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Tags: OpenThread / Loyalty Programs / Credit Card Rewards Points / Australia Hotels / → All Tags

Have You Ever Used Credit Card Rewards Points For Hotel Stays?

We recently spent a few hours trying to decide how to spend our credit card rewards points on a hotel stay on the east coast of Australia. Something about using rewards points brings out the worst in us – we want to get the best possible value for our "money"; after all, it's taken a lot of spending to get us those points.

But we're also never quite sure if it's worth it to deplete more than half of our points on a hotel stay. Would buying two iPods be better? Or a Best Buy gift card and some airlines miles?

Aside from shopper indecision, our particular credit card rewards program offers a choice. You can buy a gift voucher for a hotel (in various denominations like $50, $150 and $200) or you can buy a night at the hotel. Choices, choices.

What would you do?

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Tags: Carlson Hotels / Stayin' Green / Loyalty Programs / Radisson Hotels / Regent Hotels / → All Tags

Stayin' Green :: Get Points Back By Going Carbon Neutral For Carlson Hotels

April 22nd is Earth Day so all this week we will be bringing you the latest news on Green Hotels. Got some eco-friendly news you wanna share? Let us know.

If you're a regular at Carlson Hotels which has the Regent Hotels, Radissons, Park Plazas, Park Inn and Country Inn and Suites under its name, then you might want to consider going Carbon Neutral on your next trip.

The hotel chain just announced that it will match the contribution of every goldpoints plus member (that's their loyalty program) donating points to Carbon Neutral, starting April 30th.

Carbon Neutral is a UK-based carbon offsetting company that aims to offset CO2 emissions associated with travel. Last year, Carlson revamped its frequent guest program to include, on a global basis for the first time, the opportunity for its members to donate points to community-based carbon reduction projects that neutralize the CO2 pollution that results from global travel.

Members can redeem points starting at 2,000 points by logging on goldpointsplus.com or by contacting the member service centers which vary depending on your location. More information on the promotion can be found here.

Tags: W Hotels / Starwood Hotels / Loyalty Programs / → All Tags

'W The Card' Still Seems To Be Pretty Useless

Last week, we tried to figure out what the heck was going on with W Hotels VIP Card. How do you get one? What does it give you? Where can you use it? Etc. Etc. Etc.

But thanks to a commenter, Michael S Dacko, a W-phile, we finally learn a little bit more about this mysterious card.

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Tags: Starwood Hotels / W Hotels / Loyalty Programs / → All Tags

What is the 'W The Card' For?

That's what we're asking ourselves after visiting the dedicated W The Card web site. We tried to sneak into the members-only site but couldn't brute force it.

Just as we were giving up, a spy tipped us off to what's behind the curtain:

Basically, it seems that you get some sort of priority as a guest of the W when making dinner reservations and you get access to the discotheques. If you check out the VIP card web site there's a lot on there about what you DONT get. Lame.

Looks to us like it's a move toward dividing you between your Starwood guest points and a W loyalty program. If that's the case, then our spy has it right: Lame.

Related Stories:
· Starwood Hotels coverage [HotelChatter]