Which hotel loyalty programme is the most rewarding, based on our points valuations?

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• Roy says:

  1 Sep1 September 05:39

  You’ve put the name of the US site as Frequent Flyer rather than Frequent Miler.

  • Rob says:

    1 Sep1 September 10:08

    Grief. Going mad.

• Pip says:

  1 Sep1 September 06:40

  This just serves to show the true loss those of us with no hotel status or hope of ever getting hotel status have suffered from the loss of hotelsdotcom 1 night back after 10.

  Much as I’d planned to give onekey a total swerve if they were to boost to 5% but without the need to complete a 10 or 20 night stay requirement I’d be back to them in a shot.

  • Phillip says:

    1 Sep1 September 10:16

    The only thing I would say about OneKey, is if you’re eyeing flight redemptions, as it stands, the bookings you can use them on are very limited! From about 50 searches short and longhaul, across all major airlines, I found only one option that allowed me to use OneKeyCash and that was Gulf Air to Bangkok! Not sure if they plan on improving but for flight bookings it is very limiting!

    • Rob says:

      1 Sep1 September 10:40

      I thought the only restriction was that your OneKeyCash had to fully cover the fare? Or is it base fare?

  • BJ says:

    1 Sep1 September 13:37

    Many opportunities had better returns than hotels dot com but obviously it was particularly attractive to those exploiting tgeir employers.

• BJ says:

  1 Sep1 September 07:24

  Interesting article. I think you should pull the final columns from each table to create a third league table showing the benefit of top-tier elite status relative to no status by adding a third column showing the difference in value between the two.

  It is striking that (excluding other benefits) top’tier elite status has little value.

  Was the Hilton MyWay 1000 factored in for Hilton Diamond? It’s standard in addition to other choicez at most brands so I think it reasonably should be.

  • pauldb says:

    1 Sep1 September 09:07

    Most of the time you’re enjoying the status is the year AFTER you qualified. Therefore the loyalty cut of your hotel expenditure for those stays is funding your next requalification & benefits: there’s a limit to how much increased points earnings it can also fund.

    I’ve just requalified a Globalist. Any further nights this year aren’t getting me more status. But for each block of 10 more nights I get a 10k point bonus (or a SUA). That will be roughly another 10% return on top of 10.3% above. I think that’s the “clean” uplift you’re looking for.

    • BJ says:

      1 Sep1 September 13:42

      Sure, there are many scheme-specific complexities but Rob had to keep the assumptions to a minimum and it’s based on his values too. Despite that it’s an interesting exercise as the comments including yours proves.

  • Rob says:

    1 Sep1 September 10:06

    No, because you can’t link it to points per $.

    • BJ says:

      1 Sep1 September 13:48

      Yes, I realised it immediately on posting. Also it’s 1000/stay not per night which would just have complicated things further. I just posted table for elite value relative to base value on page 2 of the comments. I think it’s worth considering in future revisions to tge artucle as changes in bith absolute and relative returns over space of a few yeas could provude mire objective insights on how schemez change over time.

• BJ says:

  1 Sep1 September 08:35

  The boost to benefit fir top-tier elite status over basus status in this respect is also paltry. Therefore otger rewards such as free breakfast, late check’out, upgrades etc should be more important drivers in chasing status, and I suspect they probably are for most people. Most if these benefits are not guaranteed though and iften poorly delivered even when they are. I think it is therefore quite legitimate to question whether chasing status us worth ut at all and whether in the ling run just booking best acceptable hotel on a trip by trip basis taking advantage of all possible discounts and rebates might be financially far more rewarding.

  • JDB says:

    1 Sep1 September 08:45

    @BJ – you have seen the light! The tyranny of chasing hotel status is a tribute to the marketers of these schemes who provide lures to distract from the financial reality.

    • BJ says:

      1 Sep1 September 13:54

      Always felt this way @JDB but have to admit to be being periodically seduced. Most recently into IHG milestone rewards last year, and to my cost too as I’ve found all but one conformable suite upgrade to be useless. Ironically the only obe that worked was using points not BFR in HK

  • Gordon says:

    1 Sep1 September 09:21

    @BJ – Exactly this, I have been doing this for many years now, as you say the financial rewards in hard currency saving’s can have an advantage,
    And ones judgment is not clouded by being lured into a choice of one or two chains trying to chase status! I have looked at the pro’s and cons, if you are a business traveler it may be a different story, as it’s not your money.
    An example for a leisure traveler like myself, if I book a property on a flexible rate, you get breakfast anyway, plus the other benefits, early check in, late check out, not guaranteed, granted.

    • Gordon says:

      1 Sep1 September 09:25

      Edit – meant book a property with flexible rate with Emyr!

    • BJ says:

      1 Sep1 September 13:57

      I’ve tended to mix and match strategies at different times to best suit my needs. I lije pkaying tve loyalty game so would find it very difficult to dump it completely.

  • jj says:

    1 Sep1 September 10:55

    The lure of hotel status blinds people to rational decision making. How many times have you seen a question on this site asking which is the best Hilton, IHG, Hyatt or Marriott in a city or even country, discarding the possibility of a better, cheaper or more convenient hotel outside the preferred brand for the sake of a breakfast or an upgrade to a room with a better view.

    • BJ says:

      1 Sep1 September 14:03

      I think there is also the fact that many feel safer and more secure (in multiple senses of the words) booking through, and staying in, major chain hotels.

    • Roy says:

      1 Sep1 September 15:56

      I might hope that the hotels within the UK would have guaranteed English speaking staff, too! 😀

    • BBbetter says:

      1 Sep1 September 17:07

      The biggest disadvantage with independents are the front desk staff who are the cheapest labour the miserly owners could find. Unless you speak the local language or dress like JRM, they can allocate the worst room and not care about you when there are problems. Atleast with chains, you have an option to escalate through other channels and a concept of service recovery.

      • BBbetter says:

        1 Sep1 September 17:26

        I missed to add another – a lot of the staff at independents are simply racist. Kind of expected when the owners simply dont care about diversity or cultural awareness.

      • jj says:

        1 Sep1 September 17:37

        If I look back at the past five years, my best stays have all been in family-owned independent hotels. My worst have all been in big chains…including the Marriott in small-town USA that presented us with a plunger when we complained about a blocked toilet and told us no maintenance people were on site until Monday and the hotel had no spare rooms, so we could fix the problem ourselves or leave.

        I don’t feel any safer or more secure in a major chain.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        1 Sep1 September 18:21

        100% on the risk of casual racism at small independents abroad.

        Our of 50-60 nights a year in chains I could probably count on one finger all the bad experiences and they’ve all been handled well in the property. However, I do a lot of research before I pick a property if it really matters.

      • Lady London says:

        1 Sep1 September 19:59

        And you didn’t use the plunger and kindly drop it back on the desk when done @jj ?

• Vit says:

  1 Sep1 September 08:38

  Great article, Rob. Normally would you get points and/or benefits when booking through agency (such amex expedia)? Thinking of utilising the £100 current offer on Amex instead of booking directly.

  • Rob says:

    1 Sep1 September 10:03

    No, only points and benefits if you book direct (Amex Plat Fine Hotels & Resorts is an exeception if you pay on departure).

• Doc says:

  1 Sep1 September 08:40

  Interesting article. For me and possibly a few others, status benefits are much more a priority, as you have mentioned, rather than miles. More importantly the guaranteed benefits rather than potential benefits such as “based on availability” etc caveats and also ease of the use of the earned points have to be taken into account rather than just points earned per £. Nevertheless interesting read.

• John says:

  1 Sep1 September 08:40

  As Hyatt Globalist, IHG Diamond Amb, Marriott Platinum, and Hilton Gold (plus a few others such as a matched Radisson status), I find IHG to be the most rewarding. Their edge has certainly shrunk, but I have been getting promos/targeted promos almost all year with them (last one, “8000 bonus points every four nights”, ended yesterday). Together with the 100% point bonus for Diamond, it’s still the winner. Redemptions have been getting worse recently, but I’m still doing okay (just redeemed yesterday at the IC Berlin for 32k points vs 188€ member rate flex).

  Marriott is a close second. Unfortunately, I am not getting promos with them all year round but some promos can be very valuable, especially when you can stack two promos which happens on occasion.

  Hyatt has the low Globalist bonus. They also run merely two global promos per year. IMO, except for Americans (which can get a lot of extra bonuses via the Hyatt credit card), Hyatt
  is fairly unattractive points-earning wise. Of course, the recognition makes up for weaknesses on the earn-and-burn side.

• Throwawayname says:

  1 Sep1 September 08:41

  There is a very important nuance for Accor: stays at Ibis properties (including Ibis Styles which can easily be better/more expensive than an equivalent Mercure) only earn half the points, resulting in a pathetic 2.5% reward. I think that may also apply in one or two of their smaller brands (Tribe?). I think that I have read somewhere that some US chains do the same, but I am not familiar with their programmes.

  • Lumma says:

    1 Sep1 September 09:18

    You also don’t get any points at all when you book an Ibis budget.

    I’m sure Ibis Styles also used to come with free breakfast but the last couple of times I’ve looked it didn’t

    • RussellH says:

      1 Sep1 September 11:17

      Lumma, I agree with you. I remember that too.
      Ibis Styles at Budapest Airport (currently the only option, though the same owners are building a Tribe next door) did give us free breakfast in July, and also was very generous with free welcome drinks for being silver.
      Lille Centre Grand Place also includes free breakfast, but Brussels Centre Stephanie does not. Seems very hit + miss.

  • Rob says:

    1 Sep1 September 10:02

    Marriott does the same at a couple of brands and quite a few chains cut benefits at long stay brands.

  • BJ says:

    1 Sep1 September 14:17

    I’ve noticed that Ibis Styles Silom often sells at significantly higher rates than the Banyan Tree and Sofitel So, particularly around festivals such as Songkran. Seems like it’s nit just the mg and mb ripping the Farangs off.

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