UK business hotels with best loyalty/rewards schemes?

SWK

Hi there, I'm soon to start a new job that will see me travelling across the UK lots. I'll be staying in business hotels (3 and 4 star) around twice per month. I have to book these through a company appointed travel provider. Does anyone know of any decent loyalty/reward schemes that the hotels run (e.g. Accor / Best Western) that will see me earn some kind of benefit (e.g. free leisure stay). A colleague uses Holiday Inn I think. Thanks, SWK

SWK

I'm going to do a reccie of all the major hotel loyalty schemes in the UK. This will probably be easier said than done but should be worthwhile!

Best Western Rewards (as of 22/03/13)

Earn 10 points for every 55 pence spent. Rooms from 8,000 points per night. Therefore if a room costs 55 pounds per night then it'll earn 1,000 points, so (a minimum of) 8 stays = 1 free stay.

SWK

Holiday Inn - Priority Club Rewards (as of 22/03/13)

Earn 10 points for every $1 spent (somewhat confusing for UK customers). Therefore if a room costs $100 then 1,000 points will be earnt. Rewards nights (free stays) start at 10,000 points (depending on hotel category) therefore it'll take at least 10 stays before a free stay is earnt. There does however seem to be some other benefits to cardholders (e.g. late check-out and free daily newspaper).

pleasedelete

I find Club Carlson quite good as they have lots of offers and bonus points. Usually free nights offers each year as well. But some hotels are a bit ropey. You get to gold very quickly.

Best benefits in terms of extras during the stay are Hilton or Starwood when you get to gold hilton and platinum Starwood. Not many uk starwoods though. Hiton is good for virgin airmiles.

Go and look at miles and points section of flyertalk. It has lots of info.

SWK

Thanks for the feedback PleaseDelete - I'll look into those companies.

The analysis continues...

Days Inn / Ramada - Wyndham Rewards (as of 22/03/13)

These US hotel brands have plenty of sites in the UK but the rewards scheme routes through to the US website. Very unclear but it seems that 20 stays are needed before 5,500 points are earned - which is enough for a free stay.

shark_DB

while I was working away I found the best combination for me was
1 cash back credit card
2 quidco cash back
3 hotel club which gave a percentage back as free stays
4 best western rewards, which gets you a better room/free paper and more free stays at some very nice hotels
the company would have paid up front but I was much better off paying and booking myself and claiming back later.

redpete

I've stayed at Radisson hotels a lot over the last year and Club Carlson is excellent as you reach their higher tiers of membership. The top tier gives you 75% bonus on points for spending on the room and food/drink, they offer free upgrades, late check-out and the offers (e.g. triple points for the last couple of months) are worthwhile. During the triple points period it took approx 6 nights to earn enough points for a free night in a good hotel in London.

SWK

Radisson / Park Inn / Park Plaza - Club Carlson (as of 24/03/13)

20 Gold Points are earned per $1 spent. Therefore a $100 room will earn 2,000 Gold Points. Free nights start from 9,000 points (or 4.5 x $100 stays) therefore this looks to be a very good reward scheme. There are 4 levels of Club Carlson reward card - the 3 higher levels include accelerated points earning.

N_R

I stay away 2 or 3 nights per week on avergae, mostly UK but other places in Europe.

I book holiday inn through quidco (varies but between 7 and 12% cashback)
I use a cash-back credit card.

I collect the priority club points. Rarely use them for free nights, but change them into gift vouchers. 15,000 points gets you a £25 gift card for Argos, John Lewis, plus other decent stores.

Also if you wait to convert, then once a year there is a 'sale' where you use 30% less points for the same voucher.
There was usually (not so many past 6 months) lots of offers where if you stayed 15 nights in 3 months you got 20,000 bonus points or double points after 3 speterate stays. Last year there was a promo where you stayed so many nights and got a Panassonic Olympic branded camera. Never got the camera but got 40,000 points instead.


I'm platinum so get free room upgades sometimes. In Crown Plaza this upgrade comes with access to the lounge which has a free bar.

Holiday Inn has a good coverage as well, not like some hotel chains.

p00hsticks

I don't travel an awful lot on company business myself, but as Shard DB says, Best Western Rewards is good for getting room upgrades etc. Last time looked (a while back) HHilton HHonors Gold entitles you to free wifi in your room (otherwise it's some extortionate price per 24 hours)

If the company you're joining is a large one, note that they might have negotiated deals with some of these chains to put you straight in at a higher tier of memebership.

SWK

Jurys Rewards - Jurys Inn (as of 25/03/13)

There's a very clear and easy to understand loyalty programme with points awarded for Guest and also (corporate) Bookers. 10 points are awarded for every £10 / 10 Euros and free stays can be purchased from 6,900 points (which can be earned after around 8-10 stays by my reckoning). If you stay more than 10 times in a year then you get free mineral water in your room plus 10% off in the bar/restaurant.

The downside to the Jurys Inn programme is that all bookings must be direct with Jurys in order to qualify for points.