Where Can I FLY ?

Wondering which hotel chain has the best membership program to reward your loyalty – meaning, which program will give you free nights the fastest.

Most hotel rewards work the same way : basic membership, silver status after ~25 nights, gold at ~50 nights, black at ~75 nights (also called concierge, diamond, …).

As a “black” member of three different programs, Wyndham rewards, Club Carlson, and LeClub Accor Hotels, and traveling often, the question always remains : which program is best to use, and which hotel will bring the most points ?

In short, here is the answer : Club Carlson is the best choice, with on average 1 night free every 13 nights as basic member, and 1 night free every 8 nights with the highest membership level. See below the detail.

Second best choices are Wyndham gardens as basic member, Le Club Accor / IHG / Marriott Rewards with highest membership level.

See below an analysis of how many points are offered per 1 $ / € spent in the hotel reward program – most of the time, not only including the nights, but also restaurant bills.

Points per 1X spentBasicSilverGoldBlackX

Club Carlson20232735$

LeClub Accor2.53.13.74.4€

LeClub Accor budget1.251.551.852.2€

IHG10111520$

HHonors1011.512.515$

Wyndham rewards10101010$

Marriott rewards101212.515$

SPG233.5$

Best Western10111315$

Adjusting all to Euros (1€ = 0.89$), and taking reward program participating hotels in London and Paris, here is the average nights necessary to get a free night per program, with lowest (basic) and highest (black) membership level :

Club Carlson 8

LeClub Accor 11

LeClub Accor budget 23

IHG 11

HHonors 18

Wyndham rewards 15

Marriott rewards 11

SPG 16

Best Western 15

Generally, with Club Carlson, you’ll get one free night every 13 paid nights as a basic member and 8 as Concierge member, against 40 with LeClub Accor budget as a basic member, and 23 as Platinum member.

These numbers being a maximum, as hotels generally offer points for money spent on services (restaurant, spa…), but also have regular offers, for example points x3 for weekend stays at a specific period, … allowing members to get free nights faster !