Summary of Hotel Loyalty Programs - SPG, HHonors, IHG, Accor

[andye]

wow. Thanks

Only up to 3 rooms per night though

 

[drron]

just received an email from IHG with reduction in nights/points to qualify gold/plat.

Member Benefits | IHG

Though I am only a member to get free wifi on the odd times we stay.

 

[amaroo]

Hilton give me credit for all the spend across 3 rooms but still only show as a 1 night stay. Do SPG credit as a 3 night stay???

They do....

They didn't on my stay at The Gritti Palace a few weeks ago. Booked 2 x rooms for three nights... only three nights credited.

 

[Moindardt]

Ring SPG and give them booking reference. Far easier than doing on website. I think last time it too 2 days for the SPG to chase up the hotel and get the extra room credited. They got confused cause 2 rooms were on one booking with 2 queens in each room and the other had a single room with a king.

 

[drron]

They didn't on my stay at The Gritti Palace a few weeks ago. Booked 2 x rooms for three nights... only three nights credited.

They give you the points for up to 3 rooms but only nights for 1 was my understanding.

 

[Moindardt]

They give you the points for up to 3 rooms but only nights for 1 was my understanding.

Nope. Full credit for all 3 rooms.

We just came back from NYC and Whistler, had 3 rooms at both and did 2 nights at Airport hotels with 2 each. By the 18th, I had 49 nights and 10 stays. 1/1-6/1 3 rooms, credited 15nts and 3 stays, 6/1-7/1 2 rooms, credited 2nts and 2 stays, 7/1-17/1 3 rooms, credited 30nts and 3 stays, 17/1-18/1 2 rooms, credit 2nts and 2 stays.

That is the major reason we went with SPG, they had enough coverage of decent hotels and gave credit for 3 rooms. I ended up with 86nts last year but physically only stayed about 40.

 

[amaroo]

Nope. Full credit for all 3 rooms.

We just came back from NYC and Whistler, had 3 rooms at both and did 2 nights at Airport hotels with 2 each. By the 18th, I had 49 nights and 10 stays. 1/1-6/1 3 rooms, credited 15nts and 3 stays, 6/1-7/1 2 rooms, credited 2nts and 2 stays, 7/1-17/1 3 rooms, credited 30nts and 3 stays, 17/1-18/1 2 rooms, credit 2nts and 2 stays.

That is the major reason we went with SPG, they had enough coverage of decent hotels and gave credit for 3 rooms. I ended up with 86nts last year but physically only stayed about 40.

Hmm, never bothered with hotel programs. I like the look of their "family pooling" will need to give SPG more attention in the future.

Brilliant set up numbers Moindardt

 

[Moindardt]

Use the MasterCard 1nt to gold or Amex Plat to gold and then they at least take you semi seriously. For us, 3 rooms is a lot cheaper and more room than a king with rollaway in each room. I email/speak to them beforehand and always on the same floor and generally at least 2 together, many times all 3. 75% also give us Platinum breakfast to cover all 3 rooms. That is worth a lot of money when you have a big family. I racked up 9000 starpoints for Green choices across the 3 rooms. We easily made the 3 free nights for the Sheraton with the extra rooms. Makes life far more affordable for families. And enjoyable.

 

[daft009]

have been an accor platinum for the last couple of years after a big trip to europe.
now with the program change from 1/1/17, I won't be platinum anymore.
not sure if its worth trying any other program?

What drew me to Accor in the first place was the huge range of hotel budgets.
I could travel to Albury for work and stay in a cheap Ibis or I could travel the wife somewhere and stay in a good novotel.
or if we goto Asia we could stay in a great pullman.

Does anything else come close?

 

[PLANT]

Mate not happy as Accor plat that all Saturdays seem to be booked out for free stay!

 

[NZflygirl]

have been an accor platinum for the last couple of years after a big trip to europe.
now with the program change from 1/1/17, I won't be platinum anymore.
not sure if its worth trying any other program?

What drew me to Accor in the first place was the huge range of hotel budgets.
I could travel to Albury for work and stay in a cheap Ibis or I could travel the wife somewhere and stay in a good novotel.
or if we goto Asia we could stay in a great pullman.

Does anything else come close?

IMO nope. The sheer numbers of hotels available in Oz/Nz and other places along with the diversity from budget to expensive I think is the draw card for Accor. Personally I think gold is ok but that's because I hardly end up in Accor properties that have a lounge hence I'm not sure I should strive for platinum although with the reduced requirement in points for the various tiers I think I may go for platinum in 2017. (And also because I'm not sure what SPG holds in the longterm with the Marriott merger).

SPG and HH's cheaper hotels can actually be on the expensive side eg four points and doubletree. Only 10 stays for SPG gold but late checkout is the main benefit. HH Gold requires double and I think the breakfast is my favourite benefit, some places give you lounge access (had 2 in Europe). But by then you could be close to SPG plat by 5 stays giving lounge access. Neither of these programs have the number of hotels as Accor. I quite like Rydges PGR (seems to be good recognition with GHA hotels and only requires 5 stays/yr), but once again they're not exactly everywhere. Hotels.com gives you flexibility and you can accrue free nights but they may be a bit more expensive than booking directly or you could book via VA or QF websites will give you flying points. IHG - meh, not much to get excited about IMO. Accelerate is good for accruing points but the point breaks list aren't easy to utilise IMO. I really like Accor's A+ program, and you can buy into gold easily enough if you really want the late check outs *subject to availability*.

You may want to focus more on the points side of things rather than status if reaching status is going to be an issue.

 

[Deleted member 29185]

Pretty decent overview NZflygirl.

 

[NZflygirl]

Pretty decent overview NZflygirl.

I'm learning!......slowly.

 

[support]

On the suggestion of NZflygirl I have added a Wiki to this thread. A Wiki will allow most members to contribute to keeping this thread up to date at the top. The thread is still a place for discussion. Currently, Jonno Oon does not meet the minimum post requirements for the Wiki, however I can give them access, along with others if you would like to contribute.

I will try to provide a brief summary to start, but encourage other members to develop the Wiki further or re-write the whole thing as they see fit.

 

[daft009]

IMO nope. The sheer numbers of hotels available in Oz/Nz and other places along with the diversity from budget to expensive I think is the draw card for Accor. Personally I think gold is ok but that's because I hardly end up in Accor properties that have a lounge hence I'm not sure I should strive for platinum although with the reduced requirement in points for the various tiers I think I may go for platinum in 2017. (And also because I'm not sure what SPG holds in the longterm with the Marriott merger).

SPG and HH's cheaper hotels can actually be on the expensive side eg four points and doubletree. Only 10 stays for SPG gold but late checkout is the main benefit. HH Gold requires double and I think the breakfast is my favourite benefit, some places give you lounge access (had 2 in Europe). But by then you could be close to SPG plat by 5 stays giving lounge access. Neither of these programs have the number of hotels as Accor. I quite like Rydges PGR (seems to be good recognition with GHA hotels and only requires 5 stays/yr), but once again they're not exactly everywhere. Hotels.com gives you flexibility and you can accrue free nights but they may be a bit more expensive than booking directly or you could book via VA or QF websites will give you flying points. IHG - meh, not much to get excited about IMO. Accelerate is good for accruing points but the point breaks list aren't easy to utilise IMO. I really like Accor's A+ program, and you can buy into gold easily enough if you really want the late check outs *subject to availability*.

You may want to focus more on the points side of things rather than status if reaching status is going to be an issue.

Thanks for the excellent review
I've passed on renewing my A+ for 2017, as don't think we'll do much travel in the next 12 months. Will see how we go again from Nov/Dec 2017 on wards.