Hello from a fun weekend at the 2013 Chicago Seminars! So far, it’s been great mingling with 500+ other points and miles fanatics under one roof. Don’t fret if you couldn’t make it down to Chicago this time around – there’s a fun fall hotel promotion just around the corner for a chance to receive a $150 statement credit from American Express.
The Chicago Fall Escape promotion allows you to receive a $150 statement credit when you book a minimum of 3 consecutive nights at a participating Chicago hotel between October 15 and December 15, 2013 with any eligible American Express® Card.
There are dozens of participating Chicago-area hotels including some from the major chains such as Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, SPG, and Club Carlson.
The Good News:
- After checking and comparing rates from the promotion portal and directly with the hotel (see below for two examples), they seemed to be consistent (or off by a few pennies).
- This promotion would work wonderfully for those who have reimbursable business travel or a long weekend trip to Chicago already in their cards.
The Bad News:
- A disadvantage of having to book the hotel stay directly from the official promotion portal in order to qualify for the statement credit is that you can not use any corporate discount codes, AAA rates, government rates, or best rate guarantee rates to lower the cost of your stay.
- 3-consecutive nights at the same hotel can sometimes be “painful” for extreme points-and-milers since we usually prefer “hotel hopping” to maximize stay credits when traveling.
- Speaking of stay credits, YMMV with this one since T&C states that the booking from the promotion portal is through Orbitz Worldwide, which the property might view as a third-party booking; however, I have had great success with “third-party booking” stays successfully posting as a stay credit in the past.
Sample Rates: October 26 to October 30
Radisson Blu Chicago
Promotion Portal Rate Per Night: $291.60
Direct Rate from Club Carlson: $291.60
Hyatt Place Chicago South/University Medical Center
Promotion Portal Rate Per Night: $104.32
Direct Rate from Hyatt: $104.30
What are your thoughts about this promotion? Is this something you can see yourself taking advantage of?
TERMS AND CONDITIONS: Participating hotels can be found at www.choosechicago.com/axpchicagoescape. Minimum 3-night consecutive stay required, subject to availability. Offer is only valid at participating lodging properties and only valid when it is paid with any eligible American Express Credit or Charge Card. Offers are not eligible for American Express® Corporate and Prepaid Cards (including Gift Cards). To be eligible for the credit, reservations at participating hotels must be booked online atwww.choosechicago.com/axpchicagoescape between October 8 and December 11, 2013 for stays between October 15 and December 15, 2013. Stays must be booked and paid for with any eligible American Express Card. After booking, you should receive a confirmation email stating that you have met the promotion requirements and are eligible for the $150 statement credit from Orbitz Worldwide. The $150 statement credit will be applied to the American Express Card used to book the original reservation. This credit will be applied 5-7 business days after the check-in date of your booking. Statement credit is non-transferable. Fulfillment of the offer is the sole responsibility of the participating American Express merchant. Orbitz Worldwide processes the fulfillment of the offer. Full payment for room nights required at time of booking. No cash value. Cancellation of booking is subject to hotel policy. Offer cannot be combined with other promotions or offers, and does not apply to existing bookings. Rates are payable in local currency. POID: AR80:0001
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Can you clarify is the promotional rate before or after the statement credit?
I know you kind of alluded to the “YMMV” aspect of this already, but what would be your take on the likelihood of managing to stack this along with Hilton’s “More Nights, More Points” promo? When you say you’ve had good luck in the past with 3rd party booking stays posting for points, have you had a good (or bad) experience specifically with Hilton, and was it a normal points earn or during any kind of promo with them? I’d LOVE to stack these two, but something tells me that’d be too good to be true!