Am I being stupid not collecting hotel points?

In My Humble Opinion
21

How do you do that? Most hotel programs will only give points to the member if the member is the one whose name is on the room. It would drive our travel expense report people nuts if I tried to turn in a hotel receipt with someone else’s name on it.

I collect and use my points, and they’re not at all worthless. For example, free room upgrades are worthwhile because the company insists on the lowest cost room, but I get a nicer room anyway. Or guaranteed availability. I’m sure I ruined someone’s holiday in Pattaya by using that option when all of the company hotels were otherwise sold out.

And of course the free nights add up, too. The really cool thing in Asia is I can stay at, say, Intercontinental for $80, and use the free rooms in Europe where they’re $400 per night. I’m pretty much exhausted of points now after a three week trip back to the USA in July, where all but four nights were paid with loyalty points.

22

As of now hotel points have been a pretty decent deal for me. I’ve made use of my points for free nights at two different brands/chains, mostly as a result of what accumulates from business travel. In fact it’s the only travel “reward” I’ve been able to use with some frequency for an actual full purchase rather than just upgrade.

23

There is little reason not to do it. Reward programs can be quite ‘rewarding’ if you play them right. I have only had minor success with hotel loyalty programs because I almost never pay for my own room but airline frequent flyer programs combined with introductory credit card offers have been more than excellent to me. I have more free tickets with Southwest alone than I know what to do with and that is just one airline of several. I also have thousands in travel ‘dollars’ that are the equivalent of real dollars as long as I use them on real travel expenses. I am seriously thinking about just going someplace that I have never been to regularly on the weekends because most of them are cheaper than staying home. None of that costs me anything other than the $10 conversion fee for round-trip plane ticket to anywhere they go.

Loyalty programs are real and usually cost-free to you. There is no reason not to take advantage of them unless you are sure that you will never use any of the benefits. As noted, those benefits may not be just free rooms. They also include things like free wi-fi or discount rates on other services. Identity tracking shouldn’t be a concern because they know all of that anyway whether you belong to their special club or not.

24

I don’t stay in hotels often enough to get free rooms but I have gotten a better rate by mentioning that I was a rewards member.

I do however book through my work rewards program whenever possible. those points are pretty minor, x number of points for every dollar spent and each point is worth $.01. the good part is they don’t expire. I am up to about $65.00 right now.

25

That’s just part of it. I think it’s more that I don’t really like the idea of making an effort to get stuff for “free”. I’d rather businesses were more up front. I mean, I’d rather pay a bit more for an airline ticket and have there be no such thing as “over-booking” and having people left behind. Same for hotel rooms. A “reservation” should mean it’s reserved - not that they can sell more rooms than they have and “walk” you despite having a reservation.

Maybe those things aren’t directly connected, but somehow in my mind it all goes to a certain straightforwardness that I feel is lacking. I’d rather not play games collecting and tracking points. I’d rather just pay for a service and actually get it reliably.

[QUOTE=Balthisar]
How do you do that? Most hotel programs will only give points to the member if the member is the one whose name is on the room. It would drive our travel expense report people nuts if I tried to turn in a hotel receipt with someone else’s name on it.
[/QUOTE]

I dunno. The last place where this happened I asked if they could just give my points to my associate, and they made it happen.

26

Not only are they not directly related, they aren’t related at all. There’s also no tracking of points needed, they send you a statement at the end of every month with everything on it.

But if you want to turn down free hotel rooms and airline flights, your call. It doesn’t hurt anyone else, especially the airlines and hotel chains.

27

I think your problem here (in my opinion) is that you are thinking of all rewards/affinity programs as the same, with the same goals and purposes.

It sounds like your opinions are based on things like grocery store rewards programs. You are correct that the main goal of these is to gather data and understand their customers more. I know several people who don’t like to participate in these, and I don’t really blame them.

Airlines and hotels are different. For one thing, they already know who you are, for the most part. Their goal is to give you incentives to be loyal to their brand. if you are only traveling 3 or 4 times a year, then you aren’t going to get much, but if you are traveling every month, it is DEFINITELY worth it. Yes, there are restrictions, and yes, there can be frustrations occasionally, but you are giving up a lot if you travel frequently and don’t take advantage of these programs.

I don’t really understand those in the thread that have said it is impossible to get free hotel rooms. I get them all the time.

Also, one other thing to mention. Even without the free flights and hotel stays, you will get some benefit if you travel enough to get status on an airline or at a hotel (Gold status, platinum status, or whatever). Usually, the first level really won’t get you much, except for higher point earning, but after that, the benefits can be real. For example, I am currently Platinum on American Airlines, their second of three standard levels. With this, I get the following:

[ul]
[li]Two free checked bags, so don’t need to worry about extra costs, or stuffing everything into a carry on[/li][li]Occasional first class upgrades. Don’t always get them, but last month my daughter and I went on a trip, and got in first class. She is 10, and had never flown first class, so it was a good experience for her.[/li][li]When I don’t get first class, I get free and priority upgrades to exit row seats and other seats with more leg room. I am usually able to get into one of these.[/li][li]Priority boarding. So if the plane is full, and I am worried that I won’t have room for a carry on, I can head on early while there is sure to be room[/li][li]Priority luggage treatment. If I check a bag, they put a priority sticker on it, and it is usually one of the first ones to arrive at baggage claim [/li][/ul]

Hotel’s are a little more stingy with them, but if you get high enough status, you get access to room upgrades, special floors, special concierge suites, etc.

Lastly, as others have said, it is easy. No need to track anything. You put your numbers in your company’s travel site, and in your account settings in your airline/hotel sites, and everything is automatic. You don’t need to track anything, or send in anything.

Bottom line, if you are traveling more than 4 or 5 times a year, you are hurting yourself by not signing up.