Membership Discounts with Hotels / Lodging / Cars Question

[asphaltgambler]

We don't travel that much, but when do ( insert old guy with drink in hsnd ) we are constantly asked if we are are a member of _______________ to receive discounts on lodging and all the other stuff. I'm always getting stuff in the mail / email about membership Discounts if we join. I'm 63 and could do AARP, but that seems all a scam. Also, thought about AAA.

Recently, we were traveling and payed almost full price at a nice hotel and was told if we had membership in X, Y, or Z we could've paid substantially less $$. So what does the PPBT. say, experiences?

[Seahawk]

I used to travel quite a bit, military and post military. I still spend three to four days a month at a hotel in Yorktown for my work.

I have not been on a commercial airplane in years.

I opted for a Hilton membership 30 years ago because they have a wide spread of hotel brands and prices. When I was on per diem in the military I would make up the difference between the lodging rate and the Hilton brand, if any.

I also have a Hilton CC that I only use at the hotel. $1000 limit which I like for travel purposes and fraud.

It works. I have been a Diamond rated member for 20 plus years and use the free stays for DC trips with my wife.

I did the same with commercial airlines but it was out of my hands on which airliner I flew on so I had memberships with Northwest, Delta, United, American, etc. I used the miles for upgrades.

AAA is good and since my wife still commutes into DC a few times a month, it is worth it...

That is all I got

[matthewb0051]

Let Clooney explain it: Up in the Air

Fun movie

[matthewb0051]

Another clip from that movie. Two traveling execs in a bar comparing miles and points memberships. And yes, they get it on in the next scene.

[matthewb0051]

I used to get miles on United with a Chase CC. Several years ago the Army decided I needed to go to DC for the entire summer for a class while the family stayed in El Paso. I looked up my mileage account and had nearly 300,000 miles. I was able to fly home 3 or 4 weekends out of every month and most of it was free to me.

[blucille]

for me, the status is most helpful when things go wrong....need to rebook a flight, need to change my Itinerary at the last minute, need to cancel a hotel room....the phone and online support for the folks with status is just better. My experience is with united, I've done over a million miles in the past 30 years, so I have gold status for life, and Hilton and Marriott gold or platinum....they take very good care of me.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by matthewb0051

I looked up my mileage account and had nearly 300,000 miles. I was able to fly home 3 or 4 weekends out of every month and most of it was free to me.

It gets goofy.

When I was stationed in Millington, TN at BUPERS, the family stayed in Maryland (wife is an engineer and the tour was 18 months) and I flew home three time a month. Northwest was the carrier of choice and, this is pre 9/11, the fares probably cost me less every week than gas when I was communing into DC. The BOQ in Millington was also free to guys like me.

The old terminal at Reagan had a 0700 flight to Millington and my wife would drop me off - she WAS still working in DC. With the time change I was at my desk in Millington by 0830.

Repeat on Fridays with a really nice 1500 Memphis time flight back to DC. On arrival, get in the car, smooch wife, drive home.

In those days there was, in addition to mileage points, huge bonuses for multiple round trips within a certain time, etc. By month 3 I was automatically upgraded at no cost because of a segment goal. It was nuts.

At the end of the tour I had well over 600k miles in the till.

When Northwest merged with Delta the miles transferred. All gone now but it was fun!

[matthewb0051]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

It gets goofy.

The BOQ in Millington was also free to guys like me.

I've stayed in that BOQ. Was traveling and thought I'd save some money. Didn't realize how far it was north from Memphis.

[rockfan4]

I've been a member of SCCA for 35+ years now, and they offer some perks that are worth it to me.

They used to have a deal with Volkswagen to buy certain cars at near dealer invoice, real dealer invoice with all the dealer perks, not some made up number. I bought a 2017 Jetta in late 2016, sold it in 2020 for more than I paid for it. The dealership even miffed the paperwork and sent me a check for the difference a couple weeks after I bought the car.

They also have deals with some hotel chains, no great deals but I can usually book a room for the same price as the "pay in advance, no refunds" rate and still be able to cancel if needed. It's probably the same as the AARP rate

They also send a bunch of coupons when you renew, the big one is the Summit Racing one, a 10% off coupon, just about the time you have to renew all your SFI gear that has expired.

[wildthing]

AAA is our go to. Also if you stick to one "brand", say Marriott, you may get points and eventually get cheaper rates.

[TimT]

A few years ago I worked in northern Vermont for a year... And stayed in a Marriott Residence Inn..5-6 days a week....Even though my company set up the reservations I got all the points...I think it ended up being close to 500K points in the end...maybe more..

I still use Marriott and have banked about two weeks of free stays..And usually they are decent properties.

Occasionally I use some of USAAs perks

[rockfan4]

I have a upcoming reservation at a hotel near Road America. I booked it a couple months ago, usually the earlier you book, the better the price. Well, not so, I guess. I got the "your upcoming stay with us" email, checked the price, and then checked the website for current reservations. I'm saving about $50 by cancelling my previous reservation and booking a new one.

I stayed at another, same chain, last weekend. I didn't notice until after I checked out that they added a $1.50 / night "hotel services" fee. I'm not sure what service they actually provided. Kind of like the old "safe fee".

One other thing regarding "reward nights". With this particular chain, it used to be you could get most any room for 8000 points a night, sometimes more on weekends. That seems to be out the window, now they're 16,000, 20,000, 32,000 points for a night. Rechecking the room I booked above, they want 25,000 points a night. Reward programs aren't worth what they used to be.

[jcommin]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

I used to travel quite a bit, military and post military. I still spend three to four days a month at a hotel in Yorktown for my work.

I have not been on a commercial airplane in years.

I opted for a Hilton membership 30 years ago because they have a wide spread of hotel brands and prices. When I was on per diem in the military I would make up the difference between the lodging rate and the Hilton brand, if any.

I also have a Hilton CC that I only use at the hotel. $1000 limit which I like for travel purposes and fraud.

It works. I have been a Diamond rated member for 20 plus years and use the free stays for DC trips with my wife.

I did the same with commercial airlines but it was out of my hands on which airliner I flew on so I had memberships with Northwest, Delta, United, American, etc. I used the miles for upgrades.

AAA is good and since my wife still commutes into DC a few times a month, it is worth it...

That is all I got

I am a Hilton member too. I have 2 sons who live out of state from me. If I use a hotel to visit them, I use a Hilton related hotel. Points add up. Fifteen years ago, I traveled extensively for the company I worked for. I became a United flyer - Those miles added up too. I prefer to book with the airline or Hilton because, IMO, it is easier to make changes if the need arises. However, these programs aren't what they use to be.