The Hotel Apps

[mickeycrimm]

There is really only two hotel booking companies on Trivago, Expedia and Booking.com. The rest are all owned by these two companies, except Trip Adviser but they are partners with Expedia.

Trivago is set up to make it look like there is a lot of competition. But don't be fooled.

I occasionally use Hotels.com which is owned by Expedia. For every 10 hotel nights you buy you'll get a credit for a free night. It's based on the average price you paid for the 10 nights.

If you spent $1000 before tax on the 10 room nights you'll get a $100 credit towards a free night. But you are still on the hook for the taxes. Taxes on hotel rooms can run anywhere from 10% to 25%.

You want to book a room as close to the $100 as you can get. If you book a room for $60 they will take the entire $100 credit for it.

You have to download their app to work the free nights. Collect 10 stamps on the app to get the free room.

You want to be careful when booking two or more consecutive nights. If I book two nights sometimes the app will say I will collect two stamps and other times it will say I will get one stamp. When they try to slick me like that I book two separate reservations.

[The Boz]

Mickey do you ever take the pricing you get from 3rd party sites and then go directly to the hotel brands website to compare?

As one who mostly uses Marriott brands or Hyatt, I feel I get better benefit from their own reward programs than from a 3rd party. I also believe the little extras from booking direct as a loyalty member are worth it. Things like upgrades and not getting walked on an overbooked night.

Marriott claims to match the prices from 3rd party sellers but I’ll be honest I’ve never put the legwork in to see how many opportunities there are to utilize it.

https://help.marriott.com/s/article/Article-22050

I recently have been checking out “bookaahotels.com” which is powered by booking.com to determine if the extra American Airlines miles and loyalty points are worth it. As the airlines are moving toward total spend instead of just flight miles, it’s a new game trying to gain/keep status with them.

In any case, great subject to discuss.

[mickeycrimm]

Mickey do you ever take the pricing you get from 3rd party sites and then go directly to the hotel brands website to compare?

As one who mostly uses Marriott brands or Hyatt, I feel I get better benefit from their own reward programs than from a 3rd party. I also believe the little extras from booking direct as a loyalty member are worth it. Things like upgrades and not getting walked on an overbooked night.

Marriott claims to match the prices from 3rd party sellers but I’ll be honest I’ve never put the legwork in to see how many opportunities there are to utilize it.

https://help.marriott.com/s/article/Article-22050

I recently have been checking out “bookaahotels.com” which is powered by booking.com to determine if the extra American Airlines miles and loyalty points are worth it. As the airlines are moving toward total spend instead of just flight miles, it’s a new game trying to gain/keep status with them.

In any case, great subject to discuss.

With Choice Hotels and Wyndam it's not just a little bit better to book directly from their apps, it's a hell of a lot better than 3rd party. It's all in working the points you get for the stays. You have to join their loyalty programs. Easy to do.

What makes Choice and Wyndam so good is the paid nights per free night ratio. I'll be going over all that.

[accountinquestion]

Here is what redietz said and since I was saying he was the most trusted source of news - I wanted this to go here.

If you've done enough on Priceline to become a VIP (doesn't take much), you can access the "buy-it-blind" options where you commit to a property based on location, price, and stars without a name reveal.

I've done the majority of my hotel pricing on hotels.com, matching account's experiences, and hotels.com is generally, I think, an easy to navigate default option. But I have been able to beat the hotels.com pricing, using the VIP Priceline stuff, sometimes significantly. The trick for Las Vegas is to check the amenities list and star option and resort fee amount. If you do that, you can cross-reference the no-name listing on Priceline with the name listing on Priceline, and usually you can pin down which hotel is actually the "no name" listing. So you are buying the "no name" listing while actually knowing the likely hotel and beating the name price. For LV, you might get fooled once in ten tries and wind up somewhere other than what you surmised.

But don't take my word for it. I'm a reliable source, as account posits in his tagline.

I looked a bit at prices. Trivago is definitely a few dollars cheaper than hotels.com but it seems like it'd be hard to make up the 10% discount in the longrun. I think I have 4 days as it is. I need to go through them. Pointless to save up unless I think I'm going broke.

The Wyndam places are too nice for me. When I'm paying full price for a room on a roadtrip I'm a motel guy.

My main rule is to NEVER get the cheapest room in an area and if you can avoid all motels in that immediate price-range then DO SO. By doing this you avoid most of the crackhead types. The cheapest place is also probably not as well maintained and higher chance of bedbugs (never seen any) but the main thing is just to avoid the ghetto types.

Thats another interesting question. What is the deal with bedbugs? I've heard of them but never had them. How many stories you guys have of them?

[mickeycrimm]

Choice Hotels is the largest hotel chain in the US with about 5500 hotels. They range from economy to midscale to upscale.

Upscale:
Ascend
Cambria

Midscale:
MainStay Suites
Comfort Inn
Comfort Suites
Sleep Inn
Quality Inn

Economy:
Econo Lodge
Rodeway

Extended Stay:
Suburban
Woodspring Suites
MainStay is also an extended stay.

I belong to the Choice Privileges loyalty program. Easy enough to do online. You start out getting 10 points per pre tax dollar spent. You graduate up to Diamond Level after 20 paid nights where you get 20 points per pre tax dollar spent. As long as you use Choice Hotels for at least 20 nights per year you will remain at Diamond Level.

Choice runs promotions several times a year to get extra points. They run these promotions for about 2 months at a time, then back to basic for about a month then they will come with another promotion. For June and July this year I'm averaging about 4800 points per paid night where I'm spending about $100 per night, tax included.

Free room nights cost 8000, 10,000, 12,000, 15,000, 20,000 points depending on the cost and quality of the room.

A recent one-night stay at a Quality Inn in Wyoming and a one-night stay at a Quality Inn in Montana cost me $195 total, tax included. That's about $97 per night. With basic points I would get about 3500 points for these two hotel stays. But with the promotion I get 9700 points.

If I wanted a free night at either of these two hotels it would cost me 12,000 points. But there are many cities in the country where I can use the points to get a free night for 8,000 to 10,000 points.

One of the tricks I use is to pay for rooms during the promotional period then use the points in the one month period where there is no promotion. I rack up points into the hundreds of thousands.

I also use the Choice Privileges Credit Card. It's a Barclay Card. With this card you get 5 points per dollar spent at Choice Hotels and 2 points per dollar spent on everything else. The points go into my Choice Privileges account every month. When you first get the card you get 32,000 Choice Privilege points by charging $1000 in the first 90 days.

You can also use Choice Privilege points for gift cards and airline mileage but I've never done it.

[mickeycrimm]

One of the problems of using 3rd party sites is one pretty much can't get senior rates.

[mickeycrimm]

I recently started using Wyndam Hotels & Resorts They have about 6000 hotels in the US. The brands are:

Upscale:
Wyndam

Midscale:
LaQuinta
Wingate
Americinn
Ramada
Baymont

Economy:
Microtel
Days Inn
Super 8
Howard Johnson
Travelodge

I belong to their rewards program, Wyndam Rewards, and have the app on my phone. With Wyndam you start at 10 points per pre tax dollar spent and graduate up to 12 points per pre tax dollar spent....and you always get a minimum of 1000 points per night.

Free nights start at 7,500 points but thats for the cheaper hotels. For hotels up around $100 or more you'll get charged 15,000 points per night. But Wyndam Rewards also offers discounted rooms for 1500 or 3000 points.

For instance, if I want the La Quinta Inn on July 20th at Catoosa, OK just across the street from the Hard Rock Tulsa these are my options:

Paid night $111.72 + $16.30 tax = $128.03
Or free night for 15,000 points.
Or for 3000 points I get a discounted night for $79.80 + $11.65 tax = $91.45

That's a difference of $36.58, a pretty good trade off. If you do the math the 3K points is 20% of the 15K points but the discount, $36.58 is worth 29% off the listed price.

Hotels.com has the room listed for $135 + $20 tax = $155.00

On Trivago the lowest price is $105 + $15.33 tax = $120.33 from Zenhotels.com.

This "Zenhotels.com" is a bunch of sucker shit. I once booked a room with them because it was a very cheap price. When I go with one of these off brand booking sites I always have to spend time punching my credit card information, address, phone number, etc. That takes a lot of extra time whereas with Choice and Wyndom and Hotels.com they have all that information stored on the app and I can quickly book a room.

So after I book the room with Zen I got an email saying that price was unavailable and they switched me up to the price everyone else was giving. I got pissed and immediately cancelled the reservation. I don't like assholes playing games. So even tho Zen has the cheapest price listed....fuck those assholes.

So I don't like those off brand sites on Trivago because of the bullshit. And if you check their customer service ratings its not to good.

[The Boz]

Note for those that are Diamond or higher with Caesars you can match to Wyndham Diamond immediately and get their top benefits. Also vice versa. You do have to actually earn the status with one of the groups to get the match. For the past couple years people were matching one back and forth each year without earning either but the loophole was closed earlier this year.

https://www.caesars.com/myrewards/pa...yndham_resorts

https://www.wyndhamhotels.com/wyndha.../member-levels

[mickeycrimm]

I also work room comp where I can.

Oklahoma City has 3 big casinos, Riverwind, Remington and Newcastle. Riverwind sends me a two-day hotel package every month so I base out of there and cover the other two casinos.

[accountinquestion]

I also work room comp where I can.

Oklahoma City has 3 big casinos, Riverwind, Remington and Newcastle. Riverwind sends me a two-day hotel package every month so I base out of there and cover the other two casinos.

I'd suggest that anyone who is spending time in a casino outside of their homebase to try booking rooms at the hotel via a players-club before they try any of the third party apps. I know this is beyond obvious for regulars here but I don't think I appreciated this until I started to really hang out in casinos (outside poker). Even if I only get 2 Sun-THurs comped days, those weekend days that aren't comped are often cheaper than third party rooms while also being far superior.

My homebase casino will give me 2 days a week. They're really nice rooms. If I go to a lesser casino an hour away I'd expect to get more than those 2 days and perhaps even free weekends. Now this secondary casino isn't near as nice and there might not be as much to do but this is about cheap rooms.

Micky's advice about working choice hotels is some golden stuff. I've already looked at getting away from Hotels.com and I'm sorta expecting hotels.com to become my secondary goto.

[mickeycrimm]

Wyndam also runs promotions where two separate one-night stays will get you an extra 7500 points.

[Dan Druff]

For the most part, these third party booking apps suck. In the 1990s, they were good. Now they're trash.

Among other things:

- You usually get about the same price as the hotel charges

- You are frequently given the worst room in the house

- Since the site acts as a travel agent, you pay them, not the hotel. So if there's a problem with your stay and you want some kind of reduction in price, forget about it. Extremely difficult.

- Customer service is foreign-based and horrendous


The last time I used one, it was for a hotel near Yosemite which didn't have its own direct booking system. Laughably, I was booked in a room type which no longer was available, and I got the bad news when I was about two hours away. Fortunately a slightly "worse" room type was available, so they moved me to that, and of course the price reduced. It took about an hour to resolve this on the phone. I couldn't get any compensation other than that, other than some useless credits with that booking site, which I vowed never to use again.

[mickeycrimm]

For the most part, these third party booking apps suck. In the 1990s, they were good. Now they're trash.

Among other things:

- You usually get about the same price as the hotel charges

- You are frequently given the worst room in the house

- Since the site acts as a travel agent, you pay them, not the hotel. So if there's a problem with your stay and you want some kind of reduction in price, forget about it. Extremely difficult.

- Customer service is foreign-based and horrendous


The last time I used one, it was for a hotel near Yosemite which didn't have its own direct booking system. Laughably, I was booked in a room type which no longer was available, and I got the bad news when I was about two hours away. Fortunately a slightly "worse" room type was available, so they moved me to that, and of course the price reduced. It took about an hour to resolve this on the phone. I couldn't get any compensation other than that, other than some useless credits with that booking site, which I vowed never to use again.

Since I started using Wyndom I'm moving away from Hotels.com. I've got 2 more stamps to collect for a free night then that's pretty much it. But here are some situations/locations, usually in small towns without Choice or Wyndam, that I might use them.

[mickeycrimm]

Last night I checked into a Wingate by Wyndam. Had made the reservation on the mobile app. When I got to the room it hadn't been cleaned. Went back to the desk. They didn't have another room available to switch me to so they sent a maid to clean the room.

I sat in the lobby for half an hour while they cleaned it. They comped me the room for the inconvenience.

[mickeycrimm]

I also work room comp where I can.

Oklahoma City has 3 big casinos, Riverwind, Remington and Newcastle. Riverwind sends me a two-day hotel package every month so I base out of there and cover the other two casinos.

I'd suggest that anyone who is spending time in a casino outside of their homebase to try booking rooms at the hotel via a players-club before they try any of the third party apps. I know this is beyond obvious for regulars here but I don't think I appreciated this until I started to really hang out in casinos (outside poker). Even if I only get 2 Sun-THurs comped days, those weekend days that aren't comped are often cheaper than third party rooms while also being far superior.

My homebase casino will give me 2 days a week. They're really nice rooms. If I go to a lesser casino an hour away I'd expect to get more than those 2 days and perhaps even free weekends. Now this secondary casino isn't near as nice and there might not be as much to do but this is about cheap rooms.

Micky's advice about working choice hotels is some golden stuff. I've already looked at getting away from Hotels.com and I'm sorta expecting hotels.com to become my secondary goto.

AIQ, remember when working the Choice promotions that it takes two separate 1-night stays to get the bonus points.

[mickeycrimm]

Boz has already posted about Caesar's and Wyndam. You can also use the Choice Privileges app to book casino hotels. A promotion for 5000 points for two separate casino stays just ended. But they will come with another one. Here's a link to Choice Hotels. And the bottom link lists the casino hotels that work with Choice Privileges:

https://www.choicehotels.com/?mc=smg...D_BwE&gclsrc=a

https://www.choicehotels.com/ascend/casino-hotels

[mickeycrimm]

I've got 19,000 Wymdam reward points banked. So I looked at a Microtel for tonight. My options:

Pay for the room, $72 + $7 tax = $79

Use points for free night, 7500 points. The value of the points would be 79/7500 = 10.5 cents per point.

Or pay 1500 points plus $53 + $5 tax = $58 discounted rate. A difference of $21 from the market price. Value of points is 21/1500 =14 cents a point. This is clearly a better value than paying 7500 points for a free night.

My other options:

A MainStaySuites by Choice Privileges for $89 + $8 tax = $97. With the current promotion I'll get about 4700 points for this paid one-night stay. I put a value of $38 on the 4700 points (8 cents X 4700 points)

Or I could pay 12,000 points for the room. A value of 8 cents a point (97/12,000).

Or I could pay 6,000 points plus $51 + $5 = $56. A value of 6.8 cents per point (41/6000).

I've never seen a situation with Choice Privileges yet where spending 6000 points to get a discounted rate is worth it. The points are always worth less.

I booked the Microtel with the $52 + $7 discounted rate I get for 1500 points. I want to see if or how many points I get for the stay with the discounted rate. They advertise at least 1000 points per stay. But will they cough that up on the discounted rate? If they do it will make working the discounted rate the best way to go by far. We'll find out. The details of my stay will be posted in the app in a few days.

[AxelWolf]

MICKEY WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't don't ruin this forum with BS like this. Please get back to the good stuff.

[accountinquestion]

Choice hotels seems pretty solid but having to book 20 nights before I get the multiplier boost (to really gain the benefit over competitors) is a bit too much. If it is a calendar year then thats fine but a sliding window would be better but these things are almost always a calendar year. We will see.

I had a sweet deal with MGM because my status there gives me no resort fees but meh no easy way for me to give that sort of action due to strip conditions and them no longer giving points for purchases.

[mickeycrimm]

Choice hotels seems pretty solid but having to book 20 nights before I get the multiplier boost (to really gain the benefit over competitors) is a bit too much. If it is a calendar year then thats fine but a sliding window would be better but these things are almost always a calendar year. We will see.

I had a sweet deal with MGM because my status there gives me no resort fees but meh no easy way for me to give that sort of action due to strip conditions and them no longer giving points for purchases.

The current Choice Privilege bonus point promotion is just about over. July is the last day. And you need two separate 1-night stays to get the bonus points.

In the bonus point period, being Diamond I average about 4800 points per night. Someone who is not Diamond would average about 4000 points a night. So you are still getting a good deal even tho you are not Diamond.

And when you do buy that 20th stay you go Diamond on that very day.

After July 31 you just need to monitor the site to see when they come with a new bonus point promotion.