(EXPIRED) Choice Privileges “Members Only Madness”: 20% off hotel stays

Choice Privileges is running its annual “Members Only Madness” offers this week. They are kicking the week off with an offer for 20% when you book by 11/20 and stay between 11/27 and 12/11/21. That’s incredibly specific, so this deal is of limited use but I still though it worth reporting to remind readers to check their inbox for these daily offers. Choice usually has a deal to buy points cheaply and/or a mattress run-worth deal for points on a paid stay at some point during these “Members Only Madness” weeks.

The Deal

• Choice Privileges is running its annual “Members Only Madness” promotion this week which will see new deals each today through Friday. Today’s deal is 20% off on a two-night hotel stay booked by November 20th for travel between November 27th and December 11th, 2021
• Direct link to this deal

Key Terms

• Currently available at participating hotels only in the U.S.
• WoodSpring Suites®, Mainstay®, Suburban® and certain Ascend Hotel Collection all-inclusive properties are among the hotels that are not currently participating.
• Individual Mainstay® and Suburban® properties may choose to participate.
• The rate is 20% off Best Available Rate (BAR) for a two-night stay.
• Choice Privileges membership required to participate.
• Reservation must be booked through a Choice Hotels direct channel: (www.choicehotels.com, Choice mobile app, Choice contact centers or at a Choice branded hotel).
• To be eligible, reservation must be booked between November 15 and November 20, 2021 and completed between November 27 and December 11, 2021.
• A stay includes all consecutive nights at the same hotel regardless of check-ins or checkouts.
• Discount will not apply if guests check out early, which results in a stay of less than the required nights.
• Only valid for qualifying stays, which exclude rooms booked below certain rates, reward night stays, complimentary rooms, rooms paid for as part of a convention or meeting, rooms booked through a travel agent or third party online retailer including online travel agencies, wholesale packages, group tours, and stays booked using the employee discount or the friends, family and associate discount. Promotional rate requires pre-payment at time of booking.
• Reservation may be canceled with a full refund at least 72 hours before arrival.
• Reservations canceled within 72 hours of arrival and no-shows are non-refundable.
• Your credit card will be charged for the total amount within 24 – 48 hours of booking.
• Discount will be applied immediately upon booking the room.
• Available to U.S. residents only.
• See landing page for full terms

Quick Thoughts

I am always somewhat skeptical of offers like “20% off” on hotel stays because I ordinarily expect them to represent less-than-advertised discounts when things like the AAA rate are taken into consideration. I did a simple test search and in the single data point I examined, the price through this deal was actually about 16.5% off of the “Everyday Rate” or about 10.8% off of the AAA rate, which actually looks like a solid discount even if not quite as good as advertised.

Note that this 20% off rate is flexible unlike the prepay / nonrefundable rate you see for a dollar more. I never book nonrefundable rates, so with this deal I’d be glad to basically get the nonrefundable price without the nonrefundable component — though note that according to deal terms, your credit card will be charged for the stay within 24-48 hours of booking, so it seems that it is prepaid but refundable up to the cancellation deadline.

I don’t have a need for a two-night stay during the very limited window….unless Choice runs a deal that comes with a bunch of points later this week as they have sometimes in years past. We’ll keep our eyes out for something like that.

Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.