I’m frequently inquired about the limitations of “extending” hotel elite status to friends and family. This inquiry usually presents itself in one of two ways:
– If you arrange a booking for a family member or friend, is there a means for them to enjoy your elite benefits?
– If you arrange a booking for a family member or friend, can you earn elite qualifying nights from their stay?
I understand why this question arises, as many individuals see this as a mutually beneficial scenario — their friends and family can enjoy more advantages than they would receive directly, while the member can gain assistance towards elite qualification.
So, let’s tackle this question for those who might be pondering a similar matter. I want to mention that if you’re booking multiple rooms while staying, there are alternative strategies to optimize hotel elite benefits. This is primarily intended for making hotel reservations for others when you aren’t staying.
Officially, the member must be present to earn points & receive elite perks.
As you might anticipate, according to the terms & conditions of nearly all hotel loyalty programs, the member must be the one staying in order to accumulate points and access elite perks. Program terms clarify that the member needs to occupy one of the reserved guest rooms and must pay for that guest room in order to earn points and enjoy elite perks.
In other words, you cannot make a reservation for another person and then earn points or extend your elite benefits to them.
Hotel elite perks are specifically meant for the member.
Best approach if you wish to take a risk.
The aforementioned are the official regulations, which I always prefer to communicate, as I believe they are worth adhering to. It is not advisable to play games and risk your membership with a loyalty program. However, there are a few strategies that might be worth noting for those who want to take a chance.
Adding a second guest to a reservation.
When you book a room for two guests, you can typically add a second guest to the reservation. Some hotels allow this addition online during the booking process, while others necessitate a call to include the second name.
Hilton allows you to add a second guest to a reservation online.
The entire purpose of including a second guest in a reservation is that they should be able to check-in without issues. Ford and I occasionally arrive at destinations on different flights; consequently, sometimes he checks in before I do. Here’s my experience regarding this:
– Within the United States, they usually check him in without any problems and provide the standard elite perks.
– Outside the United States, they often require scanning the passports of both travelers, and we’ve encountered hotels that will only offer the elite benefits when the member is checking in (which isn’t ultimately a problem, but complicates room upgrades).
Admittedly, the above describes a “legitimate” use of this feature, though it may become more complicated if you’re attempting to utilize your status for others, and multiple guests are present. For instance, suppose Person A (the elite member) makes a reservation and lists Person B as the second guest, while in reality, Person B and Person C are staying. In such cases, I recommend that the second guest not proceed to check-in and instead “hang out” outside to prevent any further complications.
After all, if the room is booked for two individuals and two appear (neither being the elite member), that would raise a red flag.
You can generally add a second guest to a hotel reservation.
Checking someone else in.
There’s another scenario that people frequently inquire about. Suppose you have family or friends visiting the area, but they’re not staying with you, instead opting for a hotel. Can you reserve the hotel in your name, check-in, hand them the keys, and allow them to benefit from your elite perks?
Officially, the answer still remains no, as the terms of major hotel programs stipulate that you must be actually staying in the room to utilize elite perks and earn points.
Realistically, this is something that most hotel chains would be unable to monitor, since you could be the one checking in, etc.
This might become problematic if you have a personal connection with the hotel, and they recognize you, becoming perplexed when someone enters the club lounge from your room number, but it’s not you. However, in the vast majority of cases, hotels don’t provide such personalized service.
You should encounter fewer challenges if the member checks in.
Redeem hotel points for others.
On a different note, most hotel programs allow you to redeem your points for others. The caveat is that you won’t accumulate points or elite credits for these stays, and the individual staying typically won’t receive your elite benefits.
The only exception I wish to mention is the World of Hyatt’s Guest of Honor program, whereby World of Hyatt Global