Why does the same hotel suddenly cost more points per night?

At a glance#

What a category is#

Every chain sorts its properties into tiers. The tier decides how many points a night costs, and it applies to the base room type. Its basis is the price level, not the fittings, so a simple property in an expensive city can sit higher than a good property in a cheap region. The category says something about demand and little about comfort.

Two properties in the same category can also be far apart on cash price, because the tier is averaged across the year. For a single date the category therefore says little about whether the night is worth redeeming. It only says what the night costs in points.

The most important rule for hotel points follows from this. Redeem where the cash price for that date is unusually high, not where the category happens to look low, and compare the cash price of a specific night with the points price of the same night, never one category with another.

How recategorisations work#

Three routes lead to a new tier: the annual round, a move outside that round, and the complete replacement of categories by dynamic pricing.

The annual round#

Most chains recategorise once a year. Properties move up when their cash rates have risen and down when demand has softened. The announcement comes a few weeks ahead, and in that window bookings can still be secured at the old price where the trip is planned anyway.

After the effective date the new price applies to new bookings. Existing bookings generally stay untouched, and that is the only room to manoeuvre. Travellers who visit the same cities regularly soon see from the list which properties rise every year and which stay stable. The announcement says something about the chain as well: it reveals which regions the chain considers in demand, and planning can follow.

Whether a move can be predicted#

A recategorisation cannot be predicted reliably. Properties whose cash rates have risen sharply over the year tend to move up in the next round, and the official announcement usually comes only a few weeks ahead. A traveller who watches the cash price of a favourite property has a rough early warning, nothing more. The practical consequence is modest but useful: a trip that is already planned for a property with rising rates is better booked before the round than after it.

Why it feels like a devaluation#

After a move upwards the balance in the account stays the same and the price rises. For the traveller the outcome is identical to a classic devaluation. The chain calls it something else, because formally only one property changed tier, but for a traveller with a specific destination that distinction means nothing.

How a devaluation works in detail is described in what happens in a devaluation. The mechanism is the same; only the trigger differs.

The quiet variant#

Properties can also move outside the annual round. A renovation, a change of brand or a takeover produces a new tier, and such changes are rarely announced widely. Existing bookings usually stand, while new bookings follow the new tier.

Downward moves happen too. They frequently affect properties in regions with weak demand, and that is where the best redemptions appear for travellers with time.

For fixed destinations a short list helps: property, current category, price of the night, and the date it was last checked. Kept once and checked annually across all the chains you use, it takes a few minutes and prevents a planned redemption from suddenly costing twice as much.

One special case is a property that belongs to the chain only temporarily. Franchisees come and go, and with the switch the ability to book with points disappears even though the property keeps its name.

Dynamic pricing instead of categories#

Several chains have replaced fixed categories with prices that follow the cash rate, which removes the award chart as a planning basis. The advantage for the chain is obvious. The award price rises automatically at peak times without any recategorisation being needed.

For travellers it means a smaller margin. The value per point swings less, and the outstanding redemptions become rarer. Collecting in such a programme calls for shorter horizons, with a balance built for a specific trip, not held for years.

An intermediate form exists as well. Some chains keep categories and let the points price move within a category by season, which reduces predictability without removing it entirely.

Worked example: one night, two dates#

The same property is booked on two dates. The category is identical, the cash price differs sharply.

Fixed categories are worth more to travellers because they allow the most expensive dates to be paid at a fixed points price. The value per point comes from the gap between cash price and points price, and that gap is widest with fixed categories on dates when demand peaks, around trade fairs and holidays.

A high category is not bad in itself. What matters is the ratio between the cash price and the points price, and at peak times expensive properties can deliver the best value per point of all. Free night awards add a second limit: they are usually valid up to a category or a points cap, and above it a top up is needed where the programme permits one at all.

Under dynamic pricing the gap between the two dates almost disappears. A dynamic programme deserves a soberer view for that reason: the best nights cost the most points too.

How to calculate the value#

The calculation is the same as for flights. Divide the cash price of the night by the points used, and the result is the value per point.

Two corrections belong to it. In a points plus cash booking, subtract the cash portion first, as points plus cash describes, otherwise the value comes out too high. And use only the price you would have paid. A luxury property you would never have booked without points produces no real value, as what points are worth shows. With both corrections the figure holds up; without them you get the spectacular values that circulate in trip reports.

Longer stays are worth a look too. Some programmes grant a free night on longer stays, and that rule changes the value per point noticeably. Staying one night longer than needed shifts the average price, and with tiered pricing the extra night can lift the value per point for the whole stay.

Tracking points and nights across a year makes the pattern obvious. Two or three good redemptions carry the whole balance, and the rest is routine. Noting what each night would have cost in cash also shows at the end of the year whether collecting paid off at all.

When it is not worth redeeming points#

Six situations in which redeeming is not worth doing:

• On cheap nights. A low cash price produces a low value per point.
• In dynamic programmes without a peak. Where the points price tracks the cash rate, almost no gap arises.
• When a free night fits. A certificate that would otherwise expire is the cheaper route.
• On trips with a status goal. Award nights do not count towards qualification in many programmes.
• When extra charges eat the gap. City taxes and resort fees sometimes still apply on award nights, and they lower the value per point.
• For families needing two rooms. Two rooms double the points requirement while the cash price of a family room is often lower, and then paying cash wins.

On stays of several nights a mixed booking pays. Expensive nights get points, cheap nights get cash, and the split raises the value per point considerably.

What to check when booking#

Room type comes first. The award price applies to the base room, and an upgrade is either a status benefit or a top up. Status extras such as breakfast, late checkout and room type depend on the property, not the payment method, and they generally apply on award nights as on paid ones.

Fees come next. On award nights many taxes fall away depending on the country, while others remain; city taxes in particular are regularly charged separately. Some properties also charge mandatory amounts that apply on award nights too, and all of them belong in the comparison.

Then the cancellation rule. Award bookings are frequently more flexible than cheap cash rates, but not always, and the rule sits in the programme. Where award nights can be cancelled without a fee, booking early and checking later is the cheaper sequence.

Availability can still spoil the plan. Award nights are sometimes blocked at high occupancy, and then the best value per point helps nothing, as how award availability works describes for flights.

Promotions are worth watching as well. Discounts on award nights appear several times a year and lower the points price temporarily without the category changing. All of these sit on the booking page, and the check takes two minutes.

What the category says about the chain#

A programme with fixed categories and a published chart is predictable. Collecting there allows planning years ahead and rewards it.

A programme with dynamic prices is simpler for the chain and harder for travellers to optimise. A balance there slowly loses usefulness while it sits unused, so it rewards redeeming quickly.

For choosing a programme the size of the network is therefore not the only criterion. Before the first booking, the question to settle is which pricing model fits your own planning. The nicest properties matter less, because the pricing model decides whether collecting across several years makes sense at all.

The most common mistakes#

• Comparing categories instead of prices. The cash price of the same night on the same date is the only meaningful benchmark.
• Taking the rack rate as the benchmark. The value of a night is the price you would have paid, and few people pay the rack rate.
• Ignoring recategorisations. When the trip is set, booking before the effective date locks in the old price.
• Overlooking fees. City taxes and mandatory charges come off the value of every award night.
• Letting free nights expire. Certificates are purpose bound and dated, so they go first.
• Hoarding in dynamic programmes. The margin there is small, and a balance that sits only loses usefulness.

Related topics#

• What points are actually worth
• What happens in a devaluation
• Points plus cash
• Free night certificates
• Points or cash
• How award availability works