AirMiles and Priority Club Devalue Their Programs

InterContinental Hotels Group's Priority Club Rewards program was the first hotel loyalty program I joined. That was about eight years ago, during a stay at a Holiday Inn in Montréal. Seeing that handful of points in my account made me wonder how I could earn enough for a free night, and that was the beginning of this little obsession of mine.

Like any loyalty program, Priority Club certainly has its flaws, but it also has two major strengths. The first is that with over 4,500 properties worldwide, including Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, and Hotel Indigo, there is almost always a hotel where you want to stay, whether to earn or redeem points. The second is that, in addition to the ten points earned per dollar spent on stays, bonus points are insanely easy to get.

In fact, there are several websites that list bonus codes: Priority Club Insider, this section of Rewards Canada, and this thread on flyertalk. The best strategy to follow is to register for as many bonuses as you think you might qualify for prior to your stay. You probably won't get them all, but you're likely to get some.

What this means is that a $150 stay at a Holiday Inn, instead of yielding 1,500 points, could earn 5-10K points. There's even a MasterCard available from Capital One that let's you earn Priority Club points for all your credit card spending.

But the bad news is that, effective January 18, Priority Club is increasing the number of points required to redeem for a free night. For example, previously, most Holiday Inns were 15K points; some will now cost 5-10K points more. Not all properties are going up; some are actually decreasing, but the increase amounts to a 40% jump in many cases, and that seriously devalues both the program and the credit card.

Which brings me to AirMiles.

I'm not a collector of AirMiles. Because there are few participating merchants where I live, there just isn't significant earning opportunity for me. In addition, miles are expensive to earn and have little value. I've also had difficulties with its customer service centre in the past. Recently, AirMiles announced it would confiscate members' unused points five years after they've been earned (you can read what I think about such policies here). There are other changes to the program that are explained here.

Basically, these changes highlight an essential truth about loyalty programs, especially free-standing ones like Aeroplan and AirMiles: they are loyal to their shareholders and merchant partners, not their members.

And that raises another truth: just because a points program and/or its credit card was right for you in the past, doesn't mean it is still the best program/card for you today. Programs change, and so do your spending patterns, so you need to monitor them both and be prepared to change if necessary.

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Late Summer 2011 Travel and Points Offers

Now that August is here it's time to take a look at the travel and points offers available for late summer getaways. Summer being peak travel season, there aren't a lot of great offers out there right now: better offers will come along in the fall. But here are the best of what's available.

Instead of points, Hyatt Gold Passport members can register to receive 2,500 Aeroplan miles per stay. The offer is good until September 30.

Until September 30, earn double points or double miles for stays at Hilton hotels (including Hampton, Doubletree, and Embassy Suites). You must register here. If you're a Delta SkyMiles collector, you can earn triple miles with this link.

And you just might find a good deal, because participating Hilton properties are offering up to 40% discounts if you book by August 22 and stay by September 5. Here's the offer page.

Capital One is now offering a Delta SkyMiles World MasterCard to Canadians. There is a 25K miles first purchase bonus, and each dollar spent earns one SkyMile. The card has a $120 annual fee. There is also a no-fee Gold MasterCard which earns one SkyMile for every $2 in purchases. All the details on both cards can be found here.

Until the end of the year, Starwood (Sheraton, Westin, Le Meridien, Four Points, Aloft, W) hotels across Canada are offering the third night free when you pay for two nights during holiday long weekends. This link has the promo code you need when booking.

You'll receive 500 Continental OnePass miles for every $100 Best Western travel card purchased by August 31. All the details are here. And you have until September 30 to transfer American Express Membership Reward points to Continental OnePass. After that date, OnePass is ending its association with American Express as part of its merger into United's MileagePlus program.

Club Carlson (Radisson, Country Inn & Suites) lets you earn double points (40 points per $1 spent, including food and beverages) for stays up to September 15. Free nights begin at only 9K points, so a two-night stay could earn a free night. Registration is required.

Check back for the second part of A Week in Washington coming up in a few days and the regular summer cocktail recipe on Thursday.