All the tricks that do NOT work to cheat hotel loyalty programs
Are you new to the world of traverl reward? Do you want to take advantage at 100% of the benefits associated with your Hilton card status [...]
Marriott
Are you new to the world of traverl reward? Do you want to take advantage at 100% of the benefits associated with your card status Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, Radisson Rewards Or any other loyalty program? Here are all the tricks that definitely won't work.
In this article:
Earn more points
These are some ideas you might think of to accumulate more points to turn into free stays, put your mind at ease because you will not get your goal.
The best bonuses
Do not book directly on the chain's website/app. If you find a cheaper price on a site like booking or another OTA, take a screenshot and contact the hotel. Not only should you get that price, but you will probably receive other benefits and most importantly earn points that you would not otherwise accumulate.
Telling friends and family to use your card number., because they don't care about points. Sorry, we are not at the co-op or gas station where you can give your card to friends or the lady in front of you at the cash register.
Make a reservation for a friend by including him or her as a second guest. This idea won't work either, if you don't check in you won't get any benefit from the reservation
The room is not paid for by you. Again, many chains want the cardholder or the person who made the reservation to pay. The ability to accumulate points for a room paid for by others varies from hotel to hotel. If the reservation is made and paid for by a company, you are unlikely to get the benefits during your business trips.
Achieving status
We have explained it in many articles, the higher the status the easier it is to get benefits as free in-suite upgrades and more. If you plan to try to climb the ladder using these ploys, you may as well save your energy.
Book, pay, and don't stay. Have you found a room in a Marriott in Turkey that costs 15€ per night and want to book 20 nights and become a Platinum customer? No, it won't work because all hotels demand that the customer check in to start the stay. You will end up with zero points and less money in your bank account.
Booking two or more rooms in the same hotel will earn you points, but no more simultaneous stays: points are used to book award nights, stays on the other hand to obtain status.
Booking and taking advantage of online check-in without physically going to the hotel. Again, this is very difficult, although there are some facilities that (also due to Covid) have dematerialized and digitized the procedures, but again they may want proof that you actually arrived at the hotel.
Booking the same night in two different hotels Of the same chain. No, you cannot be in two different places at the same time, ergo you will not get the two stays.
Book 7 stays, consecutive, of one night in the same hotel Will not make you money, for example, 2000 bonus points per stay and seven qualifying stays, because this practice which is called backtoback would result in a unique 7-night stay.
However, there is a trick that might work, but it is not really a trick. If nights and not stays are also enough to obtain status you could, by finding an affordable rate, book 15 nights in a hotel in the group Marriot and take advantage of the promotion double nights double points. At this point you show up at the hotel, check in you go up to your room and after that you go home. At the end of the 15th day you check out from the app and zac as if by magic double points and nights earned.
Exploiting the status of others
Again, all possible shortcuts have long since been tried and blocked.
As a Hilton Honors Gold you are entitled to free breakfast. However, you cannot transfer your benefits to other rooms you have booked for friends and relatives.
You don't have the status, but you want to book under your own name as a strategy to get it. If you are traveling with a friend/partner/family member who has Diamond status from Marriott your reservation, unfortunately, Will not enjoy the benefits provided by the status of the other occupant of the room.
Similarly. it doesn't work to get a reservation from a friend who is Diamond Hilton and get listed as the second guest on the reservation, if the holder does not show up you will not have access to status privileges, in fact your friend may have his status cancelled if bad faith in the reservation is proven.
In conclusion
We have tried to explain all the practices that might lead you into temptation but will do no good, indeed in some cases you may be banned. Want "guaranteed" status and save hundreds on your hotel stays? Your only salvation is called American Express Platinum.