[Expired] Choice Q2/Q3 2019 Promo: Earn 5,000-8,000 Bonus Points After 2 Stays, Swap For $50 Gift Card

Choice Hotels has opened registration for their Q2/Q3 promotion. It’s a similar promotion to the one they’ve been running the last few quarters where you earn 5,000-8,000 bonus points, but they’re also giving the option to redeem those points for a $50 gift card.

The Deal

• Earn 5,000-8,000 bonus points after two stays at Choice Hotels properties.
• Direct link to registration.

Key Terms

• Registration required at ChoiceHotels.com/giftcard before check-out.
• Promotion is only available to members of the Choice Privileges Rewards Program.
• After a second qualifying stay with arrival between 05/07/2019 and 08/09/2019, members will be awarded a minimum of 5,000 and maximum of 8,000 bonus points, depending on the number of base points earned from the two (2) separate qualifying stays. The bonus points awarded are enough to reach the 8,000 point level, which can be redeemed until 09/30/2019 for one (1) $50 gift card at selected retailers. Beginning 10/1/2019, the $50 gift cards will return to their standard redemption rate of 16,000 points.
• Most stays are eligible to earn Choice Privileges points EXCEPT: rooms booked at rates below $40 USD per night, certain hotel initiated promotions, reward night stays, complimentary rooms, rooms paid for as part of a convention or meeting, rooms booked through a third party online retailer including online travel agencies, wholesale packages, group tours, and stays booked using the employee discount or the friends and family discount.
• Stays at vacation rental property locations and Choice Hotels properties in the following countries are excluded from this promotion: Japan, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, Guyana, and Ecuador.
• You must maintain an address in the U.S. (includes U.S. territories) or Canada to be eligible.
• A selection of gift cards is available at the discounted redemption rate of 8,000 points during the promotion period. Please see a list of participating retailers here: ChoiceHotels.com/giftcard. Terms and conditions apply to $50 gift card options. See card for details.
• A stay is defined as any number of consecutive nights at one hotel regardless of check-ins or check-outs. Members must book stays via ChoiceHotels.com, the Choice Hotels mobile app, or 800.4CHOICE at qualifying rates.
• Corporate travelers may book through their online booking tool, GDS, or with a travel agent. Choice Privileges member number must be provided upon check-in.
• Stays at vacation rental property locations and stays booked with the SEGEN and SRTLG rate codes do not qualify for promotional bonus points.
• To be eligible to earn the bonus, members must set their earning preference to Choice Privileges points in their online account.

Quick Thoughts

The main part of this promotion is similar to the promotions that Choice has been running for the last year or two. After two stays at Choice Hotels properties, you’ll earn between 5,000 and 8,000 bonus points.

The exact number you’ll receive will depend on how many base points you earn from those two stays. Choice guarantees that the end result will be that you’ll earn at least 8,000 points when taking into account the base points and bonus points, with a minimum of 5,000 bonus points earned.

Let’s say you booked two one-night stays for $75 each before tax. You’d earn a total of 1,500 points for the two stays as Choice members earn 10 base points per dollar. Choice would therefore award you with 6,500 bonus points to take your total up to 8,000 points.

Another example would be if you booked two week-long stays costing $500 before tax per stay. You’d earn 10,000 base points, so Choice would only award you with 5,000 bonus points. That’s the weird thing about this promotion – in many scenarios, they’ll award more bonus points the less money that you spend with them.

An additional feature of this particular promotion is that until September 30, you can exchange 8,000 points for a $50 gift card for select brands including Amazon, Best Buy, Lowe’s and more. You’d be getting 0.625cpp of value from the points which isn’t terrible, but it’s less than their Reasonable Redemption Value. As Nick pointed out recently, you can get great value from Choice points, particularly in Scandinavia.

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