Tag: Preferred Hotels & Resorts

Citi Adds Preferred Hotels & Resorts as 1:4 Transfer Partner

Citi has one new transfer partner as of today, bringing the total number of partner programs to 19. Citi cardholders can now transfer ThankYou points to I Prefer Hotel Rewards, which is the loyalty program for Preferred Hotels & Resorts.

If you have one of the Citi premier products such as the Citi Strata Premier, you can transfer points at a ratio of 1:4. That means that for every 1,000 ThankYou points you will receive 4,000 I Prefer points. You can start transferring points here.

Preferred Hotels & Resorts is a collection of more than 650 independent hotels in over 80 countries. I Prefer members enjoy instant rewards and benefits including exclusive member rates, points for future stays, and hotel benefits such as early check-in and free Wi-Fi. 

Reward nights start at just 15,000 points, but they can go as high as 150,000 points per night. But those top properties can cost more than $1,000 per night. The Wall Street Hotel in New York for example is priced at 150,000 points or $1,495 per night. That would be a good redemptions of 37,500 ThankYou Points.

With all that said, finding any award availability seems almost impossible.  While you will see the price in points when you first search, you will then only see a cash price or cash + points option. I’m not sure if this is just temporary, but for now it doesn’t make sense to transfer points, unless you want to redeem at a handful of properties.

Examples

I did find a few properties that have award availability. The Inn by the Sea in Cape Elizabeth, Maine shows a cost of 100,000 points or $345.80 per night in late November. That’s not a bad deal for 25,000 ThankYou points.

Hotel Espana in Central Barcelona cost 50,000 points per night. Cash prices vary between $170 and $220.

Other options include the H10 Metropolitan in Barcelona Spain and The Windsor Court in New Orleans.

Let me know if you see any other properties that are available to book with points.

Citi ThankYou Transfer Partners

HT: newg33b

Book Preferred Hotels & Resorts Stays Online with Choice Points

Choice Hotels and Preferred Hotels & Resorts have long had a partnership, but redeeming Choice Privileges points has not been all that easy. Now that has changed as many Preferred Hotels properties are available to book online. That makes the process much easier, and adds value to the Choice Privileges program.

For those who are not familiar with Preferred Hotels & Resorts, this is a hotel chain, or group, with over 650 independent hotels, resorts, and residences, across 85 countries. Preferred Hotels & Resorts does not own, operate, or manage any of the hotels.

How To Book Preferred Hotels with Choice Points

You can book your Preferred Hotels & Resorts stays here with Choice points. Pricing ranges between 20,000 to 55,000 points per night.

If you don’t have enough points for a booking, then you need to check availability at this link. If availability is there, you can then transfer points to the Choice Privileges program on work on getting more points.

It’s also worth noting that while Choice awards can be booked no more than 100 days prior to planned arrival, that rule doesn’t apply to Preferred Hotels & Resorts bookings

How To Earn Choice Points

The best options to get more Choice Privileges points is through credit card welcome offers, or by transferring points from other transferable currencies.

Choice Hotels has two credit cards issued by Wells Fargo. The Choice Privileges Select Mastercard has a 60,00 points welcome offer and the Choice Privileges Mastercard has a 40,000 points offer. At launch we saw much better bonuses.

If you’re looking to transfer points, then you still have several options. Citi ThankYou and Wells Fargo Autograph cards lets you transfer points at a 1:2 ratio. Capital One and American Express also let you transfer points to Choice Privileges, but at a 1:1 ratio.

Buying points is also another option, if you can get a good enough redemption value to make it worthwhile.

HT: Frequent Miler