{"id":202011,"date":"2018-07-13T12:53:54","date_gmt":"2018-07-13T11:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/turkeyalwan.net\/?p=202011"},"modified":"2019-02-07T12:25:11","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T11:25:11","slug":"save-money-with-great-hotel-loyalty-programs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/turkeyalwan.net\/2018\/07\/13\/save-money-with-great-hotel-loyalty-programs\/","title":{"rendered":"Travel tip: save money with great hotel loyalty programs you’ve never heard of"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday\u00a0newsletters<\/a>\u00a0always feature luxury travel\u00a0contests<\/a>,\u00a0tips<\/a>,\u00a0series<\/a>, or\u00a0news<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Today (July 13, 2018): save lots of money with under the radar loyalty programs of luxury hotels.<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Booking a stay directly via the hotel website can be cost saving, especially when that hotel is part of a hotel loyalty program<\/a>. The latter allows you to collect points and spend them on free nights. In addition, top tier members of certain hotel loyalty programs will also receive additional benefits, such a complimentary breakfast, a room upgrade, and flexible check-in or check-out times.<\/p>\n

However, for hotels on the luxury level (5 stars and beyond), if you want more for less, you should always book your stay via one of the world’s top travel agents, otherwise you’re leaving money on the table. Not only will they match the benefits you would get as a top tier member of a hotel loyalty program (even when you’re not), but\u00a0additionally they get you access to dining\u00a0and spa credits, guaranteed upgrades at the time of booking, complimentary airport transfers and so on.\u00a0Some of these programs also protect you from getting walked when the hotel is oversold, and give you waitlist priority to get in. So, these travel agents will get you benefits beyond what you would get as a top tier elite member at a hotel, even though you’ve never stayed with the hotel chain before. Lance and Ania from Classic Travel<\/a>\u00a0( a Virtuoso travel agency) belong to to this select club of top selling luxury travel agents; I use them for my own travels and I highly recommend them.<\/p>\n

While the exact perks vary from hotel to hotel, in a one-week stay, they can easily be worth $1,000 USD or more. These benefits and amenities cannot be accessed by booking directly with the hotel, but only via top travel agents. That’s because many of the world’s most exclusive hotel groups – even those that don’t offer loyalty programs – have established invitation-only programs for\u00a0top producing travel agents, in order to foster a relationship with these agent and to increase sales. To give you an idea, this is what you can save when you book a luxury hotel via a top luxury travel agent:<\/p>\n