take about 260,000 points for the same number of nights at hotels where I redeemed points for stays for about 100,000 points.

Next month, 100,000 Starpoints might buy 10 nights at a selection of hotels where I redeemed 100,000 points for 25+ nights.

Hotel room rates in most places have not risen anywhere near 150% in the past five years. Starwood point inflation has been devastatingly high on the free night redemption side for many travelers.

In Starwood's favor, the widespread expansion of available Cash & Points rates in 2007 for hotels in all SPG categories from 1-6 has proved to be a high value use of Starpoints at many hotel properties.

$60 and 4,000 Starpoints for a Category 4 hotel award night can be a great alternative to 10,000 Starpoints or a $250+/night paid room rate. Paying $60 cash is a much higher value than spending 6,000 Starpoints.

$150 and 8,000 Starpoints for a Category 6 hotel night is often a better choice than 20,000 Starpoints or a paid room rate of $500/night.

I am glad I traveled when I did.

How much has your Starpoints earning power increased over the past five years?

My earning power hasn't increased significantly and nowhere near 150%.

Two options for this traveler: Stay fewer hotel nights or pay more money to increase the ratio of paid/award nights.

My economy will be the decider.

The SIN of Travel - a Mileage Run Primer

SIN is Singapore, Changi Airport.

Loyalty Travelers based in the United States learn that Singapore is the farthest destination in flight miles a person can easily fly to from the USA on a variety of carriers and have an easy and affordable experience.

Singapore generally requires a US-Japan-Singapore routing and this is an 8,444 mile flight distance from San Francisco-Tokyo-Singapore (SFO-NRT-SIN).
New-York City-Los Angeles-Tokyo-Singapore (JFK/LGA/EWR-LAX-NRT-SIN) is an astounding 11,250 miles one-way. Mileage runners even figure out ways of adding additional flight segments to these basic routings for 1,500 or more flight miles.

The rationale for making a “mileage run” long distance itinerary is apparent when considering the miles earned in the frequent flyer member’s account and the elite qualifying flight miles credit. After attaining 50,000-flight mile elite status, a flyer earns a 100% flight mile bonus on qualifying economy fares with any one of the major airlines Alaska, American, Continental, Delta, Northwest, United, or US Airways. The perks of complimentary flight upgrades, international lounge access, and other benefits await the elite flyer.

It is always good to know the rules for miles earned for your ticketed fares. The booking class of your ticket determines upgrade eligibility, miles earned, and eligibility for frequent flyer elite status qualifying miles (or points).

April 2008 Mileage Run Sample:
I’ll use United Mileage Plus as the carrier for this example, although a nearly identical calculation will apply for flyers in the other major airline loyalty programs of Alaska, American, Northwest, Delta, Continental, or US Airways.

Feb 28, 2008 a New York, (JFK)-Singapore (SIN) ticket, prices today at under $1,100 for all United Airlines itineraries. (Prices fluctuate and may occasionally drop below $1,000 from eastern US or below $800 from western US departure cities).

Tip: Quick mileage calculations between airports is available from the website: Great Circle Mapper, http://gc.kls2.com

The first choice of the lowest-priced itineraries offered by United.com is JFK-NRT-SIN routing in economy class “S” booking code. "S" booking code is ineligible for Mileage Plus cabin upgrades with miles or elite certificates since it is an all international flights itinerary.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

United Airlines Flight #837 (1-stop, plane change)
Depart New York, JFK 7:09
Arrive Tokyo, Japan, NRT 14:10 (next day, Thursday)
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 6,745 miles

Thursday, April 3, 2008

United Airlines Flight #803
Depart Tokyo, NRT 17:50
Arrive Singapore, SIN 23:55
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 3,324 miles

Thursday, April 10, 2008

United Airlines Flight #804
Depart Singapore, SIN 7:15
Arrive Tokyo, NRT 15:15
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 3,324 miles

United Airlines Flight # 852 (1-stop, plane change)
Depart Tokyo, NRT 18:00
Arrive New York, JFK 22:33
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 6,745 miles

Summary: JFK-SIN, United Airlines, "S" booking class,
$1,069.24 and earns 20,146 Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and
20,146 frequent flyer Award Miles (+ elite and/or promotional bonuses)

Although the screen states the flight is a one-stop, the ticket buyer must click the Plane Change links on the United reservations screen to see where the plane stops. A change of aircraft is required in San Francisco.

The New York to Tokyo routing requires a plane change in San Francisco, yet the two separate flights are given a single flight number. United Mileage Plus calculates the ticket as a non-stop flight for frequent flyer flight miles earned. This ticket will earn 20,146 flight miles for $1,069.24.

An alternative routing for the New York, JFK to Singapore “S” booking class ticket provides the frequent flyer with 22,363 award miles for $1,087.24, and also adds Hong Kong airport to the itinerary.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

United Airlines Flight #877
Depart: New York, JFK 8:00
Arrive: Los Angeles, LAX 11:14
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 2,475 miles

United Airlines Flight #867
Depart: Los Angeles, LAX 12:56
Arrive: Hong Kong, HKG 18:45 (Thursday, next day)
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 7,246 miles

Thursday, April 3, 2008

United Airlines Flight #895
Depart: Hong Kong, HKG 20:00
Arrive: Singapore, SIN 23:35
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 1,603 miles

Thursday, April 10, 2008

United Airlines Flight # 804
Depart: Singapore, SIN 07:15
Arrive: Tokyo, Japan 15:15
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 3,328 miles

United Airlines Flight # 838
Depart: Tokyo, Japan 16:05
Arrive: San Francisco, SFO 09:10 (Thursday, same day)
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 5,124 miles

United Airlines Flight # 010
Depart: San Francisco, SFO 11:20
Arrive: New York, JFK 20:03
Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and Award Miles Earned: 2,586 miles

Summary: JFK-SIN, United Airlines, "S" booking class,
$1,087.24 and earns 22,363 Elite Qualifying Flight Miles and
22,363 frequent flyer Award Miles (+ elite and/or promotional bonuses)

Perhaps the greatest benefit is the ability to upgrade the transcontinental USA flights in "S" booking class since these are now domestic flights. Although the other itinerary also has two transcontinental domestic flight segments, these flights are under a single international United flight number and thus international upgrade rules apply.

A United ticket from New York, JFK to Singapore has itinerary choices that make a huge difference in loyalty program benefits for a small difference in cash. $18.00 is a small price to pay for 2,217 extra flight miles towards elite status and mileage upgrade credit, in addition to the extra frequent flier miles for awards and the potential for a transcontinental domestic upgrade.

Elite Frequent Flier Bonus Miles

A Premier Executive, 50,000-mile status member with a 100% flight miles bonus will earn 22,363 elite bonus miles on the Hong Kong routing.

$1,087.24 fare / 44,726 Mileage Plus miles = $24.31/1,000 miles earned.

Travel earns miles at a lower rate than buying miles through the airlines or credit cards.


**************
The Quest for Frequent Flier Elite Status

Two trips between New York and Singapore a year on United can easily earn 45,000 elite qualifying miles and earn 90,000 frequent flyer miles. These earned miles are redeemable for a Business Class Star Alliance award from the USA to Europe (80,000 miles) or South America (80,000 miles) or North or South Asia (90,000 miles). And a frequent flyer would only need one additional 5,000 mile trip, like New York City – San Francisco (JFK-SFO), to earn 50,000-mile elite status within the calendar year with United Mileage Plus.

United Airline Mileage Plus Business Class Star Alliance Awards:

80,000 miles Business Class award, US/Canada-Europe using United Airlines or any of these 11 Star Alliance partner airlines which currently operate flights between North America and Europe: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Austrian Airlines, bmi, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, SAS, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, TAP Portugal, US Airways.


90,000 miles Business Class award, US/Canada-Asia using United Airlines or any of these partner airlines which currently operate flights between North America and Asia: Air Canada, Air China, All Nippon Airways, Asiana Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways.

A Blast from the LatinPass Past

Ric and tour guide, Cuzco, Peru, May 2000


Presidents Week Vacation - February 2000

I was anxious and suffering a vacation hangover upon my return from Holland at the end of my two week trip for flying on five member airlines of the Oneworld Alliance for a 100,000 frequent flyer miles bonus. Travel euphoria withdrawal was a shock to my mind. The Christmas holidays 1999 were designed to celebrate my 40th birthday and the days had been a whirlwind tour of Europe. I dubbed it our “industrial tour” because the routing took us from London to Manchester on British Airways, Manchester to Amsterdam on Cathay Pacific, and Amsterdam to Barcelona on Christmas Day and back to Amsterdam on December 26 for another 3 nights in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Rotterdam blew our minds as the most cosmopolitan city we had ever visited. Rotterdam is a mix of world cultures.

The remedy for a vacation hangover is to start planning the next trip. I desired another adventure to energize my soul with the buzz of planning travel.

Fortunately, I had a quick recovery for my vacation hangover on January 7, 2000. I learned about the possibility for a one million mile bonus by flying with a group of Latin American airlines. It took a few days to ascertain the authenticity of the offer. And another week passed before the details were published on the Latinpass website.

I then worked through three weeks of intensive travel planning.
I planned an itinerary for the 500,000 mile bonus with six flights through Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Venezuela, and either Puerto Rico, Aruba, or Curacao. Using free award tickets from California to Central America or South America would drop the cost of airfare to under $2,000 and the miles earned would be sufficient for six Business Class tickets with KLM Airlines, a LatinPass affiliate airline, from San Francisco to Europe.

There were some reservations in planning the LatinPass tour, and I am using reservations in the hesitation sense.
1. Guatemala having a major volcanic eruption
2. Caracas having devastating floods
3. Terrorist kidnap danger in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru

I have mapped out a dozen routings for flights. The route changes all the time. The key to this trip for me is getting several free award nights at Starwood and Hilton hotels. I actually planned on using Starwood points for hotel stays on this trip and needing the points I developed a scheme for the first two weeks of February to accumulate Starwood points. Starwood Preferred Guest became a partner in the internet company ClickRewards and for the months of February and March, ClickReward miles are worth 2 Starpoints. In addition to that bonus FTD had a Valentine’s Day special offer for double points. I was able to earn 16,000 Starpoints by purchasing $550 in gift certificates for several shops where we regularly shop anyway. I bought $110 in Barnes and Noble gift certificates and while in Denver I purchased Let’s Go Central America 2000.

My first ticket purchase for the LatinPass promotion was a KLM roundtrip from London to Amsterdam for the Easter week vacation. I booked The Pulitzer Hotel for 7,000 Starpoints. The cheapest cash rate for the week was $350 per night. I also redeemed 45,000 HHonors points for two nights at the Amsterdam Hilton.
My initial LatinPass itinerary planning required two trips and were designed via these routings:

First LatinPass Trip: 12 flights and 7 nights
San Francisco – Guatemala City (American Airlines award ticket 30,000 miles) (SFO-GUA)
Guatemala City – San Salvador, El Salvador (GUA-SAL) – Aviateca Airlines $100 one-way
San Salvador, El Salvador – Managua, Nicaragua (SAL-MGA) – Taca Airlines $175 one-way
Managua – Miami, Florida (MGA-MIA) – Nica Airlines $500 one-way
Miami, Florida – Caracas, Venezuela (MIA-CCS) – Aeropostal $250 one-way
Caracas, Venezuela – Bogota, Colombia (CCS-BOG) – Avianca $250 one-way
Bogota, Colombia – San Juan, Puerto Rico (BOG-SJU) – ACES $450 one-way
San Juan, Puerto Rico – San Jose, Costa Rica (SJU-SJO) – Lacsa $300 one-way
San Jose, Costa Rica – Guatemala City, Guatemala (SJO-GUA) – Copa $250 one-way

Second LatinPass Trip: 6 flights and 4 nights
San Francisco – Quito, Ecuador (American Airlines award ticket – 60,000 miles Business Class)
Quito, Ecuador – Lima (UIO-LIM) – SAETA $330 round-trip
Lima, Peru – Cuzco, Peru (LIM-CUZ) – Taca Peru $170 round-trip

This LatinPass scheme kept me up all night thinking and I decided to ask for a week off work and fly the six airlines. Then I kept thinking how easy it would be to get 8 airlines in one trip as I showed above. And then I figured why not just go for one million miles since it only costs about $1,000 to $1,200 more.

First Day of LatinPass Run March 31, 2000

I completely rerouted my trip from the February planning. I waited until this morning to pack a suitcase and at the last minute I threw in my Sharper Image mini-luggage cart. I didn’t pack much: socks, underwear, 4 shirts, jeans, and Teva sandals. I didn’t bring a raincoat. I figure I won’t be outside much. I actually had jeans in the car and at the last minute before leaving the airport I went out to get them.

I am flying in seat 5A, the first row of Business Class. It has been a few years since I’ve flown this class and the comfort level is really incredible. I had to read the card on the seat control functions to learn the features of all these buttons. There are 7 knobs for adjustment and the seat goes damn near horizontal. I have the leg rest up and the head rest out and it more comfortable than any place I sit at home. I have my own video monitor with a choice of five movies and several audio channels. The flight has been incredibly smooth so far.

The plane is over Nevada and the Becks beer has arrived. The movie hasn’t yet started and I fell like I am in a near full-service bed, trapped between a video monitor straight up in front of me, a tray table horizontally across my lap and a headphones cord draped diagonally across my chest. It is good I do not feel the need to go anywhere quickly. I am on a 767 to Miami that continues on to Buenos Aires. San Francisco was gorgeous today and forecasted to be 75 to 80 degrees.

So what else did I pack? I brought a flashlight, a tape recorder, an alarm clock, a camera and 7 rolls of film.

The coolest feature is being able to listen to music while watching a flight map of the current plane position. The sun is just about setting over Duncan, Oklahoma. This is so cool.

I ate a bland Hindu rice and veggie meal and drank a couple of glasses of cabernet for dinner. We are traveling at 626 mph at 37,000 feet altitude. The outside temperature is -73 F. There is a 120 mph tailwind.

I drank a couple of more Becks and grooved on New Age music and tripped on the lights of Florida. This was quite a ride. Passed over Tampa Bay as I listened to Celtic tunes with a tartan blanket across my legs to cover my bare knees against the cabin cold. I can’t wait for the harsh reality of Miami 80 degrees F at 10 pm at night. The flight attendant just offered me another Becks with only 15 minutes of flight time left. I love Business Class. I declined the beer. This buzz is just right and Miami is below. This is fun.

Avianca Airlines flight #9 on-time departure from Miami to Bogota, Colombia. The safety instructions for the flight are running in Spanish with German subtitles. Guess I will wait and see if American comes up. This flight is a 767-300 and only about 25% full in economy. I am in the back section of the plane and look to be the only person seated next to someone on the entire aircraft. The woman beside me is Spanish speaking, but holds an American passport. I moved two rows back to the empty three seats in the middle section of the plane. The safety messages are now playing in English with French subtitles as the aircraft taxis down the runway.

Flying over the Caribbean Sea and the water below is a shade of light blue, so different from the dark Pacific Ocean of the California coast. The colors are hypnotizing. Looking down on the wisps of clouds sitting above the light blue water gives the illusion of gazing up into the bright sky. The imagery is beautiful.
The white edges of sea breaking on the shoreline of Cuba breaks the hypnotic azure spell. The green agricultural landscape of Cuba comes into view.

The drink cart coming down the aisle refocuses my attention. There are 2-liter bottles of Coke and Diet Coke, and 1-liter bottles of scotch and vodka. I receive a can of Club Colombia, Bavaria Brewery, 4% Colombian beer. The two women flight attendants do not appear to be even 20 years old. Several men are also working the aisles. This flight has a large crew to service a small passenger load.

The island of Jamaica appears much browner and extensively developed compared to the interior green cultivated farmlands of rural Cuba. Jamaica passed by quickly as we skirted the western end of the island over Negril. The sea once again is reflecting the white clouds and mirrors the sky.

The snacks on the plane were something different to eat. Coctel, a Colombian product – crunchy chick peas and faba beans – kind of like Corn Nuts. I also received Achiras, original Colombian biscuits made expressly for Avianca. They are made from cottage cheese and achira starch to make a biscuit. They are quite tasty and different. I can’t think of another food they taste like. It is a kind of mini-bread stick with a cheesy flavor, sort of Cheetos-like, but definitely different.
The subtle differences of travel. Despite the hassle of a language barrier there are entertaining, ordinary changes like the kinds of snack foods served on a Colombian airline compared to United Airlines. The little alterations make all the difference in the travel experience.

We have just crossed the Colombian coastline and the rivers, brown with sediment and silt, flow into the Caribbean. There are no coastal cities below us and we cross over to land. I picked up a Colombian paper on the plane and the Bogota section had an article about deaths and 59% of people who die of unnatural causes are murder victims. Traffic accidents account for 21%, suicide 8%, 9% by accidents, and 2% undetermined causes.

Tomorrow, April 2, 2000, is some kind of Colombia Peace Day ribbon campaign, being promoted by a newspaper half-page ad.

The sky was too hazy to see the ground once we crossed over Colombia. Flying into Bogota the skies cleared and the beautiful countryside appeared below. We passed over farmhouses and country estates. An upscale country club golf course was on the outskirts of the city. The few cars on the streets below appeared to be moving slow. Most people on the roads were traveling on bicycles. Bogota Airport is situated in a beautiful valley about ten miles from the downtown urban sprawl. The region looks to be about 20 flat square miles surrounded by mountains.

[Feb 2008 note: This is interesting to see my enthusiasm for air travel back in 2000. Back in the days when travel was solely for fun. I ended up with 1,014,000 LatinPass miles. The miles allowed me to live about 4 months in the Hilton Hotels after transferring most of the airline miles to Hilton HHonors over the course of several years.]

Is there a Priceline Master in the House?

I am not a real doctor (PhD). I only have a Master of Science. That is why I work for consumers instead of pocketing the lucrative research paycheck from the hotel industry.

The doctor, Chris K. Anderson, Ph.D., at the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research has come out with a report advising hoteliers how to squeeze more pennies out of our consumer pockets. This time the research is aimed to maximize hotel profits from Priceline.

http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/chr/pubs/reports/abstract-14705.html


The report is available for free download upon registration with the center.

Loyalty Traveler has a few comments on the report.

Cornell Report Statistic:
60% of online hotel rooms are booked through hotel-branded websites (I assume this is what is meant by "supplier-managed" websites).

Loyalty Traveler view: Hotels have provided incentive for customer reservations through hotel-managed channels by offering exclusive loyalty program benefits. In other words, Hotel points and frequent guest member perks are only guaranteed when booking through hotel-managed websites. The hotel websites generally offer a better rate , although special offer rates are often hidden from view to the casual online reservationist of a hotel room.

Report Statistic: 40% of online hotel bookings are made through online travel agencies like Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, and Priceline.

Loyalty Traveler View: Expedia and Travelocity and Orbitz are convenient. Priceline and other opaque sites like Hotwire.com generally offer the best discounts on room rates. A traveler has to weigh the factor of cost with the uncertainty of hotel location and brand. A frequent guest member does not earn hotel points and the reservation is likely to be booked in lowest category hotel room on property.

Priceline Bidding data:
A graph shows the number of bids in the two weeks prior to the date of arrival for the sample hotel. Data shows about 50% of all Priceline bids occurred in the 2 days before arrival.

The minimum acceptable Priceline bid for the hotel, within a one week period, ranged from mostly $55/night to $65 per night with one outlier night at $235/night.

An interesting chart is Exhibit 8, which if I have interpreted correctly, indicates that about 1 in 25 Priceline winning bids represented a 90% discount on commonly published rates for the hotel. And about 5% only got a 20% discount on the going room rate.

The vast majority of bid winners receive less than a 50% discount on the regular room rates. About 60% of winning Priceline bids received a 28%-36% discount on the room rate. Technically, the Priceline slogan "Save Up to Half Off" appropriately represents the Priceline reality. The Cornell graph shows about 10% of bidders received between 67% and 90% off the regular room rate.

The last time I used Priceline was for a night in Washington D.C., June 2007. I ended up with the Marriott Key Bridge, Arlington, VA for about $100 and the lowest available room rate through the Marriott site was $329 for that night.

My initial analysis of the Priceline tool provided for hotel managers seems to indicate some trends for consumers.

Consumers may find the most favorable room rates booking Priceline the day before or day of arrival. Booking at 10 to 14 days in advance of arrival may also provide the best opportunity for higher discounts. The Cornell Priceline tool appears to encourage hotels to not discount Priceline inventory rooms as deeply between 2 and 10days before arrival as a means to maximize profits.

An interesting analysis would be to compare the Cornell Priceline data with consumer bidding data from www.biddingfortravel.com to see if there is useful consumer information to be gleamed from the comparison.

Anyone planning to make a hotel bid through Priceline.com or Hotwire.com should check out www.biddingfortravel.com to see what successful bids are pricing out and then try and use that data with the knowledge that 10-14 days before arrival may provide the best opportunity for deep discounts on Priceline. And if you are desperate and lucky, the day before and day of arrival Priceline bids may save you enough cash to buy gas and pay for hotel parking.

The PointsWizard blog on BoardingArea.com had a link to this article detailing strategies for successful Priceline bidding.

The Loyalty Triple Pointer: The Bali Hop

The Laguna Resort and Spa, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia
Starwood Luxury Collection Hotel (12/2003)

March Madness Triple Pointer



Another Easter vacation break is coming up in March. When a spouse works in public schools in the USA, Easter week vacation is a given.

The combination of points and miles I currently have at my disposal had me looking at flights to Japan. I have transited through Tokyo more than a dozen times, however, I have never flown on a ticket allowing a free stopover. I am quite familiar with the Narita (NRT) airport.

Mexicana miles are my connection to Japan. Back in 2002, Kelley and I earned about 60,000 miles in our Mexicana Airlines accounts when the airline was a Star Alliance member. There was a 5th Anniversary of the Star Alliance promotion for 55,555 miles earned if a frequent flier flew 5 Star Alliance member airlines. I purchased 5 tickets from Lufthansa, United, Air Canada, British Midland, and Austrian Airlines. Each ticket consisted of four flight segments. For example: Lufthansa went Amsterdam-Frankfurt-Munich outbound and Munich-Frankfurt-Amsterdam on the return flights. We flew 20 flight segments and submitted one boarding pass from each ticket to four different airlines. We received the 55,555 mile bonus with Lufthansa Miles&More, Air Canada Aeroplan, ANA Mileage Plan, and Mexicana Frecuenta. Since 2002, I have added to the accounts through other activities and both Frecuenta accounts now have 100,000 miles.

Mexicana airline partner awards still include several of the Star Alliance airlines. A feature of Mexicana Frecuenta is the ability to purchase large amounts of miles. The price at $22/1,000 miles makes this a lower cost alternative than many other airlines. Japan Airlines is the newest airline partner of Mexicana. The low cost of miles and high value award tables seem to have prompted an awards table makeover for Mexicana Airline Partner tickets using miles.

As little as two years ago I could have traveled in First Class from the USA to nearly any country in the world for 100,000 Mexicana miles. Now I have the option of LOT Polish Business Class from New York to Warsaw for 80,000 miles; American Airlines USA–Europe for 90,000 miles, or the high value ticket routing of Tokyo-Sydney or Tokyo-London in First Class for 100,000 miles.

A Japan Airlines First Class award ticket using my Mexicana miles is what prompted me to look at the fares between California and Tokyo. And what I found prompted me to sign up for the American Airlines Platinum Challenge.

$753 all-in fare, Monterey – Tokyo, March travel, “W” booking class.

There is high value in one ticket bought and flown and American Airlines 50,000 mile Platinum status after the trip through February 2009.

Starwood Hotels Le Meridien Free Nights Promotion

This promotion is the biggest opportunity with Starwood Preferred Guest since 2003 when the Asia/Pacific Stay 5 earned a 50,000 points bonus. Another reason I was looking at a Japan Airlines award is the opportunity of a First Class Japan Airlines award to Bali, Indonesia. The interesting feature of Bali is the ability to hotel hop around the island while quickly qualifying for two promotions at low nightly rates.

The two Hyatt hotels, the Grand Hyatt Bali at Nusa Dua and the Bali Hyatt, and Starwood's Le Meridien Nirwana Golf and Spa Resort, Bali all have rates below $150.
Le Meridien Nirwana has rates as low as $95 for most nights in March. The Bali Hyatt was as low as $100 for most nights. There is a 21% tax and service fee.
Egypt has dirt cheap Le Meridien rates, Germany has European comforts at Le Meridien hotels in several cities in relaticely close proximity, and Bali has beach resort living.


Do the math: Le Meridien promotion awards 4 free nights at Le Meridien hotels for 7 Le Meridien stays by March 31, 2008. Starting at Le Meridien Bali and alternating nightly with Bali Hyatt means Day 1, 3, 5, 7 are at Le Meridien and days 2, 4, 6 at the Hyatt. 7 nights x $125 night = $875 for a week in Bali. Tokyo has two Le Meridien hotels and the rates are as low as $160/night all-in for some nights in March. Add $500 for 3 nights in Tokyo.

$1,400 for 10 hotel nights would earn Hyatt Platinum status (and free Clear Airport membership) and 4 free nights at a Le Meridien hotel to be used by March 31, 2009. Le Meridien Bora Bora is an eligible redemption hotel and this property will be reclassified as a Category 7 hotel next week for a nightly redemption rate of 30,000 points in low season and 35,000 points for high season.

The Hyatt lover loyalist could just bounce between the Hyatt hotels and quickly add up the Hyatt elite qualification stays with “Stays Count Double”. A two week Bali vacation could send you home with Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond elite status for under $2,000. The Stays Count Double promotion lasts through March 31, 2008.

The Loyalty Traveler Triple Pointer is American Airlines to Tokyo ($753 cost) and Platinum elite status through a challenge. Le Meridien Pacific Tokyo and Le Meridien Grand Pacific Tokyo and Le Meridien Bali for 7 stays and 4 free nights to come ($850 cost; future value about $2,000). 3 nights at the Bali Hyatt and Hyatt Gold Passport Platinum status with Stays Count Double promotion ($350 cost). $2,000 cost, plus a whole lot of added value for the Loyalty Traveler.
Loyalty Traveler sees the possibilities.

And if you don't have the miles for First Class to Bali, United members can fly between Tokyo and DPS, Bali airport for 40,000 United Mileage Plus miles. From the USA, Bali is a 60,000 mile economy award flight. Another option is 20,000 miles on United from Tokyo to Bangkok or Singapore, and then a second 20,000 mile award from that location to Bali. This earns an additional city for no additional miles.

Got Miles? Get Hilton HHonors Points!

An integrated loyalty program travel plan provides numerous opportunities to use airline miles and hotel points for travel savings. The knowledge of equivalent exchange values for points and miles between loyalty programs allows the traveler to save money on travel. This loyalty traveler is always looking for a good exchange of hotel points and airline miles for an economical 5-star vacation.

Hilton HHonors advertises itself as the only program letting members earn both hotel points and airline miles for a hotel stay. This feature is what HHonors calls “Double Dipping”. Starwood, Marriott, IHG, and Hyatt loyalty programs all allow the member to select in the member’s guest profile an earning preference for either hotel points or airline miles.

An even more impressive feature of Hilton HHonors is the ability to exchange airline miles into HHonors points. Airline miles to points exchange can be done with the following airlines: American, Hawaiian, Mexicana, Midwest, South African Airways, and Virgin Atlantic Airways.
http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/points/milesforpoints.do

Exchange rate is 5,000 frequent flier miles = 10,000 HHonors points for all these airlines except Virgin Atlantic which has an even exchange of 5,000 miles = 5,000 HHonors points.

Over the past ten years I have exchanged nearly 1,000,000 airline miles from American Airlines, LatinPass, and TWA into hotel points with Marriott Rewards and Hilton HHonors. The option to transfer airline miles into Marriott points was discontinued several years ago.

I discovered the value of this strategy when I planned a trip to Spain and the Netherlands in 1999. Hotel prices were about $150/night at the Hilton hotels in Amsterdam and Barcelona. I exchanged 50,000 TWA miles into 100,000 Hilton HHonors points. The miles could have been exchanged for an economy class airline ticket to Europe ($500 value) whereas the 100,000 HHonors points were good for 9 hotel nights ($1,300 value).

It is also possible to purchase up to 40,000 points in a calendar year for $400. http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/points/purchase.do

If you purchase more than 10,000 points at one time the price is $0.01/point and $0.0125/point if less than 10,000 points are purchased. Points will appear in account in about 30 minutes.

A strategy I have frequently used for stays at Hilton Hotels was to change my airline miles earning preference to frequent flier programs holding miles in accounts I might not use for the year. Losing your frequent flier miles for inactivity is cheaply avoidable. A Hilton-brand hotel stay allows the guest to maintain an active account with 500-miles earned for most Hilton-brand hotel stays. And, you also get HHonors points for your stay.


Paradise with an Ocean View

In 1995, when I worked as a special education teacher in Maine, I received my classroom’s first Mac computer. The desktop picture I selected for the monitor was a beautiful white sand island with palm trees. The island paradise was my fantasy image when the day-to-day grind of behaviorally impaired special education students had me feeling whipped. The picture title named the location as the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, a thousand miles off the coast of Africa.

My dream of an Indian Ocean resort getaway has eluded me to this date. I have had opportunities to fly British Airways using miles and stay for free at the Hilton Mauritius on points, but my vacation fantasy was not my wife’s ideal vacation. The resorts of the Maldives, the Seychelles, and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean are still a trophy travel dream of mine. These locations are about as far as a person can travel from the USA.

Nearly every year the resorts in these island locations go up in price (at least for Americans exchanging devalued dollars) and the Category rating for many of these hotels continues to rise in various loyalty programs.

Which brings this discussion around to Hilton HHonors PointStretcher discounted hotel stay awards.

Hilton HHonors PointStretcher Award Chart
http://hhonors1.hilton.com/en_US/hh/rewards/pointstretcher.do

HHonors PointStretcher Participating Hotels for 2008
http://hhonors.hilton.com/en/hhonors/rewards/stretchers/


Hilton Mauritius Resort, [Pointstretcher dates: May 25-June 30, 2008]
Category 6 HHonors hotel = 40,000 points/night or 175,000 points/6-night GLON2P award
PointStretcher Award is available for 24,000 points/night
Monday, June 16 –Sunday, June 22
King Deluxe room = 144,000 points/6-nights

Cash price is 13,696 MUR/night = $472/night for the nonrefundable internet only lowest rate or 17,120 MUR/night flexible rate. In this instance, 24,000 HHonors points can be redeemed at a value of almost 2 cents each for a $472/night room.
A complimentary upgrade for an elite status member may be even more rewarding with a PointStretcher stay in a Corner Suite = $772/night or Deluxe Suite = $868/night.

Other PointStretcher Opportunities:
Hilton Prague, Czech Republic, PointStretcher dates: March 8-14, 22-28; April 20-26
HHonors Category 4 hotel, standard award = 30,000 points/night or 150,000 points/6-nights GLON2 award.
PointStretcher Award = 18,000 points/night
March 22-28 PointStretcher award is available for 108,000 points/6-nights.
Pointstretcher saves 42,000 points on regular GLON2 award.
Paid rate = 158€/night = $235/night compared to 18,000 points/night ($180 value)

Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio, Hawaii - Rated #11 of 85 Honolulu hotels on TripAdvisor.
HHonors Category 6 = 40,000 points/night
PointStretcher dates = April 1-7, 2008
24,000 points/night and 5 night award available for 120,000 points. This saves 80,000 points on regular award rate.
Internet only paid rate = $172/night.
Even at a pointstretcher award rate the value of points redeemed is worth less than one cent each and is a low redemption value for hotel points compared to other hotel options. This hotel may be a better value for a paid stay and save your points for a higher value redemption.

Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio - $172 night vs. 24,000 points/night ($240 value)
Hilton Prague - $235/night vs. 18,000 points/night ($180 value)
Hilton Mauritius - $472/night vs. 24,000 points/night ($240 value)

Also, for a more accurate comparison, the traveler needs to calculate the points not earned on award stay that would be "added value" for the cost of a paid stay. (Another outstanding and unique feature of Hilton HHonors is an award stay counts as a stay for elite status qualification - terrific added value for elite status seekers.)

Hilton Prague $235 night = 2,350 points + 1,175 points = 3,525 HHonors points for non-elite with Points&Points preference selection) = $35.25

The value of points not earned for a PointStretcher stay compared to a paid stay at Hilton Prague is about $35.00. A comparison of the value of using a free hotel award must include the "added value" that would have been earned if paying for the room. The 18,000 points for a free night have a $180 purchase value. The "added value of a paid stay would be $35. Together, $180 + $35 = $215, the points value and the missed opportunity for "added value" from a paid stay, can be compared to the going room rate for a comparison of award value to paid stay value.

$180 + $35(added value, if paid stay) = $215 value of using PointStretcher Award. Even considering the "added value" of the HHonors points not earned for an award stay, the PointStretcher award option is still a higher value alternative than a paid stay.
Hilton Prague PointStretcher = $215/night
Hilton Paid Stay Nonrefundable internet-only rate = $235/night