canyonwalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
canyonwalker) wrote2022-01-03 09:29 pm
canyonwalker) wrote2022-01-03 09:29 pm
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2021 Frequent Flyer Retrospective: Hotel Points & Status
Every year around the start of the year I take stock of my balances in various frequent traveler points programs, both to see how we'll I've done in accumulating & using miles as well as to set goals for the coming 12 months. Earlier today I posted a wrap-up of my airline miles and status for 2021. Now it's time for the same with hotel points and status.
As with flying, hotel stays have been fewer this year than most— but still more than in 2020— because of Coronavirus. We didn't travel at all in January or February, traveled only once in March, then stayed home again in April. Since May we've only taken 10 trips.
I'm listing Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), whose portfolio includes Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, first because this year they became my main go-to hotel chain. We stayed 14 nights with their brands.
You might wonder why, if IHG was my go-to chain in 2021, I marked them with a down arrow. That's because I spent more points with them than I earned— and that's a good thing! I started the year with over 431k IHG points, spent a whopping 178k, earned back 18k, and landed with a balance of 272k.
An interesting thing about IHG being my #1 chain for the year is that I didn't spend a single dollar at their hotels. All 14 nights were paid for with points or free-night certificates from our IHG credit cards. Yet despite not spending a single dollar at their hotels I maintain Platinum (mid-tier) elite status with them, also as a benefit of carrying the right credit card.
...Not that Platinum got me much. There aren't a lot of elite benefits to be had at lower properties like Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, where I made all my stays. At those an upgrade is just a slightly larger room with a sofa. And many properties don't like to offer even these modest upgrades on awards stays. IHG's program is best played not for the elite status but as "earn and burn"— rack up the points from stays and promotions, and spend them for free nights.
My plan for the IHG program in 2022 is "earn and burn". On the earning side I expect to net well over 150k by signing up for another of their credit cards. Will I be able to burn more than that, like I did this year with so many awards nights? That's going to take some effort. But, oh the places I could go!
I finished the year nearly flat with Hilton Honors; my points balance nudged down from 492k to 482k. Along the way I stayed 4 nights at Hilton portfolio hotels, making it my #2 hotel program by activity. As with IHG all 4 of those nights were on points and free-night certificates.
My goal for 2022 with Hilton Honors is the same as it was 12 months ago: Find a good, big redemption opportunity to spend those points on. Or lots of little ones. Or both! A balance of nearly 500k is too much to carry for long as the value of points only ever drops.
Status-wise I remain Diamond elite (top tier) with Hilton because of a credit card. That sure as heck beats having to earn it the old fashioned way with 28 trips or 50 nights of "butt-in-bed" like I used to back in the day. But as with IHG's program, this status didn't actually give me much this year.
Ah, Marriott. For years they were my #1 hotel choice. For 2021 they slipped to #3 as I stayed only 2 nights, on one trip, in a Marriott hotel. It was a Courtyard next to an interstate.
I hold Titanium status in Marriott's too preciously named Bonvoy program. It's the second highest of five elite levels; the top level requires something like $20,000 annual expenditure. I've got Lifetime Titanium as a result of accumulating 800 qualifying nights and 2 million qualifying points, largely from my years of heavy travel. That status got me very little this year, though.
Points-wise I whittled my huge Bonvoy points balance down from 584k to 567k. That was from spending 20k on an award night and earning a few thousand from a paid night. My goal 12 months ago, and 24 months ago, was to spend down this huge balance with major redemptions. Marriott has made that hard by offering poor redemption rates most of the time. For 2022 I may have to lower my standards for what constitutes a fair value use of points before Marriott lowers it even further on me.
Hyatt is a special case. My balance with them was zero for several years but in September I transferred 24k points over from my Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, promptly redeeming them for 2 award nights in Los Angeles. It was a good value— for the Chase Ultimate Rewards points, about 1.5 cents per point (cpp). Hawk transferred UR points to Hyatt, too; 100k of them to get us 5 nights in Hawaii in December. She got even better value, over 2cpp.
On the one hand I'm inclined to say, "Woohoo, Hyatt!" but really it's "Woohoo, a good use of Chase Ultimate Rewards points!" There aren't enough properties in the Hyatt portfolio for me to want to focus on earning points & status by staying with them. We'll just keep using them as a transfer target for Chase points when opportunities arise.
As with flying, hotel stays have been fewer this year than most— but still more than in 2020— because of Coronavirus. We didn't travel at all in January or February, traveled only once in March, then stayed home again in April. Since May we've only taken 10 trips.
⬇️ IHG: A Surprise Leader
I'm listing Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), whose portfolio includes Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, first because this year they became my main go-to hotel chain. We stayed 14 nights with their brands.You might wonder why, if IHG was my go-to chain in 2021, I marked them with a down arrow. That's because I spent more points with them than I earned— and that's a good thing! I started the year with over 431k IHG points, spent a whopping 178k, earned back 18k, and landed with a balance of 272k.
An interesting thing about IHG being my #1 chain for the year is that I didn't spend a single dollar at their hotels. All 14 nights were paid for with points or free-night certificates from our IHG credit cards. Yet despite not spending a single dollar at their hotels I maintain Platinum (mid-tier) elite status with them, also as a benefit of carrying the right credit card.
...Not that Platinum got me much. There aren't a lot of elite benefits to be had at lower properties like Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, where I made all my stays. At those an upgrade is just a slightly larger room with a sofa. And many properties don't like to offer even these modest upgrades on awards stays. IHG's program is best played not for the elite status but as "earn and burn"— rack up the points from stays and promotions, and spend them for free nights.
My plan for the IHG program in 2022 is "earn and burn". On the earning side I expect to net well over 150k by signing up for another of their credit cards. Will I be able to burn more than that, like I did this year with so many awards nights? That's going to take some effort. But, oh the places I could go!
↔️ Hilton: Diamond in the Rough
I finished the year nearly flat with Hilton Honors; my points balance nudged down from 492k to 482k. Along the way I stayed 4 nights at Hilton portfolio hotels, making it my #2 hotel program by activity. As with IHG all 4 of those nights were on points and free-night certificates.My goal for 2022 with Hilton Honors is the same as it was 12 months ago: Find a good, big redemption opportunity to spend those points on. Or lots of little ones. Or both! A balance of nearly 500k is too much to carry for long as the value of points only ever drops.
Status-wise I remain Diamond elite (top tier) with Hilton because of a credit card. That sure as heck beats having to earn it the old fashioned way with 28 trips or 50 nights of "butt-in-bed" like I used to back in the day. But as with IHG's program, this status didn't actually give me much this year.
↔️ Marriott: Titanium or Unobtainium?
Ah, Marriott. For years they were my #1 hotel choice. For 2021 they slipped to #3 as I stayed only 2 nights, on one trip, in a Marriott hotel. It was a Courtyard next to an interstate.I hold Titanium status in Marriott's too preciously named Bonvoy program. It's the second highest of five elite levels; the top level requires something like $20,000 annual expenditure. I've got Lifetime Titanium as a result of accumulating 800 qualifying nights and 2 million qualifying points, largely from my years of heavy travel. That status got me very little this year, though.
Points-wise I whittled my huge Bonvoy points balance down from 584k to 567k. That was from spending 20k on an award night and earning a few thousand from a paid night. My goal 12 months ago, and 24 months ago, was to spend down this huge balance with major redemptions. Marriott has made that hard by offering poor redemption rates most of the time. For 2022 I may have to lower my standards for what constitutes a fair value use of points before Marriott lowers it even further on me.
🔄 Hyatt, Choice, Best Western, Etc.: Whatever
I have memberships in several other hotel rewards programs, with points balances remaining in at least a few of them. (Others are zeroed out due to expiry.) Choice and Best Western I know I have small balances in but don't care; they're not enough points to redeem for award nights, and I didn't stay at any of their hotels to think about earning points this year.Hyatt is a special case. My balance with them was zero for several years but in September I transferred 24k points over from my Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card, promptly redeeming them for 2 award nights in Los Angeles. It was a good value— for the Chase Ultimate Rewards points, about 1.5 cents per point (cpp). Hawk transferred UR points to Hyatt, too; 100k of them to get us 5 nights in Hawaii in December. She got even better value, over 2cpp.On the one hand I'm inclined to say, "Woohoo, Hyatt!" but really it's "Woohoo, a good use of Chase Ultimate Rewards points!" There aren't enough properties in the Hyatt portfolio for me to want to focus on earning points & status by staying with them. We'll just keep using them as a transfer target for Chase points when opportunities arise.