{"id":8114,"date":"2009-09-08T20:00:12","date_gmt":"2009-09-09T00:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/?p=8114"},"modified":"2009-09-08T20:00:12","modified_gmt":"2009-09-09T00:00:12","slug":"hotel-hapenings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/hotel-hapenings\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotel Hapenings"},"content":{"rendered":"

To paraphrase the late, great, Rodney Dangerfield, hotels loyalty program don’t get much respect.\u00a0\u00a0 When most people think of reward travel, the first thing that often comes to mind are airline frequent flier programs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The fact is that airline programs have been hugely devalued, and they remain riddled with bizarre rules and elusive availability.<\/p>\n

Hotel programs, on the other hand, can be much more attractive.\u00a0\u00a0 My favorite reward credit card remains to this day my Starwood American Express.\u00a0\u00a0 Their program seems to operate in a manner that suggests a competitive marketplace.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On the other hand, most airlines seem to act like monopolies.<\/p>\n

When you think about it, there are good reasons for that fact.\u00a0\u00a0 If you\u00a0 travel frequently for business, you are probably the best customer for both airlines and hotels.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 These travelers are not only frequent, but they often don’t care too much about what their hotel or flight costs, so long as it is within their company’s guidelines.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If you live in most major cities, there is likely one dominant carrier that offers most of the non-stop flights out of your home airport.\u00a0\u00a0 Unless you want to double your travel time and vastly increase your risk of delays and lost luggage, you will pay whatever it takes to fly non-stop to your destination on your city’s major carrier.\u00a0\u00a0 Continental doesn’t have to compete with Delta for travelers in Cleveland, because they know that only Continental will fly them non-stop to most cities.\u00a0\u00a0 In Cincinnati, the situation is reversed.<\/p>\n

Hotels Are Different<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once travelers reach their\u00a0 destination, they can choose from one of several hotel chains that will likely have properties near any major business center.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There, the traveler has lots of options that may be equally convenient.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That is why hotel programs are often superior in value and service to airline programs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That, and the airline industry in this country remains second only to the automobile industry as one of the worst managed industries in the world, but that is the topic of another article.<\/a><\/p>\n

Most reward travel aficionados agree that the best program out there is the Starwood Preferred Guest program.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Case in point:\u00a0\u00a0 Starwood had a policy where no-shows for reward bookings were charged the rack rate if they canceled late or failed to show up.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to this article<\/a>, Starwood realized that customers were not happy with this policy, and they changed it.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When was the last time you heard of an airline changing a policy in favor of their customers?\u00a0\u00a0 Sometimes it happens when you are talking about startup discount carriers, but it never seems to happen for the legacy carriers.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At one point, I even wrote an article<\/a> about the contrast between them.<\/p>\n

Hotel programs, like Starwood’s generally have far fewer strange rules and fees compared to airlines.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That is not to say that they are all the same.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Take the Intercontinental Hotel Group’s Priority Club system for example. \u00a0\u00a0 They represent such brands as Holiday Inn, Candlewood Suites, and of course, Intercontinental Hotels. \u00a0\u00a0 While this might be a great system for business travelers who are not overly concerned with price, I have found this program completely useless for leisure travelers.\u00a0\u00a0 Every time I book a room with them, I do not receive points because it is a discount rate.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The only way to accumulate points in their system is to pay a higher rate, or get their credit card.<\/p>\n

Credit Cards Are Crucial For Hotels And Airlines<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have noted in the past, that sometimes the hardest way to get points or miles is to purchase goods or services from the company offering them.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 That is another way of saying that the easiest path to an award is often through the credit card.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I purchase rooms at Starwood, yet I have tens of thousands of Starwood Points.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It is possible to get most of the way to elite status on many airlines with credit card spend alone.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This article <\/a>shows how the airlines can be very dependent on their credit card partners for financial support.<\/p>\n

Consider Your Cards<\/strong><\/p>\n

Most airlines and hotels offer a credit card that ties into their loyalty programs.\u00a0\u00a0 Many of the airline miles can be redeemed for hotels, while many hotel points can be redeemed for some kind of airline award.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In short, there is a lot of overlap between these two industries.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 When I have my choice, I tend to go with the hotels.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 At least that industry that seems to have it’s act together in terms of customer service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To paraphrase the late, great, Rodney Dangerfield, hotels loyalty program don’t get much respect.\u00a0\u00a0 When most people think of reward travel, the first thing that often comes to mind are airline frequent flier programs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The fact is that airline programs have been hugely devalued, and they remain riddled with bizarre rules and elusive availability. Hotel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nHotel Hapenings<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.askmrcreditcard.com\/news\/hotel-hapenings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hotel Hapenings\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"To paraphrase the late, great, Rodney Dangerfield, hotels loyalty program don’t get much respect.\u00a0\u00a0 When most people think of reward travel, the first thing that often comes to mind are airline frequent flier programs.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The fact is that airline programs have been hugely devalued, and they remain riddled with bizarre rules and elusive availability. 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