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Yesterday I received an email inviting me to book two nights and get the third night free at participating Aloft, Element, and Four Points hotels because I have a Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express.
The offer indicates that on stays at participating Aloft, Element, and Four Points hotels, I will get the third night free if I pay for two nights with my Starwood card.
Will I be taking advantage? How good of a value is this offer?
When I first got this stay-two-nights-get-one-free offer, I thought for sure I would participate, but then I dug a little deeper, and I don’t see a ton of value.
I don’t need hotel rooms. I prefer cheaper accommodations. I’m typing this post from a hotel room, but that is only because this hotel stay will complete my Big Win promotion and earn me 153,000 IHG Rewards points.
Most of my hotel stays are either with hotel points from credit cards or to take advantage of the few mega-promotions we see each year.
The hallmark of those mega-promotions is that you stay a certain number of nights at any of a brand’s properties, and you get a free nights at any of the brand’s properties. It’s usually easy enough to pay for a really cheap hotel and get free nights at a really expensive hotel.
But this promotion lacks that element because your free third night must come at the same hotel as your paid nights, and all three nights have to be consecutive.
Basically this promotion might as well be called “Get 33% Off Three Nights Stays at Adequate Properties.”
That doesn’t interest me so much, especially since not many properties seem to be participating. I couldn’t find a list, but I searched for Los Angeles, and only one–airport hotel–property came up. That was common in the cities I searched.
I’m going to take a pass on this promo, but I still appreciate getting one extra perk from my Starwood Preferred Guest® Credit Card from American Express, even though I have the card to earn Starpoints–the most valuable points in the travel-sphere–and not for hotel promos.
If you have the card, you should be eligible for the promo. Even if you don’t, you might be able to take advantage by calling 877-782-0108 or going to www.spg.com/amex3for2 and using promo code Z3H.
Full terms & conditions:
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel Portal and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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I’m not so sure you’re really getting a bargain when they toss in a third night free as it’s only useful if you actually want the third night. Anyway with the web now it’s not always easy to find consistency with bargain priced hotels. It really depends upon demand on the day. I went back to a boutique hotel 3 months later to find their new special rate had doubled on what it was before. Now I prefer to check out bookatel.com at the last minute check the location and reviews and see what’s the best value for money