Sonesta Travel Pass Loyalty Program Basics

Actually they offer breakfast / lounge access which is orders of magnitude better than the shitty Spire Elite status from IHG.

@Lucky it would be great to do a post on what the most aspirational Sonesta properties are.

I like that the F&B credit at limited-service properties progressively increases with each elite status level whereas Marriott just gives all eligible elites a credit of $10. $10 isn't enough for coffee and a parfait at Courtyards.

I stayed at their St Maarten property for a couple of days in December. I booked via hotels.com, but now I'm on all their mailing lists so I was peripherally aware of this program. The St Maarten property is all-inclusive, lots of families, but it's right on Maho beach so you can watch the planes come in, or walk over to the actual fence.

I'm fairly sure their point expiration policy is not 18 months. I earned points over 2 years ago and they still show in my account. I have had no other activity in the account. According to this: https://www.sonesta.com/travel-pass/how-to-redeem-points points never expire.

However, in the T&Cs it states:

"Members who do not engage in eligibility activity for 24 months will be re-classified as “Non-Active” and immediately forfeit all Rewards Points in their account. Eligibility activity includes accruing or redeeming Rewards Points and accruing a Qualified Room Night. Sonesta Travel Pass may extend active member status in its sole discretion."

Not really sure what the actual points expiration policy is...

If the credit card gives Elite status and Elite status gives you breakfast / club access, that seems like a no-brainer. Certainly for the first year if you have some convenient and attractive Sonesta properties on your itinerary.

I'm sure I'm not the only one wondering if the Elite status benefits (particularly, breakfast) apply to award stays?

I status matched to them for a stay in December, as they had converted a hotel that was important to me personally. The hotel was nice, and I did like the buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant. ES Suites are pretty much like any Hyatt House, Homewood Suites, Residence Inn, etc.

Unless this program sells points like IHG, HH et al, it is useless for infrequent travellers who may only do a big trip every year or so.
Seems to me there is a big potential market there they are ignoring.

Some status matches expire and either can be renewed or are once in a lifetime. I'm curious about which scenario applies to Sonesta status matches.

Sonesta Hotels are fine. Sonesta chain? I wish they were better. What a pain. Be aware if you want to search hotels on their website, you have to price them ONE AT A TIME (which may mimic your website name, but sucks when searching). You can’t just get all their hotels in an area and prices for dates --can you think of any major chain where searches work like that?? I suspect they are living on the loyalty of folks like me to hotels we liked when they were IHG, Marriott, etc. Phone app? Not yet. Have a lot of points and want to book online? Nope. You must, get this, Fill in a form and submit and hope it is accepted. What? It’s 2021. Nearly a year since your post. They added lots of hotels. I have points, I like their hotels in areas I need hotels. But such a pain I cringe any time I book with them. All other chains make it easy to compare within the chain in an area, and have an app, and let you book online with your points any hour of the day instantly if rooms are available. So FYI before you get as involved with them as I did. I have to imagine this will change. But not so yet. That you are a travel site and you don’t mention these limitations is a bit odd. Suggests you have never tried to test-book anything even to see how they work, skim their website (where the silly way of cashing in your points is apparent), etc. Not normally like you, but you did ask your pool of followers.

Can you redeem points for anything else besides rooms , like dinners or cocktails?