As the saying goes, “Everyone makes mistakes.” This pervades many points of life, but it surely’s particularly relevant to utilizing your lodge factors. Even probably the most seasoned award traveler can slip up, leading to a much less snug room, additional charges or an lack of ability to journey.
Fortunately, the commonest errors when reserving lodge award stays are straightforward to keep away from. So on this information, I’ll take you thru these errors and clarify how to make sure your future redemptions go as deliberate.
Missing out on bonus nights
This first mistake is frequent for inexperienced vacationers. Hopefully, lots of you realize that some lodge loyalty applications allow you to maximize longer stays through the use of a free evening profit. Here’s a fast rundown of a number of main loyalty applications that supply this perk:
The good factor is that these reductions present up routinely once you redeem your factors on-line. The mistake is available in planning a shorter keep, not realizing that the subsequent evening can be utterly (or virtually utterly, within the case of Marriott) free.
Related: Which lodges rely award stays towards elite standing?
Ignoring points-and-cash choices
Another frequent chorus I hear is, “I don’t have enough points, so I can’t book an award stay.” This is just not true, as most lodge loyalty applications can help you use a mixture of cash and factors to pay for lodge stays. Again, right here’s a fast rundown of the preferred applications:
- Hilton Honors: Hilton’s points-and-cash awards are versatile, permitting you to specify the variety of factors you wish to use for an award. The money copay is adjusted primarily based on the variety of factors you select, however you need to use any mixture of factors and cash to pay on your keep in increments of 1,000 factors, beginning at 5,000 factors.
- World of Hyatt: Hyatt’s points-and-cash awards allow you to redeem half of the same old factors plus a money copay. You can redeem 50% of the factors required for the keep and get 50% to 70% off the usual charge on your room.
- IHG One Rewards: IHG’s points-and-cash awards allow you to pay a part of your keep in factors and the remaining in money. You can use as few as 5,000 factors to e-book.
- Marriott Bonvoy: Marriott’s points-and-cash awards allow you to e-book a typical redemption for as little as $55 and three,500 factors.
Always examine if these choices can be found wherever you’re staying, as they is perhaps the very best deal.
Related: Your final information to Hyatt’s lodge manufacturers
Sign up for our each day e-newsletter
Not checking income charges
If you’re like me, you wish to maximize the worth you get out of your factors. That’s why it pains me to listen to when mates or members of the family use their factors for suboptimal redemptions.
Especially since most lodge loyalty applications now use dynamic award pricing, you may normally get respectable worth when redeeming lodge factors for traditional rooms. But redeeming for upgraded rooms can vary in worth from wonderful to poor.
TPG’s month-to-month valuations provide you with an thought of what to goal for when redeeming your factors and miles. Check income charges and calculate your redemption charge earlier than reserving an award keep. Sometimes, you might discover higher worth by reserving a paid keep and saving your factors for an additional journey.
Related: The inside scoop on how a lot lodges receives a commission once you redeem factors
Transferring to an airline
Another mistake relating to lodge factors is transferring them to airline companions.
For probably the most half, transferring your lodge factors to an airline associate is a horrible worth proposition. Most lodge loyalty applications provide you with very poor switch ratios, and also you usually lose near half (or far more) worth via the conversion course of.
The one exception is Marriott Bonvoy, which has many distinctive airline switch companions and gives cheap switch ratios. Even so, you may normally get probably the most worth from lodge factors once you use them as they had been initially meant — for award nights at lodges and resorts.
Related: Can I switch factors and miles between loyalty applications?
Not looking night-by-night
Another frequent error happens when trying to find longer stays. I’ve seen many occasions when lodges don’t have award rooms obtainable for each evening of a keep or don’t have the identical room kind on your whole keep. But you should still have the ability to use factors (or a mixture of money and factors) by looking one evening at a time.
For instance, let’s say you needed to remain at Rome Cavalieri, A Waldorf Astoria Hotel, in February 2023 for Valentine’s Day. You can e-book a typical reward evening for 78,000 factors on Feb. 13. But the bottom award charge on Feb. 14 is 115,000 factors for a premium room. If you seek for a two-night keep on these dates, you’re quoted a worth of 115,000 factors per evening as a result of there is not normal room award availability on the evening of Feb. 14.
If you e-book the primary evening individually from the second, you’ll save 37,000 Hilton Honors factors (price $222 primarily based on TPG’s valuations). Plus, if you happen to name Hilton Honors and ask them to hyperlink the reservations, the property may allow you to preserve the identical room for each nights.
Related: These promotions will make your subsequent lodge keep extra rewarding
Ignoring resort charges
While you aren’t on the hook for normal room taxes on award stays, you should still have to pay a resort payment. Most applications will record resort charges (the place relevant) in some unspecified time in the future in the course of the award reserving course of. And you’d be sensible to concentrate to them.
Hilton and Hyatt routinely waive resort charges on award stays. But if you happen to’re staying with different applications, resort charges can set you again a major quantity per evening (seeing a resort payment of $60 or extra is not remarkable).
Related: Marriott Bonvoy members, ask on your resort payment alternative profit
Forgetting to cancel
Another mistake that may be very expensive is forgetting to cancel an award keep inside the lodge’s printed cancellation window. You may suppose this isn’t an enormous deal, assuming you may solely forfeit the factors you’d redeemed. Unfortunately, that’s not how most lodge loyalty applications function.
When you don’t cancel an award reservation, most properties will cost you one evening plus tax at the very best obtainable charge for that date, which may simply be a whole lot of {dollars}. You ought to pay shut consideration to every program’s acknowledged cancellation coverage when reserving an award keep utilizing factors.
Ignoring bank cards
The closing mistake isn’t particular to utilizing your lodge factors, however it’ll nonetheless have an effect on your lodge award stays. Many bank cards supply complimentary elite standing only for holding the cardboard and (in some circumstances) paying an annual payment. A bank card that gives elite standing as a perk can unlock useful advantages like room upgrades, premium web, bonus factors and extra.
Your card might even unlock a redemption possibility that wouldn’t be doable in any other case. For instance, Hilton’s fifth-night-free profit is restricted to elite members and IHG’s fourth-night reward is just obtainable to pick IHG cardholders.
Here’s a fast rundown of some cobranded playing cards for every program that present lodge elite standing as a perk:
The data for the Hilton Aspire Amex card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
Most Hyatt and Marriott playing cards provide you with elite evening credit towards incomes increased elite standing ranges. Some playing cards additionally supply additional elite evening credit or increased standing once you attain particular spending thresholds in a calendar 12 months.
Related: Guide to Marriott and Hilton elite standing with the Amex Platinum and Business Platinum
Bottom line
Hotel stays for zero {dollars} out of pocket is usually a fantastic factor. But errors can sap some (or most) of the worth out of your redemptions. Hopefully, this record has given you some methods to keep away from these errors in your subsequent award reserving.
Additional reporting by Ehsan Haque.