Some people get frustrated by how complicated it can be to redeem airline miles, given blackout dates and capacity controls. By comparison, this is something that’s awesome about hotel points, at least on the surface.
Continue reading: Blackout Dates When Redeeming Hotel Points: How Policies Compare
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
IHG tends to be the worst in my experience. They also have had major inflation in points rates recently so for both reasons, they can be the hardest to redeem certs/points at
I frequently find many Hyatt properties that "aren't accepting awards reservations". but still have a large number of both standard rooms and suites available. Not sure if this is gaming?
Biggest mistake that I made recently was getting the new IHG credit card that gives you 5 free nights. Cannot find a single night in the places that I want to go during Spring Break or summer of 2026. Literally every hotel has no availability. Unbelievable. Never again getting an IHG card.
"No blackout" is quite meaningless, as they can simply set the price at 4294967295 points per night or per segment of flight.
This article is essentially a nothing burger. These chains policies are largely property based (and based on season/demand and greed).
I would prefer to see an article of the top 10 most interesting and comforting properties from each brand (with pics please!). It would make a good multi-post series.
You might not suggest that games are being played, but I think the rest of us are comfortable making that suggestion. At a minimum, if a property is parking huge numbers of rooms as "special" rooms ("High floor!" at a five-story HP) when the vast majority of us likely just want a place to crash for the night, something is...off.