The Choice Hotel Reward Program
Confused by Hotel Reward Programs?
There are many hotel reward programs available throughout the United States and abroad, but their point structures and redemption allowances for free stays are complicated and misleading. This is certainly not the first review of hotel reward programs, but it is unique and it does offer a clear breakdown of what you actually get for every dollar spent at the largest hotel chains.
Because hotel reward programs are so complicated, this task will be accomplished one reward program at a time in a series of reviews. The programs I have chosen to review offer the most perks (room upgrades, free stays, etc.), the best point structures (converted into dollar amounts), and thousands of locations to stay at worldwide. All of the programs featured will be considered with their corresponding credit cards as additional point accumulation and benefits can be earned this way.
The Actual Cost of a Free Stay
The cost of free stays can range from 5,000 points/night at a less expensive brand to upwards of 60,000 points/night at a posh luxury resort. This makes it difficult to calculate the actual value of the rewards because point redemptions vary so greatly among the different hotel brands.
I will use a percentage rebate amount to determine the actual benefits of each reward program. This will make for easier comparison between reward programs and give you a more realistic perception of what you actually get.
The 5 Best Hotel Reward Programs
The best “average” hotel reward programs are through Choice Hotels (Comfort Suites, Sleep Inn, etc.) and Priority Rewards (Holiday Inn Brands) while the best “luxury” hotel reward programs include Hilton, Marriott, and Westin. The first program that we will look at is Choice Hotel Privileges.
Choice Hotel Privilages
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With the Choice Hotels Privileges Visa you will get 15 points for every dollar spent at over 3,700 “choice privileges” locations in the US, Canada, and Europe. You get the premium reward of 15 points at 3,700 of their 5,500 locations worldwide, but you can redeem points at any of the Choice Hotel locations including luxury resort properties. To get you started the reward card will give you 8,000 points after your first purchase and and another 8,000 points after your first stay. 8,000 points will get you 1 free night at 1,500 of their lowest tier hotels. Because you cannot or will not stay in their lowest tier hotels all the time you can see how the points convert to actual percentages in the table below. I searched for properties and point redemption values in Houston, Las Vegas, New York City, Chicago, and Orlando during the month of November (no holidays) in order to get a general idea for the cost of a typical room. Then I converted the point redemptions into a percentage reward for staying at Choice Hotels in the table below. You may also exchange the points for other various rewards including air travel, but using them for a hotel stay is a much more lucrative. Other Benefits
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Read the table below according to this example: Getting 5000 points requires spending $333 on Choice Hotel stays assuming 15 points/dollar spent. A free night at a $60/night hotel generally costs 5000 points. $60 divided by $333 is about 18%. I’ve done the math about 10 times since I cannot believe how big this bonus is; yet the math keeps working out correctly!
| 1 Night at: | Points Required | Dollars Spent (assume 15 points/dollar) | Typical Room Cost per Night | % Rebate |
| 1,500 lower-end hotels | 5,000-8,000 | $333-$533 | $60-$80 | 18%-25% |
| 4,000 better hotels | 10,000-25,000 | $666-$1,666 | $100-$450 | 15%-27% |
| Hawaii Properties | 25,000-35,000 | $1,666-$2,333 | $120-$200 | 7%-9% |
*In row 3 hotel rooms in New York City costing over $400 per night could be redeemed for 25,000 points.
*You can get the best deal by spending your points in New York City and the worst deal by spending your points in Hawaii.
*Points can also be redeemed for luxury stays at Preferred Hotels® & Resorts and Summit Hotels & Resorts for 24,000 to 50,000 points per night.
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[...] The Choice Hotel Reward Program | [...]
Someone recently e-mailed me a question about the La Quinta reward program and I just don’t think it is that great. Here is my response:
From what I can tell you will earn more points with Choice Privileges and
you will get a 40% point bonus as a Diamond member after staying 40 nights
compared with 30% for elite status with La Quinta.
You will also get an additional 15 points per dollar on stays with the
Choice Privileges Visa. This is on top of the 5 or 10 points you already
get depending on the hotel brand.
La Quinta also only has 750 locations where Choice Hotels has thousands.
If you opt to get the Choice Privileges visa, I think you will get the most for your money.