The average traveler looks for three things in a hotel. First and probably most important is the location of the hotel. Then the price and the amenities are the other two factors travelers are paying attention to. In general, a combination or personal balance of those three factors will decide which hotel the average traveler will book.
Introducing reward programs
However, if you prefer to book this way you are leaving out a lot of benefits by not going through a hotel reward program. Benefits that make reward program so attractive are amenities such as upgrades, lounge access, free breakfast, high-speed internet, and spa vouchers. Those benefits might vary from hotel and reward program, but in general, it is a real money saver. And the champions league of reward benefits are free nights, and they are very attainable. So mainly by not booking through a reward program, you are literally losing money.
So which reward program is the right fit for you?
This is a quite tricky question that highly depends on the personal situation and preferences. There are reward programs for more or less every kind of hotel or budget. Meaning if you rather stay in fancy hotels, then the reward program of the IBIS Hotel chain would not be the right fit for you. In that case, you instead want to make sure you are enrolled in a program that gives you access to the best hotels for the best price in your range.
For the sake of ease, we are looking at the best-known reward program when it comes to price/value relation.
Starwood Preferred Guest
This popular program joined forces with Marriot and got instantly boosted to one of the biggest and best programs available. The rare and exclusive status of platinum enables travelers to experience a new world of amenities and mostly saving money.