Please refer to February hotel promotions update: February Hotel Promotions Update: Carlson, Hilton, Hyatt, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott/Ritz-Carlton, and Starwood
By now all hotel chains except Hyatt have announced their first quarter 2012 promotions. Here are the Hilton HHonors, Hyatt Gold Passport, InterContinental Hotels Group, Marriott, and Starwood Preferred Guest promotions.
Hilton HHonors
Hilton HHonors has two ongoing promotions that should be combinable. “Resort Escapes” – you can get one free night certificate after contiguous five nights stay and second one after another five.
The other promotion is “More Points” promotion that is basically extra 1000 Hilton HHonors bonus points per night + 5000 extra bonus points for two night contiguous weekend stay. Weekend is defined as Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday night. You can earn one 5000 bonus points per weekend.
Hilton also has a very goof promotion for instant Gold status + 40K Hilton HHonors bonus points after four stays. The bonus points part is open for current members as well. Never hurts to get more points, right?
Hyatt Gold Passport
Hyatt has their next global promotion starting sometime next month. Until January 15th you can still earn 1500 American Airlines Miles per Hyatt stay. Not bad.
InterContinental Hotels Group Priority Club
Priority Club has their usual 5000, 10000, or 15000 bonus points for 3, 7, or 15 nights from January 1st until March 31st. There are quite a few variations of this offer but those are the options between which you should choose.
Marriott Rewards
Some are still completing their fall “MegaBonus” that runs until middle of this month. Marriott has their “MegaMiles” promotion that runs from January 1st to April 30th. You can earn additional 2000 miles per stay starting from the second stay. There are 23 participating airlines to choose from.
The “MegaBonus” then starts from February 1st and ends at the end of April. There are quite a few different offers from up to 50K extra Marriott rewards points to free night certificates.
Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG)
SPG is running two different promotions; one for the Asia-Pacific region and one for the rest. The promotion for the Asia-Pacific “Two days of Happy” is for a free night after five nights or two free night certificates after nine nights. Note that this promotion is based on NIGHTS and not on stays. You need to pay using a MasterCard.
The promotion for Americas, Europe, Middle East, and Africa is called “Better by the Night”. It starts on January 9th and runs till April 8th. You will get double Starpoints on two-night stays and triple Starpoints on stays of three nights or longer. Please note that the list of non-participating hotels is rather long.
Which hotel promotion should I choose?
Sometimes it is difficult to choose between promotions when none of them stand out.
The SPG promotion for the Asia Pacific regions is a good one, although the free night certificates are capped at two after nine nights and MUST be used in the same region. The double and triple points are good for longer and expensive stays. In both cases check the participating properties. The free night certificates can only be redeemed in the same region where they were earned.
The Marriott’s offer of 2000 extra miles per stay is good for one night stays.
I really like the Hilton’s offer of extra points per night + a nice bonus for weekend nights. Especially if you combine this with the resort promotion and/or 40K extra points after four stays.
The Hyatt one doesn’t get me excited. There is NO promo for half of the month.
The IHG’s Priority Club offer is ok’ish. You can combine it with some property specific promos like the one for Denmark and Finland. Also, it is good for one night stays at the InterContinental hotels, if you have Royal Ambassador status, due to base points + Ambassador accelerator.
Looks like the HILTON Resort Escapes promo expired Jan 2012- last year.