Frequent Miler's latest team challenge, Million Mile Madness, is happening now! Follow us as Greg, Nick, and Stephen compete to earn 1 Million SAS miles by flying 15 airlines before November 23rd. Who will complete the challenge with the most Speed, Affordability, and Style?
| Sorry, this deal is no longer available. Do you want to be alerted about new deals as they’re published? Click here to subscribe to Frequent Miler's Instant Posts by email. |
Choice Privileges is out with its latest promotion: complete 2 stays, get 1 free night. That’s not quite as good as it sounds yet at the same time may be better than it sounds depending on your perspective and use for Choice points since you’ll actually get 8,000 points rather than a free night certificate. Still, if you have upcoming Choice stays, it’s definitely worth registering. See our Current hotel promotions page for details on current promos from other chains.
The Deal
- Register, then stay two times at Choice Hotels between 2/26/19 and 4/2619 and get enough points and you’ll earn a total of at least 8,000 points (between 5,000 and 8,000 bonus points on top of your normal earnings for the stay)
- Direct link to register for this promotion
Key Details
- Must register prior to check out (see link under “The Deal” above)
- Must arrive for your stay between 2/26/19 and 4/26/19
- A stay is any number of consecutive nights at one hotel regardless of check-ins or check-outs.
- A “qualifying stay” is a stay that is during this promotion at a participating hotel through a qualifying channel (see Qualifying Channel, below) that is eligible to earn Choice Privileges points.
- The following stays are not eligible to earn Choice points: 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 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 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.
- Registered members will be awarded a minimum of 5,000 to a maximum of 8,000 bonus points after the second qualifying stay. The number of bonus points awarded depends on the number of base points earned from the two separate qualifying stays, with points varying by hotel. The total of base points plus bonus points awarded, however, will be at least 8,000 points.
- Qualifying Channel: Members must book stays via ChoiceHotels.com, the Choice Hotels mobile app, or 800.4CHOICE. Stays directly booked through Book by Google are also eligible, if the member adds his/her Choice Privileges number to the reservation prior to check-in.
- Allow 72 hours from check-out for points to post.
- Request for bonus points made by members who did not register for the promotion will only be considered up to 60 days after the promotion ends; request thereafter will be automatically denied.
Quick Thoughts
First up, see the full promo terms on the landing page as I’ve only highlighted the most relevant terms above.
The way Choice frames this often-repeated promo is that you’ll earn a “free night” after 2 stays, but you’ll really earn at least 8,000 Choice Privileges points after 2 stays. That’s enough for a free night at many of the lower-end Choice Privileges properties. That’s obviously not as good as earning a free night anywhere, but earning points is better than earning category-limited free night certificates in my book since points don’t expire (as long as you maintain activity once every 18 months) and can be combined for higher-end hotels.
Choice Privileges points can be put to excellent use in Scandinavia, where some of the Nordic Choice brands offer a free evening meal on top of free breakfast, which can be a really solid value considering prices in Scandinavia (not to mention the fact that you can routinely find opportunities to get more than 1c per point compared against paid rates in those countries).
While this promotion won’t cause me to make any major changes to upcoming stays, it’s worth registering just in case you find yourself in position to take advantage of it. Just keep in mind that stays with a nightly rate of less than $40 do not qualify to earn Choice Privileges points, so watch out for ultra-cheap properties.
As always, we have added this to our Current hotel promotions page.
Want to learn more about miles and points? Subscribe to email updates or check out our podcast on your favorite podcast platform.
I completed a stay on April 25 and another stay at a different hotel 500 miles away on April 26, 2019. I did not receive the bonus points. Does anyone know why? Rules stated I had to pre-register for the promotion and arrive between February 26 and April 26th, two separate stays which I did. Can anyone tell me how to contact choice privileges rewards to request ID issued the Bonus points?
[…] Free night (8K points) after 2 stays w/ Choice Hotels (Expires 4/26/19) […]
[…] night credits, status benefits, etc. The stay will also qualify as one of two stays needed for their latest promotion which ends in less than two […]
2 questions
– upcoming stay next weekend of 2 nights at a Choice property; will I need to make 2 separate 1- night bookings, or will the single 2-night booking qualify?
– would booking thru the Chase UR qualify? I cant remember if you can attach a rewards # via a portal booking or not?
No, you need to make two separate stays. The terms indicate that back-to-back nights at a single hotel will count as one stay even if you check out and check back in. You would need to check in to a different hotel for the second night.
Bookings through any third-party online travel agency like the Chase UR travel portal typically do not qualify for any promotions, nor do they earn any loyalty points or elite credit or elite benefits with any of the major chains. There’s always a chance you might get lucky now or then and be able to attach your number at the hotel and get credit for the stay, but that’s rare and typically not going to work.
Sorry for all the bad news!
[…] night credits, receive status benefits, etc. If you’re planning on making a reservation, make sure you’re registered for their latest promotion where you’ll earn at least 8,000 points after two […]
[…] you’re booking any Choice stays, make sure you’re registered for their latest promotion offering a total of 8,000 points after two […]
[…] Free night (8K points) after 2 stays w/ Choice Hotels […]
Good post. I am forced to stay at some Choice hotels (against my will by my employer (which is ironic to the “Choice” hotels name)) so the extra 8,000 points is good. There are some decent Choice properties mixed in with crappy ones. I’ve had good luck at most Cambria hotels. Normally I’d rather have the free night cert but with Choice the points are better for me I think.
[…] Choice Privileges free night after 2 stays […]
You might want to hold on to the points since Choice often does a summer gift card promo as well – $50 for 8000 points which is about fair value considering the quality of most of the 8000 point hotels (Rodeways and Econo Lodges).
[…] Hat tip to FM […]
Has anyone been able to register? Or does registration open on 2/26?
[…] Hat tip to FM […]
Note it is stay two *times* not two *nights* as you mention several times throughout your post. It theoretically could be 2 nights, but you should probably change that and just note that a stay can be as short as one night.
Good point. The title and a couple of places in the post indicated stays, but you’re right that I also referred to it as two nights in a couple of spots, so I updated those. Thanks!