#16 in Best Hotel Rewards Programs
Points
Members of the I Prefer Hotel Rewards program can earn and use points at more than 600 participating Preferred Hotels & Resorts. There are hundreds of properties in the United States, Canada and Mexico – along with scores of other properties across Europe, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, the Pacific, the Caribbean and the Middle East – that honor I Prefer points. Points can be redeemed for reward certificates that can be used for nightly stays or applied to spa, dining and other services at participating I Prefer properties.
Earning Points
The number of points you earn depends on your status level: You earn 10 points for every dollar spent on qualifying hotel stays as a basic member (Insider) and 15 points per dollar spent as a top tier member (Elite). Select properties also allow members to earn I Prefer points for receiving treatments at the hotel spa, dining in hotel restaurants and other hotel-related charges, but the opportunity to rack up these loyalty points varies by property. In order for your stay to qualify for I Prefer points, it must be made through an I Prefer or Preferred Hotels & Resorts website or call center, a participating hotel website, directly with the hotel or through a travel agent using official hotel booking codes. If you pay for an eligible stay at an international property with a currency other than the U.S. dollar, the exchange rate and translated points accrual is determined by Preferred Hotels & Resorts. Rewards will be credited to your online balance after your stay; it can take seven days for your account to be updated.
Using Points
You can trade in points you've accumulated for I Prefer reward certificates (a $25 certificate costs 12,500 points, a $50 certificate costs 25,000 points and so on), which can be used to cover the cost of a one-night stay at participating properties. You can also use I Prefer reward certificates to cover the cost of additional hotel expenses, such as spa treatments, meals and resort charges, at select participating Preferred Hotels & Resorts properties. However, the ability to redeem points for such costs varies by property and is under the sole discretion of the hotel. The number of reward certificates needed to cover the cost of a night's stay depends on the price per night of the desired participating hotel. Below are the number of points needed for one free night in any room (ranging from standard rooms to premium rooms) in a selection of popular business and leisure destinations:
| Destination | No. of hotels | Cost of room in points |
| Honolulu | 3 | 137,200 - 1,006,500 |
| Paris | 17 | 76,000 - 2,139,000 |
| Orlando | 3 | 75,500 - 468,500 |
| New Orleans | 3 | 97,500 - 637,500 |
| Miami | 6 | 89,500 - 2,125,000 |
| Cancun | 3 | 56,500 - 3,210,000 |
| San Juan, PR | 1 | 159,500 - 2,405,000 |
| Los Angeles | 6 | 99,000 - 5,000,000 |
| Punta Cana | 0 | N/A |
| Vancouver | 3 | 113,500 - 216,500 |
| New York City | 14 | 85,500 - 9,472,500 |
| Las Vegas | 0 | N/A |
| Chicago | 1 | 151,500 - 237,500 |
| San Francisco | 3 | 179,500 - 498,500 |
| Charlotte | 0 | N/A |
| Washington, D.C. | 4 | 57,500 - 7,000,000 |
| Houston | 3 | 73,500 - 1,000,000 |
| Toronto | 0 | N/A |
| Boston | 5 | 193,500 - 595,000 |
| Atlanta | 1 | 99,500 - 679,500 |
The calculated costs shown above are based on booking searches conducted by U.S. News on July 6, 2018. We analyzed room rates for one-night stays arriving Saturday and departing Sunday four weeks from the research date. Only hotels with room availability that sit within a 15-mile radius of each destination are reflected in the above chart.
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