No Paid Stay? Sign Up for those Hotel Bonuses Anyway

Typically the hotel rewards programs view award stays a little bit differently than paid stays.  Most hotels don't count the stay or number of nights stayed towards elite status, although Starwood's SPG program is a notable exception.

You can generally earn points at the usual per dollar rates on any incidentals such as meals charged to the room, bar tabs, etc.   This probably isn't all that surprising, what does surprise me though is that it's often possible to earn bonus points from quarterly promotions on award stays.


Here's an example from my recent stay at the DoubleTree Times Square:

As you can see I only earned 321 base points yet earned 3,000 points from HHonors Q4 1,000 Reasons to Stay Bonus.  Definitely a reason to make sure you have at least something that will generate base points charged to the room on award stays.  In most cases, if there are no room charges, no bonus points will post.

I always make a point to sign up for the quarterly bonuses from any of the chains I may be staying with,  whether I have paid stays or award stays planned.  I usually even register for the promos for my primary and secondary rewards programs even if I don't have stays planned, just in case something unexpected comes up.

Here's a list of the Q1 Hotel Promotions I know of so far:

• Club Carlson Triple Points Promo
• Hilton Double Your HHonors Promo
• SPG Power Up Promo (2k points after every 4 nights up to 18k)

If you're interested in learning more about Points, Cash, & Miles, consider following by email or just bookmarking the page - I'll be here with new material 2-3 times a week, possibly more if there happens to be anything I find really exciting in the world of points and miles.