Hotel & Lodging Deals tips

If you have a prepaid travel accommodation you find you can’t use, TransferTravel will list it for a possible resale to someone else. Although based in the U.K., TransferTravel is targeting an international market including the U.S. and Canada. The idea sounds great, but the travel industry throws up a lot of roadblocks to any sort of trade.

How much will you be charged for that hotel stay? The answer, of course, should be obvious: You’ll pay the published rate, plus government-imposed taxes and fees. Whatever that total turns out to be is your price.

IHG Rewards this week released its latest list of PointBreaks hotels that are available for booking for just 5,000 points per night.

Enter the Budget Travel “Iceland” sweepstakes by February 19, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a trip for two to Iceland, including air, nine nights’ hotel, some meals, and local tours.

It’s been awhile since Hyatt’s last systemwide bonus promotion. That will be remedied beginning next month, with a new offer that, at least for high-frequency travelers, will have been well worth the wait.

As changes to hotel-program award prices go, the latest for InterContinental’s IHG Rewards are decidedly modest: Prices for award nights at 400 hotels will change by either 5,000 or 10,000 points, half moving up, half moving down. If it were just that 50-50 split, Rewards members might dismiss it as a wash and count their blessings. After all, “It could have been worse.”

Best Western isn’t known for its generous loyalty-program promotions. The rewards tend to be low value, and the offers have been hobbled by niggling restrictions.

That 10 percent AARP discount for Hyatt stays? Per Hyatt’s website: “Act now. Offer Expires January 31, 2016.”

Enter the Jarlsberg “Perfect Pairing” sweepstakes by September 12, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a four-night trip for two people to Oslo, Norway, including air and hotel.

Enter the American Airlines “Your Vacation Spot” sweepstakes by April 1, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a $10,000 American Airlines Vacations travel voucher.

Today, two storied travel brands that are destined for the scrap heap announced a marketing partnership that only serves to make their imminent demise that much sadder.

Yesterday, Marriott’s planned acquisition of Starwood, to create the world’s largest hotel company, was assumed to be a foregone conclusion.

Enter the Clos Du Bois “Spring in Sonoma” sweepstakes by April 26, 2016, for a chance to win one of the two grand prizes: trips for two to Sonoma, including air, three nights’ hotel, and $700 spending money.

Enter the Liberty Richter “Kitchens of India” sweepstakes by June 15, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a six-day trip for two to New Delhi, India, including air, transfers, and hotel.

For U.S. News & World Report, the road from weekly news magazine to publisher of company rankings has been a long and winding one. The key, though, to its shift toward data-driven ratings of companies and institutions was its 1983 publication of “America’s Best Colleges.”

If there is any one hotel in the world deserving of the term “iconic,” it’s the Waldorf Astoria, on Park Avenue between 49th and 50th streets in the heart of Manhattan.

From the people that brought you the famous Swedish Treehotel, comes their next big project: The Arctic Bath. On the Lule River in Sweden, you can float in luxury at this overnight spa experience.

In the world of hotel marketing, offering special rates for loyalty-program members who book direct with the hotels is the tactic du jour. Since Starwood deployed its members-only rates late last year, Hilton, Hyatt, and Marriott have followed suit. To that list can now be added InterContinental Hotels Group.

Enter the Budget Travel “Incredible India” sweepstakes by August 7, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: a six-night tour of India for two, including air, hotels, coach transport, breakfast and dinner daily, tour guide.

“Stop Clicking Around. Start Saving.” That’s the headline of Hilton’s new ad campaign, and the nub of its latest marketing push.

Enter the Wyndham “Have Points, Will Travel” sweepstakes by March 31, 2016, for a chance to win the grand prize: 1 million Wyndham Rewards points.