hotel points vs. priceline
 

Would like to find out more on what people think on staying at certain hotel chains and racking up points (marriott, hilton, starwood, etc) OR using web sites like Priceline or discount sites where you don't get the points but save some money on the rates.

Which one is a better deal?

I've never done a stict analysis, but if I can do priceline and save ~25-50% of the going rate (not rack rate) for hotel rooms, I'm willing to bet an awful lot that the rate of accumulating free rooms through loyalty programs doesn't begin to match that, unless you're on a limited time promotional offer.

I almost always try priceline first, unless there are circumstances making that undesirable (more than 2 per room, possibility of cancellation, need specific area that is more narrowed down than priceline zones, etc.). If I can't get what I consider to be a "good deal" that way, I'll stick with a previously booked, cancellable reservation, and I'll be sure that I'm enrolled in that hotels rewards program if I end up using the direct reservation.

I agree -- Priceline. You can choose any section of any city, even one that doesn't have your chosen hotel chain, and economically there's just no contest, unless you can find a points system that gives you one night free for every two you stay.

People who rack up points and get to stay free may do a lot of business travel and so the 'free' nights are really free when taken as vacation.

Credit cards linked to hotel chains are another way of racking up points on grocery shopping or whatever.

Otherwise Priceline or whatever discount site you prefer will be a better deal

Collecting points for nights on a hotel chain program is a losers game - unless you travel all the time. For the usual vacatin traveler is takes forver to earn any sort of benefit. (I'm not saying not to join and take the points - esp if they're transferrable) but you will do much better with significant savings on Priceline. (I used to do the hotel chain thing when I traveled all the time on business - and would earn 8/10 free nights per year - that I used for vacation.)

However- with Priceline now having fewer choices - and it seems offering less in savings - that may change. (I don;t use Priceline myself - except for rare airport stays - since I always prefer to pick a specific location - and would never consider it unless the svings were significant - at least $75/$100 per night. But then- I'm a little picky about where I stay.)

I wasn't aware that PL now has fewer choices.

It's almost like comparing apples and oranges.
Your potential for saving money is definitely greater with Priceline. The disadvantage, of course, is that you usually don't know and/or can't guess what property you are bidding on.
As others have pointed out, it can take years (perhaps a lifetime!) to earn enough points to take advantage of a hotel rewards program. So, as has also been previously pointed out, unless you're a regular business traveler, hotel rewards programs really don't pay off. (But, if you belong to Amex's membership rewards program, you can apply your points to these rewards programs. So that may be something to think about.)

A credit card tied to the hotel rewards program (and charging/paying off EVERYthing) helps boost the points balance. I just booked two nites in London at the Crowne Plaza near B. Palace for 50,000 pts with my Priority One Visa. Two FREE nights in London - even against Priceline - looks awfully good from my perspective.

On the other hand, hotel programs do have some pretty great incentives. My partner and I both accepted recent offers from Marriott Rewards program for a no fee (first year) Visa card. With acceptance of the card which cost nothing, we each got a certificate for a free Marriott night (up to a category 4) and enough points for another free night (up to a category 3). So we thought four free hotel nights for doing nothing was pretty great. We have already used all four of the free nights and cancelled our cards.

tuckerdc - How many $$ did you have to charge on your Visa to earn those 50,000 points, and what would you have paid for that hotel (or a similar one) for your dates if you didn't have the points? There are many options out there for credit cards that pay 1% or more cash for every dollar you put on them. I have not yet seen a hotel or miles program that was better than that. Cash is flexible to be spent anywhere. Miles or points can only be used with a particular hotel chain or airline, and you have to be planning to travel to use them.

Patrick - I agree, a case like that is when it makes sense to take advantage of hotel loyalty programs. I've also seen deals by email from time to time that if you stay at a particular hotel chain twice within a certain time period, you get a night free, or similar. These might be good too, but they're special promotions rather than the normal rate.

Thanks for the info everyone!
I started looking at Fodors to help plan my first trip to Maui and was suprised to learn how many people use Priceline.

As for using points, I recently cleaned out my Marriott account for 5 nights at the Ritz in Kapalua. I figured the cash value of the 170,000 points was over $2200!

The marriott Visa Rewards card only needs to be used once "for any amount" to get 15,000 points. The deal for the free certificate isn't available right now. But points are. We did the personal and business cards through VISA, separately for both my wife and I and got a total of 60,000 points PLUS the certificates for free nights (a total of 4 certificates) because of two personal VISA cards and two business VISA cards. So it was a sweet deal for us.

All you had to do was make one purchase, I usually purchased a tank of gas on each card.

Anyway I love to use Priceline first, if a great rate is available that way. I use my Marriott points especially for busy nights or EVENT weekends, where Priceline availability is out of the question. I have two nights booked at a Fairfield Inn during the Big Ten football season this fall at a campus area hotel. The rate was $150 a night for both nights (at a FAIRFIELD!!), especially sweet to use 14,000 Marriott points to save $300!!