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I usually refrain from talking about credit cards, but this looks like a pretty good deal from British Airways for the Visa card new member offer. You can find the offer on the British Airways homepage. I think this is an especially attractive offer if you are planning to go to Europe this summer (if the currency exchange rates haven't scared you off the Grand Tour!).
"As a new cardmember, you will have access to a companion ticket* for travel in World Traveller (economy) or World Traveller Plus (premium economy) to any worldwide destination on
British Airways. This offer can be used on our lowest available fares. Plus, you’ll earn 20,000 bonus BA Miles after your first purchase or balance transfer.
Apply for your card by April 30, 2008.
See how affordable travel for two can be:
Sample fare for two people with companion ticket
$574 New York - London World Traveller
$739 New York - Paris World Traveller
$756 Los Angeles - London World Traveller
$824 New York - London World Traveller Plus"
Plus you get 20,000 miles after first purchase or balance transfer.
I estimate you should figure about $250 to $300 in taxes and fuel surcharges per person and then you may still have a good deal.
Keep in mind that if your 2-for-1 tickets have fuel surcharges and taxes applied to both passengers, the deal may not be that great compared to regular airfare rates.
In the past month there have been fares as low as $198 from California to London, but the fuel surcharge and taxes add up to another $300 for a $498 total airfare. A companion ticket costing $300 is not that great a deal in the off-season. The value will likely increase for summer travel as airfare rates go higher. If fares go to $600 to $700 for peak summer travel like in recent years past, then this deal could be something like $600 ticket price + $600 taxes and fees for 2 people = $1,200 for two tickets to Europe when the regular fare is $900 per ticket. In this example, two people could fly to Europe for $1,200 compared to the regular fare of $1,800 for two passengers.
The British Airways Visa Card offer could potentially be a $600 savings for summer travel to Europe in 2008, maybe even more in savings, and you will have 20,000+ miles in your British Airways Executive Club account when you get home.
I have flown British Airways several times to Europe and other international flights. I recommend the airline. The companion ticket may have its best value if used for World Traveler Plus which is a significantly better airline cabin than United Economy Plus.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Thank You Hyatt - I'm Going To Bruce Springsteen
I want my, I want my, I want my HDTV.
42" LG HDTV in Hyatt Place room, Fremont
HDTV image from Hyatt Place stay set the mood for what was to come that night.
On my freeway drive home from Hyatt Place Fremont on Friday night I won two tickets from KFOG radio to Bruce Springsteen playing April 5, 2008 in San Jose. If it weren't for Hyatt's "Stays Count Double" I wouldn't have been listening to KFOG radio. The radio station is too far from Monterey.
Quick: Who can name the first three Bruce Springsteen album titles?
No brainer for me and I was the first caller to get a shot at the answer. "Stays Count Double" promotion is paying off nicely in added benefits.
Elites and Suites. Now that is the question.
Here is my elementary school teacher economics logic.
The potential value of elite status in a hotel loyalty program provides an indeterminate net financial reward that can be based on a fixed financial investment.
Case in point is Hyatt Hotels "Stays Count Double" promotion running from January 1 - March 31, 2008. I have written about this repeatedly and Hyatt has explicitly promoted the opportunity for their frequent guests to earn Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond membership with just 13 hotel stays.
The fixed financial investment is the cost of 13 stays.
I paid a $71 AAA rate at Hyatt Place Fremont-Silicon Valley for Friday night, March 14.
Hyatt Diamond elite status for a little over $1,000 was possible from the beginning of 2008.
But, how many people have planned for fast-track hotel elite membership?
And, what is the potential value of Hyatt Diamond elite membership?
My answer as the Loyalty Traveler is, if you plan your travels purposefully, the potential value of Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond membership through February 2010 could be worth thousands of dollars. I don't think more than a few hundred people globally actually altered plans for more than a half-dozen stays to grab fast-track Hyatt Diamond. Perhaps a few thousand. Only Hyatt knows.
Estimating the Value of Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond elite membership
The numbers for frequent guests:
Say you stay 30 nights a year in hotels.
30 x $150/night = $4,500 for hotel rooms.
(Consider relative numbers and values for comparative purposes. Your hotel stay profile may be significantly more or possibly less than $150/night. You may stay 20 nights or 60 nights+. Adjust the numbers accordingly for your profile.)
Now here is an assumption you need to accept to make my argument valid when estimating value of loyalty programs. You have to take this assumption as truthful in the case for most top-elite hotel loyalty program members. In my case and for hundreds of people who post on FlyerTalk.com, the reality of a high-level elite member's hotel lifestyle is frequent room upgrades, especially when staying at upscale and luxury hotels. The assumption you must accept to understand the logic behind these analyses is an elite member will be upgraded to a better room category than booked for almost all hotel stays.
Assume Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond member regularly gets a complimentary room upgrade upon hotel check-in. The room rate reserved averages $150 for the room category booked. I am making up the number $150 and obviously some room nights may be less than $100/night and some may be over $200/night, but the average over many nights is $150/night for the calendar year.
The room rate for the upgrade room received at check-in by the Diamond elite member will likely have an equivalent room rate value in the range of $180-350/night. The average room rate will likely be something like $250/night value for the room the Hyatt Diamond member actually stays in for the hotel stay. Again this is common for top elite members in hotel loyalty programs to receive room upgrades, often several categories above the room category booked. Sometimes the nicest room in the hotel.
I notice a lack of complimentary room upgrades when using prepaid channels like Priceline or when staying at another hotel chain where I do not hold elite status.
A frequent guest of hotels with 30 nights or more per year will likely see an average of $100+ in added value on hotel stays and hotel points towards future stays.
30 nights @ $250/night value is $7,500 in actual room rate market value at a cost to the elite frequent guest of 30 nights @ $150/night or $4,500 in room rates actually paid.
The high elite member frequent guest in a large hotel corporate loyalty program in this example earns $3,000 in hotel added-value benefits for $4,500 in hotel spending. This is $7,500 of hotel value when adding up the paid rate for rooms, the value of an upgrade, value of points earned, and other hotel stay amenities provided complimentary due to status, and all for $4,500 in hotel spending.
So why would someone do a Fast-track to Hyatt Diamond and spend $1,000 for 13 stays?
The value to the frequent guest over next two years is a simple math equation of spending $4,500 for hotels that you probably would anyway as a business or leisure frequent hotel guest. A $1,000 fixed-investment in hotel loyalty now with Hyatt Gold Passport can likely have a net positive financial return of $6,000 over the course of two years in terms of the value of your room upgrades and additional benefits. ($15,000 hotel value received - $9,000 in hotel expenses).
A traveler can invest as little as $1,000 in Hyatt or more likely an investment of $1,500 to $2,000 in most locations where prices could be higher in order to pay for 13 stays and earn Gold Passport Diamond status. Now, think of the potential value over two years, possibly $6,000 added value to you hotel stays. A simple investment of about $50 per month of Hyatt Diamond elite membership could bring a return of $250/month in your upgraded hotel lifestyle.
Believe me it works. I have been enjoying the benefits of elite status for the past 7 years.
A hotel stay loyalty program strategy is good financial sense for business or leisure travelers and if you plan to travel frequently the loyalty program can provide thousands of dollars in added value to your hotel stays. This is typical of the kind of added value a frequent guest with top elite status can expect for meeting the standard of loyalty in one of the major hotel loyalty programs.
The fear is Dilution of benefits for Hyatt Diamond elite members
The real concern for frequent guests who earn high elite status is the competition from newly annointed frequent guests who fast-track to top elite status. The issue comes to a head when multiple diamond members are checking in the same hotel the same day. No competition ensures a good upgrade while some competition may mean a lesser value upgrade.
Valid complaint from members who earn status through tougher standards? Perhaps.
My experience has been that upgrades are frequent. Despite fast-track promotions for several years with Starwood Preferred Guest, and the undeniable success of the Starwood American Express card, I still regulary get wonderful upgrades at Starwood hotels. I don't think there are enough frequent guest members to take all the upper category rooms in many upscale hotels on a typical night.
I promised my wife I wouldn't use the term "Mattress Runs"
On the FlyerTalk bulletin board the terminology developed over the years to refer to flights taken primarily for the purpose of miles as "mileage runs". The concept of getting on a plane and flying cross-country and returning back to your home airport all in one day is somewhat outlandish, but can be financially lucrative investment to a good travel planner. The corresponding terminology developed for a travel pattern of several one-night hotel stays to quickly earn frequent guest points and it was called doing a "mattress run".
My wife became aware of this terminology last year when I created a webpage on the concept behind "Mattress Runs". She pointed out the obvious connotation and imagery of "mattress runs" to the normal hotel traveler who is not a loyalty programs geek.
I now refer to several, generally consecutive, one-night stays at different hotel members of the same loyalty program for the purpose of earning credit towards elite status or a loyalty program promotion as the "frequent stays strategy".
My background in loyalty programs is a person who jumped on dozens of flights for high frequent flier bonus miles opportunities between 1999 and 2004 to earn millions of frequent flier miles. I thought nothing of spending a night in Amsterdam, flying to Belfast for a night, back to Amsterdam for a night, and jetting off to Budapest for the weekend -- all flights made for the systematic purpose of fulfilling airline loyalty promotions for bonus frequent flier miles at near the lowest possible cost. The Belfast, Amsterdam, Budapest trip over 6 days had the benefit of 500,000 miles that have been used for a First Class ticket to New Zealand ($8,000 value), and three Business class tickets to Europe ($8,000 value). I still have 200,000 miles in accounts from that 2002 trip. The ticket cost of the 2002 trip to earn 500,000 miles was less than $1,500 and during the 20 flights taken for the promotion, my wife and I received two UA domestic tickets and something like $600 in vouchers from United.
The airline example above is to illustrate how an investment in loyalty programs can have a great financial return. At the time of the Canadian portion of our mileage run, the immigration official at YVR started an argument with me as to why I would come to Canada for one night just to earn frequent flier miles. Maybe he would understand now if he saw that my investment of $500 for two airline tickets to fly from Monterey to Victoria, BC for a night and about $200 for a day in Canada was recouped before the weekend was over when I received two free domestic airline tickets and $600 in airline vouchers for a two-hour flight bump in Portland, Oregon. And, I subsequently redeemed a portion of the airline miles for about a $16,000 value with the three international business class tickets to Europe and one first class ticket to New Zealand.
[Happy St. Patrick's Day. I spent two summers in Ireland for about 8 weeks total in the 90s and St. Patrick's Day wasn't the drinking holiday there that has developed over the past decade. I just recalled I was in Victoria on a Sunday morning for that 2002 as Ireland was playing a World Cup match and pulled off a tying goal in the final minute for overtime. There wasn't an Irish pub open at 7am. I knew I wasn't in Ireland.]
"Work interferes with seeing the world"
Back to my point with the value of Hyatt elite status. Work has usually been a constraint to plan around when designing "mileage runs" for frequent flier bonuses. The same constraint exists for hotel loyalty elite status when your job doesn't require you to be in a hotel frequently enough to earn high elite status.
Last June, on my way back from Uruguay, I ran into these former colleagues coming from Denver. They had been staying at a Denver Hilton brand hotel we stayed at a few years back. We tended to spend time in Hilton brands because the manager collected Hilton points religiously. I remembered we had a great time when I took the team to the lounge at the Doubletree after our work day. The two on the plane still hadn't attained high elite status to gain access to the hotel HHonors lounge.
My Hilton Diamond status always placed me in a better category room than my team members and with more privileges. My work team spent weeks in hotels over the course of the year, but wouldn't supplement their HHonors stay activity outside of work when paying their own way. I supplemented my Hilton work stays with paid stays during bonus promotions and award stays which counted for elite status. My leisure paid stays could be concentrated with Starwood and I maintained dual elite status with SPG on my dime and Hilton mostly through work.
The problem with earning HHonors Diamond elite status for my colleagues was their work meetings generally required multi-night stays. Even though they stayed in hotels 1 or 2 times per month, they generally had 2-night or 3-night stays, and also Hilton was not the contracted hotel for some meetings and hotel stays.
The result was a frequent guest profile of 5 nights a month in hotels, about 25 stays or 60 nights per year, but with only about 15 stays and 40 nights in Hilton hotels. Diamond elite membership with Hilton HHonors takes 28 stays or 60 nights. Being an educator and the Loyalty Traveler, I attempted to explain the value of elite status and how they could put in just a little extra effort and bump their membership from Gold to Diamond. Four years later and they still aren't getting lounge privileges.
I posted the following on FlyerTalk this morning which got me to thinking again about the value of elite membership in a hotel loyalty program in the context of a job that gets you most of the way there, but not quite far enough to get the benefits you should be getting for your level of loyalty in terms of nights and cash spent.
My FlyerTalk post in response to Hyatt offer for elite fast-track and the impact these type of promotions have on the overall program when new members move into elite membership.
"Declining occupancy rates projected for next couple years as new hotels enter the market make the marketing of elite loyalty an opportunity to grab part of that dedicated marketshare. A couple hundred people grab top elite status for bargain basement prices and several thousand customers convert to Hyatt with instant elite status offers of 2008.
The analysts are telling the hotel companies to raise rates for 2008 in the face of declining occupancy which defies commonsense logic, but the capitalist logic is lower prices will take a long-time to recover and hotels will be more profitable by settling for fewer guests paying higher prices. The competition for inducing frequent guests with elite membership is these loyalty members go a long way in grabbing a portion of the frequent guest market segment that will continue to pay higher room rate prices.
We are paying for our hotel loyalty perks with higher nightly rates overall, along with the large number of infrequent guests staying at these hotels. And the rate of hotel room rate increases is at a much higher rate than overall US inflation over the past few years.
The market segment that will see good growth as the prices continue to rise will be the frequent guests using prepaid and auction channels for hotel rooms which will be selling upscale and luxury at real bargains, but for hotels in major loyalty programs there will be no benefit of complimentary upgrade or points for these bargain rates.
This fight among the hotel chains for a loyal guest in the pool of frequent guests will possibly prompt repeated attempts for luring new loyalty through elite status fast-track offers."
Elite status is an investment opportunity with the potential to greatly improve your hotel lifestyle. The fast-track offers are a good way to expose new frequent guests to the benefits of a major hotel chain loyalty program. Some new elites will grab all the benefits they can for a year and fade away after not staying frequently enough to retain elite status. Other members will see the value of concentrating their stays with Hyatt (or Starwood, Hilton or whoever) and pump more money into the hotels to maintain that status. It is a win-win strategy for the frequent guest and the hotel who gains a loyal guest.
The dilution of benefits is what we will watch for and if the investment in loyalty becomes less valuable in the future and benefits are diluted, the elite frequent guests will be among the first to know. And I'll be blogging about the state of the Loyalty Traveler.
Friday, March 14, 2008
Loyalty Luxury-thoughts on Luxury Institute survey
view of lighted sign atop Huntington Hotel and Nob Hill Spa
San Francisco, California
member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World
(picture taken from corner room, Westin St. Francis)
The Luxury Institute reported "High Net Worth Consumers Rank Small Luxury Hotels of the World as top luxury hotel group, followed by Ritz-Carlton, and Four Seasons."
There are about 440 hotel members of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World worldwide. Two hotel members of this association in Monterey County, California are L'Auberge Carmel and Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur.
The Club is the loyalty program for Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and fortunately abbreviated to the simple acronym SLH for website users.
http://www.slh.com/Club
On my Frequent Guest website I list the brands in the major hotel chains and break them up by market segment of luxury, upscale, and moderate. Aside from my placing the W Hotels and Le Meridien brands in upscale, rather than luxury segment, my market segmentation of hotel brands coincides with the Luxury Institute survey.
The 15 hotel brands used for the Luxury Institute survey are to be expected. The survey appears to have a USA-based bias for hotel brands as several luxury hotels are not considered such as Oberoi or Starwood's The Luxury Collection.
The big five hotel chains: Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels group (IHG), Marriott and Starwood brands are all represented and comprise 8 of 15 luxury brands surveyed:
Hilton - Waldorf Astoria Collection
Hyatt - Park Hyatt
InterContinental Hotels Group - InterContinental Hotels
Marriott - JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton
Starwood - St. Regis, W Hotels, Le Meridien
There are about 440 hotel members of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World worldwide. Two hotel members of this association in Monterey County, California are L'Auberge Carmel and Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur.
The Club is the loyalty program for Small Luxury Hotels of the World, and fortunately abbreviated to the simple acronym SLH for website users.
http://www.slh.com/Club
On my Frequent Guest website I list the brands in the major hotel chains and break them up by market segment of luxury, upscale, and moderate. Aside from my placing the W Hotels and Le Meridien brands in upscale, rather than luxury segment, my market segmentation of hotel brands coincides with the Luxury Institute survey.
The 15 hotel brands used for the Luxury Institute survey are to be expected. The survey appears to have a USA-based bias for hotel brands as several luxury hotels are not considered such as Oberoi or Starwood's The Luxury Collection.
The big five hotel chains: Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels group (IHG), Marriott and Starwood brands are all represented and comprise 8 of 15 luxury brands surveyed:
Hilton - Waldorf Astoria Collection
Hyatt - Park Hyatt
InterContinental Hotels Group - InterContinental Hotels
Marriott - JW Marriott, Ritz-Carlton
Starwood - St. Regis, W Hotels, Le Meridien
The following are the 15 Hotel brands that were rated (in alphabetical order) for the Luxury Institute survey and I have added loyalty program notes beside the hotel brand names:
1. Fairmont (President's Club)
2. Four Seasons
3. InterContinental (IHG Hotels Priority Club and also InterContinental Ambassador, a brand specific loyalty program)
4. JW Marriott (Marriott Rewards)
5. Le Meridien (Starwood Preferred Guest)
6. Leading Hotels of the World ( Leaders Club, independent association loyalty program)
7. Loews Hotels (Loews First, brand loyalty program)
8. Mandarin Oriental (no brand loyalty program)
9. Park Hyatt (Hyatt Gold Passport)
10. Ritz-Carlton (Marriott Rewards points for redemption only)
11. Small Luxury Hotels of the World (The Club, independent association loyalty program)
12. Sofitel (part of European-based Accor corporate family and loyalty program. Sofitel has brand specific loyalty program - Sofitel Privilege)
13. St. Regis (Starwood Preferred Guest)
14. W Hotels (Starwood Preferred Guest)
15. Waldorf Astoria Collection (Hilton HHonors)
Accor is European-based, and a major global, hotel corporation and comprises Motel 6, Ibis Hotels, Novotel, Mercure, Sofitel, and other brands. The Sofitel hotel brand is primarily upscale hotels, however, only 10 of the 200 Sofitel Hotels are located in North America. Sofitel operates the Sofitel Privilege frequent guest program. Benefits are based on spending and 2,500 Euros in spending provides enoough points for a 200 Euro gift certificate. Elite members with more than 14 nights in Sofitel hotels earn Gold status and complimentary upgrades.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Diners Club, American Express or Hotel Corporate Affinity Credit Card?
Frequent travelers know that staying with your preferred hotel loyalty program is difficult at times. Hotels may be sold out, some chains are not present in an area (the nearest Starwood hotel to Monterey is 75 miles away while two Hyatts are within a few miles of my home), or the price is just too high.
Over the past ten years I have earned somewhere around 4,000,000 airline frequent flier miles and 1,000,000 hotel points. I seldom write about credit cards as a means of earning hotel frequent guest points. I have never owned an airline frequent flier affinity card.
Less than 2% of those 5 million miles and points were earned from credit card activity. I do not have the kind of money passing through my hands to make the credit card option a major factor. Travel is the fastest way to earn miles and points, unless you are wealthy or have a way to funnel money through your credit card without going into debt.
I have used Diners Club as a credit card, however, for its versatility with points exchange from Diners Club Rewards points to another airline or hotel currency. I have moved hundreds of thousands of miles and points through Diners Club by moving one airline currency into the program and exchanging the Diners Club Rewards points to a different airline currency. It used to be possible until about 2004 to move American and United miles into Diners Club and back out for the same number of British Airways miles during the periodic promotions for double miles when exchanging Diners Club points. Diners Club still has high value for exchangeability options not provided by American Express or Starwood or any other card at a good exchange rate between loyalty programs.
Here is a brief Loyalty Traveler analysis of the value of credit card diversity for your hotel travel options.
Consider 3 credit card options for the Marriott Rewards member:
1. Marriott Rewards Visa offer on website gives 20,000 bonus points for initial purchase, 2 points/$1 on travel/dining purchases, and 5 points/$1 for Marriott-brand hotel purchases, 1 points on other purchases, and a free night certificate each year. Points are good for Marriott awards only.
2. American Express Membership Rewards offers exchange options for Membership Rewards points into Hilton HHonors, InterContinental Priority Club, or Starwood Preferred Guest. Members can also buy nearly unlimited amounts of Membership Rewards points. Not too useful for Marriott, but has options for three other hotel chains.
3. Diners Club/MasterCard Club Rewards points can be exchanged into the major loyalty programs of Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, Priority Club, Starwood, and Choice or Best Western.
Marriott VISA card earns 20,000 point bonus, 5 points/$1 at Marriott and 2 points/$1 for travel/dining purchases, and 1 points/$1 on other purchases.
After the first year card-owner bonus, assume the second year spending is $18,000 on stuff (18,000 points), $5,000 on travel/dining (10,000 points), and assume $2,000 spent at Marriott (10,000 points) = 38,000 points.
38,000 Marriott Rewards points for $25,000 credit card spending with Marriott VISA..
Purchase value of 38,000 Marriott Rewards points at $12.50/1,000 points = $475.00 value
The question:
Can you recoup anywhere near the $475 value available from $25,000 spending on a Marriott Rewards card by earning points primarily with a Diners Club or American Express credit card and exchange these points into hotel program points?
Exchange options is the name of the game for the frequent guest.
American Express exchange rates
1, 000 Amex Membership Rewards points = 333 Starpoints
1,000 Amex Membership Rewards points = 1,000 Priority Club points
1, 000 Amex Membership Rewards points = 1,300 HHonors points
Diners Club exchange rates
1,250 Club Rewards points = 750 Hyatt Gold Passport
1,250 Club Rewards points = 1,500 Marriott Rewards points
1,250 Club Rewards points = 2,000 Hilton HHonors points
1,250 Club Rewards points = 1,500 Priority Club points
1,250 Club Rewards points = 750 Starwood points
A comparison of credit cards based on a simple analysis: $25,000 annual spending (calculation is based on spending after first year, so 20,000 Marriott Rewards points bonus does not come into play in head-to-head matchup.)
Diners Club Rewards $25,000 spending = 25,000 points
Exchange 25,000 Club Rewards points for:
30,000 Marriott Rewards or
17,500 Hyatt points or
30,000 Priority Club points or
17,500 Starwood points or
40,000 Hilton HHonors points or
AMEX $25,000 spending = 25,000 Membership Rewards points
Exchange 25,000 Membership Rewards points for
8,325 Starpoints or
25,000 Priority Club points or
32,500 Hilton HHonors
Here are some potential values for hotel points from an exchange of $25,000 in Diners Club Rewards points:
30,000 Priority Club points is sufficient for any Crowne Plaza in the world and most InterContinental Hotels. Typically a $300 value.
It may be possible to book 6 nights of PointBreaks awards through Priority Club that could have a $1,200+ value at certain locations.
17,500 Starpoints can be obtained with 25,000 Club Rewards points. This is good for a 4-night stay, midweek at a Category 2 hotel. This can easily be a $700 savings.
Also, Starpoints can be used for Cash and Points awards. 4,000 points and $60 for a Category 4 hotel or 4,800 points + $90 for a Category 5 hotel can mean a savings of $800 on the regular cash rate for hotel rooms. Category 4 hotels are often $250/night and a Cash&Points award can typically save over $200/night on room rate and tax savings when using Starpoints. A Category 5 hotel award can likely be a $300/night savings. 17,500 points may allow you to save $1,000 on hotel rooms at Starwood.
The purchase value for 1,000 Starpoints = $35.00, so 17,500 Starpoints = $612.50 and this is more than the value of the Marriott Rewards points using the Marriott card for $25,000 in spending ($475.00).
Another factor to keep in mind is when you have to stay in a hotel without elite status. The ability to transfer Diners Club points into hotel programs, along with the ability to buy points from the hotel programs, may make room upgrades using hotel points a high-value alternative to the cost of paying for a better room category at a hotel where you will not be upgraded on elite status.
Flexibility with hotel loyalty points is a high value opportunity and Diners Club provides many hotel brand options for your travels. AMEX is good for the option of purchasing points, but has fewer hotel loyalty partners than Diners Club. Marriott VISA is a good earnings card, but while VISA may be accepted everywhere you want to be, a good-value Marriott may not always be where you want to be.
Over the past ten years I have earned somewhere around 4,000,000 airline frequent flier miles and 1,000,000 hotel points. I seldom write about credit cards as a means of earning hotel frequent guest points. I have never owned an airline frequent flier affinity card.
Less than 2% of those 5 million miles and points were earned from credit card activity. I do not have the kind of money passing through my hands to make the credit card option a major factor. Travel is the fastest way to earn miles and points, unless you are wealthy or have a way to funnel money through your credit card without going into debt.
I have used Diners Club as a credit card, however, for its versatility with points exchange from Diners Club Rewards points to another airline or hotel currency. I have moved hundreds of thousands of miles and points through Diners Club by moving one airline currency into the program and exchanging the Diners Club Rewards points to a different airline currency. It used to be possible until about 2004 to move American and United miles into Diners Club and back out for the same number of British Airways miles during the periodic promotions for double miles when exchanging Diners Club points. Diners Club still has high value for exchangeability options not provided by American Express or Starwood or any other card at a good exchange rate between loyalty programs.
Here is a brief Loyalty Traveler analysis of the value of credit card diversity for your hotel travel options.
Consider 3 credit card options for the Marriott Rewards member:
1. Marriott Rewards Visa offer on website gives 20,000 bonus points for initial purchase, 2 points/$1 on travel/dining purchases, and 5 points/$1 for Marriott-brand hotel purchases, 1 points on other purchases, and a free night certificate each year. Points are good for Marriott awards only.
2. American Express Membership Rewards offers exchange options for Membership Rewards points into Hilton HHonors, InterContinental Priority Club, or Starwood Preferred Guest. Members can also buy nearly unlimited amounts of Membership Rewards points. Not too useful for Marriott, but has options for three other hotel chains.
3. Diners Club/MasterCard Club Rewards points can be exchanged into the major loyalty programs of Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott, Priority Club, Starwood, and Choice or Best Western.
Marriott VISA card earns 20,000 point bonus, 5 points/$1 at Marriott and 2 points/$1 for travel/dining purchases, and 1 points/$1 on other purchases.
After the first year card-owner bonus, assume the second year spending is $18,000 on stuff (18,000 points), $5,000 on travel/dining (10,000 points), and assume $2,000 spent at Marriott (10,000 points) = 38,000 points.
38,000 Marriott Rewards points for $25,000 credit card spending with Marriott VISA..
Purchase value of 38,000 Marriott Rewards points at $12.50/1,000 points = $475.00 value
The question:
Can you recoup anywhere near the $475 value available from $25,000 spending on a Marriott Rewards card by earning points primarily with a Diners Club or American Express credit card and exchange these points into hotel program points?
Exchange options is the name of the game for the frequent guest.
American Express exchange rates
1, 000 Amex Membership Rewards points = 333 Starpoints
1,000 Amex Membership Rewards points = 1,000 Priority Club points
1, 000 Amex Membership Rewards points = 1,300 HHonors points
Diners Club exchange rates
1,250 Club Rewards points = 750 Hyatt Gold Passport
1,250 Club Rewards points = 1,500 Marriott Rewards points
1,250 Club Rewards points = 2,000 Hilton HHonors points
1,250 Club Rewards points = 1,500 Priority Club points
1,250 Club Rewards points = 750 Starwood points
A comparison of credit cards based on a simple analysis: $25,000 annual spending (calculation is based on spending after first year, so 20,000 Marriott Rewards points bonus does not come into play in head-to-head matchup.)
Diners Club Rewards $25,000 spending = 25,000 points
Exchange 25,000 Club Rewards points for:
30,000 Marriott Rewards or
17,500 Hyatt points or
30,000 Priority Club points or
17,500 Starwood points or
40,000 Hilton HHonors points or
AMEX $25,000 spending = 25,000 Membership Rewards points
Exchange 25,000 Membership Rewards points for
8,325 Starpoints or
25,000 Priority Club points or
32,500 Hilton HHonors
Here are some potential values for hotel points from an exchange of $25,000 in Diners Club Rewards points:
30,000 Priority Club points is sufficient for any Crowne Plaza in the world and most InterContinental Hotels. Typically a $300 value.
It may be possible to book 6 nights of PointBreaks awards through Priority Club that could have a $1,200+ value at certain locations.
17,500 Starpoints can be obtained with 25,000 Club Rewards points. This is good for a 4-night stay, midweek at a Category 2 hotel. This can easily be a $700 savings.
Also, Starpoints can be used for Cash and Points awards. 4,000 points and $60 for a Category 4 hotel or 4,800 points + $90 for a Category 5 hotel can mean a savings of $800 on the regular cash rate for hotel rooms. Category 4 hotels are often $250/night and a Cash&Points award can typically save over $200/night on room rate and tax savings when using Starpoints. A Category 5 hotel award can likely be a $300/night savings. 17,500 points may allow you to save $1,000 on hotel rooms at Starwood.
The purchase value for 1,000 Starpoints = $35.00, so 17,500 Starpoints = $612.50 and this is more than the value of the Marriott Rewards points using the Marriott card for $25,000 in spending ($475.00).
Another factor to keep in mind is when you have to stay in a hotel without elite status. The ability to transfer Diners Club points into hotel programs, along with the ability to buy points from the hotel programs, may make room upgrades using hotel points a high-value alternative to the cost of paying for a better room category at a hotel where you will not be upgraded on elite status.
Flexibility with hotel loyalty points is a high value opportunity and Diners Club provides many hotel brand options for your travels. AMEX is good for the option of purchasing points, but has fewer hotel loyalty partners than Diners Club. Marriott VISA is a good earnings card, but while VISA may be accepted everywhere you want to be, a good-value Marriott may not always be where you want to be.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort - Price Too High, Just Buy
I was looking back at an article I wrote in October and I used the JW Marriott Ihilani as my example hotel for saving cash by just buying marriott Rewards points. This is text from my article in Hotels-and-Points October 2007. The 12-page newsletter can be downloaded as an Adobe PDF file. It is about 3 MB size so takes a a little bit to download and open. The focus of my October report was purchasing hotel points for room discounts.
[from Hotels-and-Points, October 2007-Ric Garrido]
"Marriott Rewards Points Purchase ― Prices Too High, Just Buy
Marriott Rewards members may buy or receive up to 50,000 purchased points per calendar year ( Jan 1-Dec 31) at the price $12.50/1,000 points. Another program rule allows spouses to transfer points, free of charge, between their accounts at the time of reward stay redemption. These rules mean spouses can buy a combined total of 100,000 points per calendar year and opens up the pos-sibility of buying the best high-value reward stays.
See the possibilities:
$1,250 = 100,000 Marriott Rewards points in 2007.
$1,250 = 100,000 Marriott Rewards points in 2008.
In practical terms, a couple can buy 200,000 Rewards points over the next three months for a vacation goal.
Marriott Buy Points link: http://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/tranpurc.mi
The bottom line is:
Does buying points save money overall?
Hawaii Resorts on Marriott Rewards Hotel Points
Example of how to use a "buy points" strategy for Hawaii hotel savings:
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa at Ko Olina, Kopolei, Oahu, Hawaii
Marriott Rewards Category 7 hotel. 150,000 hotel points for a 7-night Rewards Stay.
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort, Oahu, Hawaii
Regular Hotel Rates
July 10-17, 2008 (Search conducted Oct 2007)
$341 (AAA rate) Quality Room-Mountain View
$389 (AAA rate) Ocean View
$436 (AAA rate) Deluxe Ocean View
When booking Marriott Rewards stay, the website offers an upgrade at JW Marriott Ihilani to Deluxe Ocean View room for an additional $100/night or upgrade to Ocean View room for additional $50/night.
Cost to buy 150,000 Marriott Rewards points = $1,875 = $268 per Reward night
Cost of upgrade to Deluxe Ocean View room is additional $100 per night or an additional $700 for a 7-night Marriott hotel points stay at Ihilani Resort.
Total Hawaii vacation cost is $2,575 for 7-night Marriott Rewards stay with a paid upgrade to a Deluxe Ocean View room at JW Marriott Ihilani.
This is $368/night to buy points compared to AAA rate of $436/night.
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort Deluxe Ocean View room, July 10-17, 2008 (search made Oct 2007)
AAA Paid Rate $436 ($488 with 12% tax) x 7 nights = $3,417
Senior Paid Rate $373 ($418 with tax) x 7 = $2,926 (great savings if you qualify)
Marriott 7-night Reward Stay (Buy Points and upgrade with $700 cash) = $2,575.
Save $842 on this 7-night hotel stay. This hotel savings covers other travel expenses for the week. "
This points purchase vacation option I wrote about in October 2007 is still the best deal for a Deluxe Ocean View room at JW Marriott Ihilani considering my analysis of the Marriott Hawaiian Sand Dollar Vacation value this morning.
Look at the numbers and see the dollars washing away in the sand dollar vacation.
[from Hotels-and-Points, October 2007-Ric Garrido]
"Marriott Rewards Points Purchase ― Prices Too High, Just Buy
Marriott Rewards members may buy or receive up to 50,000 purchased points per calendar year ( Jan 1-Dec 31) at the price $12.50/1,000 points. Another program rule allows spouses to transfer points, free of charge, between their accounts at the time of reward stay redemption. These rules mean spouses can buy a combined total of 100,000 points per calendar year and opens up the pos-sibility of buying the best high-value reward stays.
See the possibilities:
$1,250 = 100,000 Marriott Rewards points in 2007.
$1,250 = 100,000 Marriott Rewards points in 2008.
In practical terms, a couple can buy 200,000 Rewards points over the next three months for a vacation goal.
Marriott Buy Points link: http://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/tranpurc.mi
The bottom line is:
Does buying points save money overall?
Hawaii Resorts on Marriott Rewards Hotel Points
Example of how to use a "buy points" strategy for Hawaii hotel savings:
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort and Spa at Ko Olina, Kopolei, Oahu, Hawaii
Marriott Rewards Category 7 hotel. 150,000 hotel points for a 7-night Rewards Stay.
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort, Oahu, Hawaii
Regular Hotel Rates
July 10-17, 2008 (Search conducted Oct 2007)
$341 (AAA rate) Quality Room-Mountain View
$389 (AAA rate) Ocean View
$436 (AAA rate) Deluxe Ocean View
When booking Marriott Rewards stay, the website offers an upgrade at JW Marriott Ihilani to Deluxe Ocean View room for an additional $100/night or upgrade to Ocean View room for additional $50/night.
Cost to buy 150,000 Marriott Rewards points = $1,875 = $268 per Reward night
Cost of upgrade to Deluxe Ocean View room is additional $100 per night or an additional $700 for a 7-night Marriott hotel points stay at Ihilani Resort.
Total Hawaii vacation cost is $2,575 for 7-night Marriott Rewards stay with a paid upgrade to a Deluxe Ocean View room at JW Marriott Ihilani.
This is $368/night to buy points compared to AAA rate of $436/night.
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort Deluxe Ocean View room, July 10-17, 2008 (search made Oct 2007)
AAA Paid Rate $436 ($488 with 12% tax) x 7 nights = $3,417
Senior Paid Rate $373 ($418 with tax) x 7 = $2,926 (great savings if you qualify)
Marriott 7-night Reward Stay (Buy Points and upgrade with $700 cash) = $2,575.
Save $842 on this 7-night hotel stay. This hotel savings covers other travel expenses for the week. "
This points purchase vacation option I wrote about in October 2007 is still the best deal for a Deluxe Ocean View room at JW Marriott Ihilani considering my analysis of the Marriott Hawaiian Sand Dollar Vacation value this morning.
Look at the numbers and see the dollars washing away in the sand dollar vacation.
Marriott Hawaii Sand Dollar Vacation Packages - Deal or No Deal?
I was looking at Marriott's website today. The home page for reservations has an ad for Sand Dollar Hawaiian Vacation Packages. I decided to analyze the deal for hotel and car packages. Flight inclusive packages are also available and perhaps this research will help you assess the value of the package with a flight, if you so desire.
Marriott has an offer on their home page for the Sand Dollar Hawaii vacation package. The package is four or five nights at a Hawaiian resort with car and/or flight included in package price.
Loyalty Traveler investigates this deal.
Sand Dollar Vacation Package Perks:
Free breakfast,
Last night of the stay is free,
5,000 Marriott Rewards points.
The Fine Print:
No Marriott Rewards points are earned for stay based on the hotel rate, except the 5,000 points awarded for the vacation package purchase.
No elite night credit earned for stay
Participating Hotels:
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort 5th night free + breakfast
Waikiki Beach Marriott 4th night free breakfast
Kauai Marriott Resort 5th night free + breakfast
Waikoloa Beach Marriott 4th night free + breakfast
Wailea Beach Marriott 5th night free + breakfast
Sample Costs for Vacation Packages:
Waikiki Beach Marriott, $1,595 for 4 nights, April 7-11, 2008, with free breakfast and an economy size car from Budget. Room is an Ocean View room with balcony. There is an option to change the car size on the reservation page. Trip insurance is another option for about $115.
Wailea Beach Marriott, $1,767 for 5 nights, April 6-11, 2008, with free breakfast and an economy size car from Budget. Terrace view overlooking hotel grounds.
A feature of the booking process is the vacation package booking page requires entering an airport. This is a troubling first step if you don't know the Hawaiian airport that corresponds to the hotel you want to book. Honolulu only brings up Waikiki Beach Marriott and OGG only brings up Wailea Beach Marriott for the April dates used above. KOA Kailua/Kona brings up Waikoloa Marriott. Lihue Airport, Kauai offers Kauai Marriott Resort.
Waikiki Beach Marriott,
Comparison of Vacation Package to other available rates for a
4-night stay, April 7-11, 2008.
Vacation Package (room + car) = $1,082.49 for 4 nights, April 7-11, 2008, in ocean-view room with balcony, 28-32 sqm, includes 4-day Budget economy size car rental.
AAA rate (room only) = $1,177.80 for a 4-night stay at $263/night + tax for $294.45.
The vacation deal is a winner in this case because you have a free car for your trip while saving $95. The AAA rate will earn 10,000+ points and elite credit compared to the vacation package that only earns 5,000 points and no elite credit.
Hawaiian Sand Dollar Package (room + breakfast) = $1,377.12 for a 4-night stay
(1 night free discount is in price given).
Daily rate is $410 for ocean view room ($459.04 with tax) and includes daily free breakfast, but no car. You can use the vacation package with car and pay car charges and still have $200 for food at the hotel or elsewhere. The Hotel + car package is a better deal.
All in all, the Marriott Waikiki Vacation Package wins on price, and the Marriott Rewards member needs to decide whether a free car is worth the points and elite credit not earned. (Deluxe ocean view is $311/night (AAA rate) and was not offered online as a Vacation Package booking option for dates tried.)
The Sand Dollar link I followed from the homepage did not lead to Sand Dollar Vacation package rates with car + breakfast in most cases, but rather an option for just room + car package. These tended to be the best deal and much lower rate than the breakfast included Sand Dollar package.
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort, Oahu, Hawaii Vacation Package Comparison:
Oct. 6-11, 2008, 5-night stay on AAA rate = $1,802 for mountain view room.
$322/night (AAA rate) mountain view room for Oct 6-11.
$360.52 with tax = $1,802.60 for 5-night stay (AAA rate) in mountain view room.
$1,610 in base spending =16,100 points points earning potential
A vacation package loses out on 11,000 points and 5 nights elite credit for the Marriott Rewards loyalty program member. Assume the points have a $100 value.
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort Vacation Package rates for October 6-11, 2008
5-night stay in Deluxe Ocean View Room
Regular reservations booking page offers:
AAA rate (room only) = $2,334.40 for Deluxe Ocean view room.
$417/night + tax $466.88 x 5 = $2,334.40
Leisure Rate (room only) = $2,457.55 for deluxe ocean view room
Deluxe Ocean View room 58sqm is available for $439/night on "leisure rate".
$439 + tax = $491.51 x 5 = $2,457.55 for deluxe ocean view room 5 nights
Aloha Package (room + $300 dining credit + internet) = $2,793.45 deluxe ocean view room
Deluxe Ocean View room which includes a $60/day dining credit for $499/night. Includes internet.
$558.69 total/night after tax = $2,793.45.
This adds internet and choice of dining options with a $300 dining credit for an extra $459 over the AAA rate. You are probably better off just paying for your food and internet.
Sand Dollar Vacation Package (room + breakfast) = $2,888.60 Deluxe Ocean view room
$645/night with breakfast and 5th night free.
With tax = $722.15 x 4 nights = $2,888.60 for 5 nights (5th night free)
4 options and 4 prices for 5-night stay in Deluxe Ocean View room at JW Marriott Ihilani for October 6-11, 2008:
The AAA rate, usually one of the best deals available for a hotel rate, stacks up well against the other offers in the search for a deluxe hotel room stay. The AAA rate is $554 less than the Sand Dollar vacation package offering free breakfast as the only additional amenity. The little advertisement in the corner of the Marriott reservations home page is one to watch out for. Comparison shopping can save you hundreds of dollars.
AAA auto club membership provides high value.
Don't be fooled by the flashy advertisements. You are likely to get a lower value upsale unless you carefully compare the vacation package cost add-ons to the best available rate for your desired hotel stay.
The Sand Dollar Hawaiian vacation package is an upsale package that does not provide the best available value in these sample searches.
If you desire a deluxe ocean view room, a vacation package may be your best bet if you want a car for your Hawaii vacation, but always try AAA and senior rates, if applicable to see if you can build your own better vacation package for less money.
Budget options for JW Marriott Ihilani, Oct 6-11, 2008
Sand Dollar package (room + breakfast) = $2,172 for mountain view room and complimentary breakfast daily
Marriott Vacation Package (room + car) = $1,774 for 5 nights in mountain view room
with a car, but no breakfast.
(Also, need to add $20/day for car parking. About $1,900 with parking.)
AAA rate (room only) = $1,802.60 for 5 nights in mountain view room
$322/night + tax for $360.52 x 5 nights = $1,802.6
In this small sample size, Loyalty Traveler finds Marriott's Hawaii Sand Dollar Vacation Packages are No Deal.
Marriott has an offer on their home page for the Sand Dollar Hawaii vacation package. The package is four or five nights at a Hawaiian resort with car and/or flight included in package price.
Loyalty Traveler investigates this deal.
Sand Dollar Vacation Package Perks:
Free breakfast,
Last night of the stay is free,
5,000 Marriott Rewards points.
The Fine Print:
No Marriott Rewards points are earned for stay based on the hotel rate, except the 5,000 points awarded for the vacation package purchase.
No elite night credit earned for stay
Participating Hotels:
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort 5th night free + breakfast
Waikiki Beach Marriott 4th night free breakfast
Kauai Marriott Resort 5th night free + breakfast
Waikoloa Beach Marriott 4th night free + breakfast
Wailea Beach Marriott 5th night free + breakfast
Sample Costs for Vacation Packages:
Waikiki Beach Marriott, $1,595 for 4 nights, April 7-11, 2008, with free breakfast and an economy size car from Budget. Room is an Ocean View room with balcony. There is an option to change the car size on the reservation page. Trip insurance is another option for about $115.
Wailea Beach Marriott, $1,767 for 5 nights, April 6-11, 2008, with free breakfast and an economy size car from Budget. Terrace view overlooking hotel grounds.
A feature of the booking process is the vacation package booking page requires entering an airport. This is a troubling first step if you don't know the Hawaiian airport that corresponds to the hotel you want to book. Honolulu only brings up Waikiki Beach Marriott and OGG only brings up Wailea Beach Marriott for the April dates used above. KOA Kailua/Kona brings up Waikoloa Marriott. Lihue Airport, Kauai offers Kauai Marriott Resort.
Waikiki Beach Marriott,
Comparison of Vacation Package to other available rates for a
4-night stay, April 7-11, 2008.
Vacation Package (room + car) = $1,082.49 for 4 nights, April 7-11, 2008, in ocean-view room with balcony, 28-32 sqm, includes 4-day Budget economy size car rental.
AAA rate (room only) = $1,177.80 for a 4-night stay at $263/night + tax for $294.45.
The vacation deal is a winner in this case because you have a free car for your trip while saving $95. The AAA rate will earn 10,000+ points and elite credit compared to the vacation package that only earns 5,000 points and no elite credit.
Hawaiian Sand Dollar Package (room + breakfast) = $1,377.12 for a 4-night stay
(1 night free discount is in price given).
Daily rate is $410 for ocean view room ($459.04 with tax) and includes daily free breakfast, but no car. You can use the vacation package with car and pay car charges and still have $200 for food at the hotel or elsewhere. The Hotel + car package is a better deal.
All in all, the Marriott Waikiki Vacation Package wins on price, and the Marriott Rewards member needs to decide whether a free car is worth the points and elite credit not earned. (Deluxe ocean view is $311/night (AAA rate) and was not offered online as a Vacation Package booking option for dates tried.)
The Sand Dollar link I followed from the homepage did not lead to Sand Dollar Vacation package rates with car + breakfast in most cases, but rather an option for just room + car package. These tended to be the best deal and much lower rate than the breakfast included Sand Dollar package.
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort, Oahu, Hawaii Vacation Package Comparison:
Oct. 6-11, 2008, 5-night stay on AAA rate = $1,802 for mountain view room.
$322/night (AAA rate) mountain view room for Oct 6-11.
$360.52 with tax = $1,802.60 for 5-night stay (AAA rate) in mountain view room.
$1,610 in base spending =16,100 points points earning potential
A vacation package loses out on 11,000 points and 5 nights elite credit for the Marriott Rewards loyalty program member. Assume the points have a $100 value.
JW Marriott Ihilani Resort Vacation Package rates for October 6-11, 2008
5-night stay in Deluxe Ocean View Room
Regular reservations booking page offers:
AAA rate (room only) = $2,334.40 for Deluxe Ocean view room.
$417/night + tax $466.88 x 5 = $2,334.40
Leisure Rate (room only) = $2,457.55 for deluxe ocean view room
Deluxe Ocean View room 58sqm is available for $439/night on "leisure rate".
$439 + tax = $491.51 x 5 = $2,457.55 for deluxe ocean view room 5 nights
Aloha Package (room + $300 dining credit + internet) = $2,793.45 deluxe ocean view room
Deluxe Ocean View room which includes a $60/day dining credit for $499/night. Includes internet.
$558.69 total/night after tax = $2,793.45.
This adds internet and choice of dining options with a $300 dining credit for an extra $459 over the AAA rate. You are probably better off just paying for your food and internet.
Sand Dollar Vacation Package (room + breakfast) = $2,888.60 Deluxe Ocean view room
$645/night with breakfast and 5th night free.
With tax = $722.15 x 4 nights = $2,888.60 for 5 nights (5th night free)
4 options and 4 prices for 5-night stay in Deluxe Ocean View room at JW Marriott Ihilani for October 6-11, 2008:
The AAA rate, usually one of the best deals available for a hotel rate, stacks up well against the other offers in the search for a deluxe hotel room stay. The AAA rate is $554 less than the Sand Dollar vacation package offering free breakfast as the only additional amenity. The little advertisement in the corner of the Marriott reservations home page is one to watch out for. Comparison shopping can save you hundreds of dollars.
AAA auto club membership provides high value.
Don't be fooled by the flashy advertisements. You are likely to get a lower value upsale unless you carefully compare the vacation package cost add-ons to the best available rate for your desired hotel stay.
The Sand Dollar Hawaiian vacation package is an upsale package that does not provide the best available value in these sample searches.
If you desire a deluxe ocean view room, a vacation package may be your best bet if you want a car for your Hawaii vacation, but always try AAA and senior rates, if applicable to see if you can build your own better vacation package for less money.
Budget options for JW Marriott Ihilani, Oct 6-11, 2008
Sand Dollar package (room + breakfast) = $2,172 for mountain view room and complimentary breakfast daily
Marriott Vacation Package (room + car) = $1,774 for 5 nights in mountain view room
with a car, but no breakfast.
(Also, need to add $20/day for car parking. About $1,900 with parking.)
AAA rate (room only) = $1,802.60 for 5 nights in mountain view room
$322/night + tax for $360.52 x 5 nights = $1,802.6
In this small sample size, Loyalty Traveler finds Marriott's Hawaii Sand Dollar Vacation Packages are No Deal.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
My Air Canada Aeroplan miles are worth $2/1,000 miles
Fuel surcharges on award tickets has been a common complaint this past year. Air France/KLM Flying Blue is the program about which I have heard most of the complaints. The taxes and fuel surcharges add up to make many award tickets nearly as pricey as paid tickets (which generally have the added value of earning miles).
Here is my Aeroplan story. I have been writing about this Easter travel season and the incredibly low fares to Europe. This past weekend I actually found a fare of Monterey-Frankfurt for $499 on United Airlines.
I have Air Canada miles I have been also trying to spend for an award ticket. I found availability from SFO-FRA using my Aeroplan miles. I went through the screens and finally the ticket charges appear.
$375 and 60,000 miles in taxes and fees for an economy award ticket to Europe on Aeroplan. My frequent flier miles are worth about $2/1,000 miles with this award. This is less than 10% of the value for a frequent flier mileage award I typically redeem. (I did not buy it.)
Last year, an award ticket from San Francisco to Prague in business class cost $115 and that has been the norm for every award ticket I have ever redeemed. And I have redeemed dozens of awards. The most I ever paid was $241 to British Airways and that was for a 31,000-mile itinerary from the US to Europe to Asia to Australia and back with 6 First Class flights, 2 stopovers, and an open-jaw.
Two years ago my First Class awards to New Zealand cost under $19 each.
The fuel surcharge on award tickets completely undermines the value of miles. Forget economy class awards. With award fees this high, the traveler needs to blow the miles for a seat in the front cabin of the plane.
Here is my Aeroplan story. I have been writing about this Easter travel season and the incredibly low fares to Europe. This past weekend I actually found a fare of Monterey-Frankfurt for $499 on United Airlines.
I have Air Canada miles I have been also trying to spend for an award ticket. I found availability from SFO-FRA using my Aeroplan miles. I went through the screens and finally the ticket charges appear.
$375 and 60,000 miles in taxes and fees for an economy award ticket to Europe on Aeroplan. My frequent flier miles are worth about $2/1,000 miles with this award. This is less than 10% of the value for a frequent flier mileage award I typically redeem. (I did not buy it.)
Last year, an award ticket from San Francisco to Prague in business class cost $115 and that has been the norm for every award ticket I have ever redeemed. And I have redeemed dozens of awards. The most I ever paid was $241 to British Airways and that was for a 31,000-mile itinerary from the US to Europe to Asia to Australia and back with 6 First Class flights, 2 stopovers, and an open-jaw.
Two years ago my First Class awards to New Zealand cost under $19 each.
The fuel surcharge on award tickets completely undermines the value of miles. Forget economy class awards. With award fees this high, the traveler needs to blow the miles for a seat in the front cabin of the plane.
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