Are you accumulating hotel points that you can access when needed? Are you leveraging hotel loyalty points to broaden your choices when purchasing flights? These points can act as a safety net, they can address your travel dilemmas, and they can offer you numerous options when booking long or intricate flights.
I maintain a points balance with several hotel chains, three specialized hotel credit cards, along with two credit cards that allow me to transfer points earned from Chase or Amex. To the average individual, this may seem like excessive travel hacking, but it provides me with remarkable flexibility when arranging travel plans. For instance, I can stay overnight at nearly any airport globally, which I’m doing twice this fall.
Having hotel points at your disposal is similar to having an emergency reserve in the bank or a savings account that you use for vacations to avoid incurring debt. You redeem them when necessary to solve an issue or prevent spending money on accommodation.
## Utilizing Hotel Points for Airport Accommodations
This autumn, I have a complex travel schedule that brings me from my home base in Mexico to France for an editors’ meeting on a river cruise along the Loire. On my return, I need to travel all the way to Los Cabos at the southwest tip of Baja in Mexico. There are methods to navigate the first leg heading east to Europe without needing an overnight layover since the flight occurs overnight, but it’s nearly impossible to complete the second leg for such a considerable distance during the day without an overnight stay somewhere or spending a month’s salary for the quickest possible flight (with tight layovers).
Thus, I’ll be spending the night in Phoenix, which offered a more affordable hotel points option than New York or Chicago—two other potential overnight layover cities. I will be lodged at a Wyndham hotel for which I used 13,500 points. (Wyndham features only three tiers: 7,500; 15,000; and 30,000 points, but having their credit card from Barclays grants you a 10% discount on any of those amounts.)
After my time in Baja, I’m heading across North America to Florida, a journey I could make the same day if I spend at least $320. However, by agreeing to an overnight stop along the way, I managed to book a business class flight for just 20,000 miles on American.
Yay! Front of the plane, quality food, and lounge access.
So I checked the three chains where I have a robust points balance—Wyndham, Hilton, and IHG—and struck a deal with the last one: 17K points for a suite hotel that includes a shuttle from the airport.
The hotels in Phoenix and Dallas are already booked for the layovers, using only a small portion of my hotel point balances. This is because airport hotels tend to be among the least costly point redemptions available. Additionally, most offer a complimentary shuttle from the airport. I’ll catch a ride, rest comfortably, and then return to the airport to continue my journey in the morning.
## Hotel Points Can Simplify Your Travel Experience
These are just two recent instances of how I’ve utilized hotel loyalty points, a misnomer in my case, as I’m not particularly loyal to any specific chains, to expand my options and save considerable sums on flight costs. This time, these points allowed me to secure better or more affordable flight alternatives.
On other occasions, I’ve had to spend a night at an airport due to weather delays—something that typically garners no assistance or compensation from the airline. It was no issue for me since I redeemed points for a comfortable bed and a shower nearby, avoiding the need to sleep in the terminal. (I’ve attempted that before, and it was far from enjoyable.)
While traveling in Europe, my wife and I managed to book flights in and out of Munich at $200 less each than the costs for alternatives out of closer Prague because we could stay at a Hilton property twice, both upon entry and exit. One was conveniently located by the airport before we boarded a train the next morning, and the other in the city center upon our return from exploring [Pilsen and the Czech spa region](https://www.perceptivetravel.com/issues/0923/czech.html).
On a different trip, we secured the cheapest flight from Madrid to Mexico last year, departing at 6:00 AM, due to our booking at the Hilton Madrid Airport adjacent to the terminal for a night after traveling overland from Zaragoza. It was quite pleasant.
At times, these hotel points position me in desirable locations; other times, they are merely redeemed for a place to rest. Airport hotels might not be glamorous, but they offer a significant advantage: close proximity. Often, there’s no need for an Uber or taxi ride, and you don’t have to