Melissa Dewalt caught the travel bug a decade ago when she drove from her home state of Pennsylvania across the country to California to visit her then-boyfriend. She then road-tripped north to Seattle.
30.08.2024 - 14:30 / thepointsguy.com
Your email inbox likely sees daily promotional emails from travel and lifestyle brands. The sometimes sensationalized language in the subject line is often irritating enough to make you close your browser.
However, the promotional emails you should always click on are the ones sent by your favorite hotel loyalty programs. Though sometimes lackluster, promotions sent by major hotel chains can yield a significant uptick in rewards you earn on paid stays.
Even if you don't foresee yourself staying at these hotels during the promotional period, it's a good idea to enroll anyway. You never know what unexpected event will put you at the doorstep of a hotel.
Related: Best hotel rewards programs in the world: Which one is right for you?
Right now, the four most popular hotel loyalty programs among the TPG staff are:
These hotel programs perpetually offer promotions to incentivize you to stay (though the best promos are sometimes targeted toward members who stay the least). Promotions often include bonus points, free night certificates and extra elite night credits.
Let's look at current hotel promotions and how to enroll in them. Remember that you must register before your stay to benefit from these offers, so it's beneficial to check before you check in to your next hotel.
Currently, you can easily earn 5,000 points when you join IHG One Rewards, book at an IHG property and stay within 21 days of joining.
For more IHG offers, be sure to check out the promotions page. There, you can find out how to earn bonus points or receive discounted hotel stays.
You can earn bonus points with Marriott's current fall promotion.
Earn 2,000 bonus points when you register on Marriott's promotion website and complete a two-night qualifying stay between Sept. 10 and Nov. 26. Additionally, if you stay two or more nights at an MGM Collection property, you'll earn an additional 2,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.
Note that you must register for this promotion by Nov. 12. Click here for the full details on how you can earn bonus points this fall.
World of Hyatt members can earn double points for qualifying stays at more than 500 participating Hyatt Place and Hyatt House hotels worldwide for stays completed by Oct. 15.
Members must register for this promotion by Sept. 15 on the World of Hyatt website.
To register for this and other World of Hyatt promotions, log in to your Hyatt account and click the "Offers" button at the top of the screen. Find the offer you'd like to enroll in and click the "Learn more" button.
Note that not all promotions — for example, the "500 Reasons to Stay Somewhere New" offer — require enrollment. Finally, enter your World of Hyatt membership number and click the "Register" button.
Related: Current Hyatt
Melissa Dewalt caught the travel bug a decade ago when she drove from her home state of Pennsylvania across the country to California to visit her then-boyfriend. She then road-tripped north to Seattle.
Ski season is just around the corner, and the Ikon Pass is making it even easier to ski across the country by adding a new California mountain to the mix.
A few years ago, when flight prices were awfully expensive, I saw an Amtrak ticket from California to Washington, DC, for just $250 and snapped it up.
Travelers to several major cities in the U.S., including Honolulu, Boston and San Francisco, should be prepared for possible disruptions to hotel stays as thousands of hotel workers prepare for potential strikes.
Clarksville, a historic district of Austin, Texas, has lately emerged as a stylish dining and shopping enclave. Among the area’s most compelling new businesses is La Embajada, a design shop housed in a 1923 Craftsman bungalow. Combining the hospitality and interiors expertise of its founder, Raul Cabra — who has designed tableware for some of Mexico City’s most celebrated restaurants, including Rosetta and Pujol — La Embajada presents a refined, regionally diverse selection of Mexico’s artisanal offerings. A series of small rooms display vintage and contemporary furniture, from stately midcentury armchairs and 1970s glass sconces to a minimalist agave fiber rug by the Oaxaca-based textile artist Trine Ellitsgaard. The house is also an actual residence. Cabra often stays in the bedroom up the creaky stairs, and he’s recently made it available for short-term stays (bookings include a daily basket of baked goods from Austin’s Swedish Hill). Guests can purchase the room’s handmade décor, such as a pair of sleek bedside lamps in milky white onyx, a 1960s La Malinche dresser and a bedspread from a Michoacan manufacturer that once supplied Herman Miller. Downstairs, glassware, candles and gifts fill a section modeled after a typical general store in a small Mexican town. But La Embajada’s heart is its inviting kitchen, where visiting chefs cook elaborate meals and staff prepare ice cream and coffee. In another twist, every bespoke detail — including a hammered copper sink, caramel-colored tiles and waxed pine cabinets — can be custom-ordered for one’s own home.
As the summer travel season comes to a close, travelers have a new way to save on fall getaways. JetBlue recently announced the «Game On» fare sale, which offers flights as low as $49. The promotion is a nod to the fall football season, however the fares can provide an affordable options for early fall vacations, or last-minute trips. As an example, JetBlue shows a fare of $49 one-way from New York's JFK airport to Nashville, Tenn. for travel in both September and October.
Holland America Line is offering travelers a unique opportunity to experience a taste of its renowned Grand Voyages by booking segments of its 2025 Grand World Voyage or 2025 Grand Voyage: Pole to Pole. These abbreviated segments, available for as little as $169 per day, allow guests to enjoy the grandeur and luxury of a world-class voyage without committing to the entire four-month journey.
Disney Cruise Line is sharing more details about its newest ship, Disney Destiny, including its inaugural sailing date and some itinerary details.
Frontier Airlines unveiled 11 new routes across 15 airports that are scheduled to launch in October and November.
A new promotion allows Best Western Rewards members to earn double points on all stays between Sept. 3 and Nov. 18.
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Hundreds of charter and personal planes touched down on the same tarmac this weekend — and it wasn't in the Hamptons, Lake Tahoe, or any other particularly bougie hot spot. It was a pop-up airport called 88NV in the middle of the Nevada desert.