Priority Club Worldwide Program
Newest Review: ... an extra 10% on points and at Platinum you get 50% bonus points. This also helps keep the level once you get to the top. I have manag... more
Priority Treatment for Free
Priority Club Worldwide Program
Member Name: pottmar
Product:
Priority Club Worldwide Program
Date: 27/03/01, updated on 27/03/01 (861 review reads)
Rating:
Advantages: Priority Treatment, Earn Points, loads of others
Disadvantages: Obiously designed for America and made available worldwide, things are mainly in US Dollars.
My wife and I had a lovely stay recently at a Holiday Inn Hotel (See opinion under Hotels in Reading) and while we were there we saw an advert for the Priority Club Worldwide, this is the frequent stayer program for the Bass Hotels Group, as we enjoyed ourselves we thought we may come back so took the details home with us.
The priority club membership is completely free and it earns you points on every qualifying stay at any of the following hotel chains.
Inter-Continental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Select, Holiday Inn SunSpree Resorts, Holiday Inn Family Suites Resorts, Holiday Inn Garden Court and Staybridge Suites.
Reading through the extensive legal jargon available on the website (www.priorityclub.com) it appears that a qualifying stay is just about any stay, but it excludes free or heavily discounted rates, such as a package holiday, or airline staff rates, but it includes regular special offer breaks.
The only problem with this program is it is very americanised, everything is in dollars and when you check reservations it defaults to USA. There are lots more opportunities to collect and spend points in America, but don’t let that put you off.
There are 4 levels of membership, they are as follows.
When you first sign up you get the club level membership. This is the basic level that entitles you to earn points with every qualifying stay at one of the above hotels. You earn 10 points for every US dollar or equivalent. So the number of points you earn in the UK depends on the exchange rate at the time of your stay, for example on a recent stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Exeter I paid £49.53 and I was awarded with 620 points.
After 8 qualifying stays you are upgraded to signature membership, I have to admit I could not find any additional benefits or any differences from the club membership level.
After 20 qualifying stays (in a calendar year) yo
u are upgraded to GOLD level membership, this entitles you to receive a 10% points bonus on all points earned as a gold level member.
After 60 qualifying stays (in a calendar year) you are upgraded to PLATINUM level membership, this entitles you to receive a 30% points bonus on all points earned as a platinum level member.
They also have a partnership with Hertz, so if you need a hire car, then you can earn 125 points per day if you use Hertz.
When you register you have the option to collect priority club points or you can choose to collect air miles for one of the participating airlines, all the information is available on the web site, but as I signed up for the points I can’t comment on the airline miles side of things.
You can redeem your points on free nights at any of the hotels in the group. There are different numbers of points required for different hotels, the current list is as follows.
Holiday Inn Express 10000
Holiday Inn Garden Court 13000
Holiday Inn 15000
Holiday Inn Select 16000
Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort 20000
Staybridge Suites / Studio 14000
Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts 25000
Inter Continental Hotel and Resorts – Level 1 50000
Inter Continental Hotel and Resorts – Level 2 30000
As you can see you need an awful lot of points to get a free stay, so unless you are a very frequent stayer you are unlikely to earn many nights away.
There are lots of other ways to spend your points though, again full details are on the website but they include dining vouchers and gifts.
There are some additional benefits to having a priority club.
Priority Check In, when you reserve a room and quote your priority c
lub membership number the room will be guaranteed, when you arrive at the hotel you will not have to queue up to check in, if there is a queue at reception just look on the reception counter and you will see the priority club check in point, all you have to do is sign the form by your name and take the packet with your name on it. Inside you will find your room key and room number so you can go straight to your room.
Free Newspaper, all member of the Priority Club are entitled to a free newspaper on weekdays.
Extended Checkout – As a priority club member you can request an extended checkout, not a lot of use if you are working away but if you are away for a break it could be useful.
Also at all hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa you get the following
Corporate Account Rate, this means you benefit from the standard negotiated corporate account rate for all bookings, this will save you a small amount of money, example, the standard room rate at the Express in Exeter is £52.00 per night, I pay £49.53
Free Family Accommodation, you can have up to 4 people in your room without paying any extra. Obviously if you go for a bigger room you will have to pay for the room, but if you can squeeze everyone into a standard room then no extra.
Discount on Business Services – you get a 20% discount on all business services at the hotel, including typing, photocopying, faxing and PC printing.
You also receive a statement and a club magazine on a regular basis, the statement shows you all the points you have been awarded and it comes with 2 forms, one for adjustments so if you did not receive the points for a stay you can complete the form and send it off with a copy of your receipt and they will correct it. You also get a claim form so you can claim your rewards.
The magazine details special offers and new hotels that have been added to the group.
Web Site.
The priority cl
ub web site is very good, you can register on line or you can pick up a form at any holiday inn hotel. When you register you need to provide details of your name and address obviously, you are also asked to provide your credit card details and your preferences for rooms such as smoking or non smoking and double bed or twin beds. This speeds up your use of the online reservations as it uses these as defaults when you are logged in.
The website links into all the bass hotel websites so you can check availability and make reservations on line. If you have logged in with your priority club membership number and pin number then you don’t have to worry about entering your details as it already knows who you are and what you want, but it does give you the ability to change these at the time of booking.
You can also review your account details on line and make changes to your account details and preferences. You can also view your statement on line and review your points balance.
Summary,
I like to use Holiday Inn hotels wherever I can as I find them comfortable a value for money so the points are just a bonus.
Unless you are staying at a hotel every week you are unlikely to earn enough points for much more than one night away, but the additional benefits make it well worth signing up. For me the priority check in was enough to make me join, but the other benefits are great as well.
If you think you may want to stay at one of the hotels in the Bass group I recommend you register for your membership now you have nothing to lose.
The priority club membership is completely free and it earns you points on every qualifying stay at any of the following hotel chains.
Inter-Continental, Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn Select, Holiday Inn SunSpree Resorts, Holiday Inn Family Suites Resorts, Holiday Inn Garden Court and Staybridge Suites.
Reading through the extensive legal jargon available on the website (www.priorityclub.com) it appears that a qualifying stay is just about any stay, but it excludes free or heavily discounted rates, such as a package holiday, or airline staff rates, but it includes regular special offer breaks.
The only problem with this program is it is very americanised, everything is in dollars and when you check reservations it defaults to USA. There are lots more opportunities to collect and spend points in America, but don’t let that put you off.
There are 4 levels of membership, they are as follows.
When you first sign up you get the club level membership. This is the basic level that entitles you to earn points with every qualifying stay at one of the above hotels. You earn 10 points for every US dollar or equivalent. So the number of points you earn in the UK depends on the exchange rate at the time of your stay, for example on a recent stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Exeter I paid £49.53 and I was awarded with 620 points.
After 8 qualifying stays you are upgraded to signature membership, I have to admit I could not find any additional benefits or any differences from the club membership level.
After 20 qualifying stays (in a calendar year) yo
u are upgraded to GOLD level membership, this entitles you to receive a 10% points bonus on all points earned as a gold level member.
After 60 qualifying stays (in a calendar year) you are upgraded to PLATINUM level membership, this entitles you to receive a 30% points bonus on all points earned as a platinum level member.
They also have a partnership with Hertz, so if you need a hire car, then you can earn 125 points per day if you use Hertz.
When you register you have the option to collect priority club points or you can choose to collect air miles for one of the participating airlines, all the information is available on the web site, but as I signed up for the points I can’t comment on the airline miles side of things.
You can redeem your points on free nights at any of the hotels in the group. There are different numbers of points required for different hotels, the current list is as follows.
Holiday Inn Express 10000
Holiday Inn Garden Court 13000
Holiday Inn 15000
Holiday Inn Select 16000
Holiday Inn SunSpree Resort 20000
Staybridge Suites / Studio 14000
Crowne Plaza Hotels and Resorts 25000
Inter Continental Hotel and Resorts – Level 1 50000
Inter Continental Hotel and Resorts – Level 2 30000
As you can see you need an awful lot of points to get a free stay, so unless you are a very frequent stayer you are unlikely to earn many nights away.
There are lots of other ways to spend your points though, again full details are on the website but they include dining vouchers and gifts.
There are some additional benefits to having a priority club.
Priority Check In, when you reserve a room and quote your priority c
lub membership number the room will be guaranteed, when you arrive at the hotel you will not have to queue up to check in, if there is a queue at reception just look on the reception counter and you will see the priority club check in point, all you have to do is sign the form by your name and take the packet with your name on it. Inside you will find your room key and room number so you can go straight to your room.
Free Newspaper, all member of the Priority Club are entitled to a free newspaper on weekdays.
Extended Checkout – As a priority club member you can request an extended checkout, not a lot of use if you are working away but if you are away for a break it could be useful.
Also at all hotels in Europe, Middle East and Africa you get the following
Corporate Account Rate, this means you benefit from the standard negotiated corporate account rate for all bookings, this will save you a small amount of money, example, the standard room rate at the Express in Exeter is £52.00 per night, I pay £49.53
Free Family Accommodation, you can have up to 4 people in your room without paying any extra. Obviously if you go for a bigger room you will have to pay for the room, but if you can squeeze everyone into a standard room then no extra.
Discount on Business Services – you get a 20% discount on all business services at the hotel, including typing, photocopying, faxing and PC printing.
You also receive a statement and a club magazine on a regular basis, the statement shows you all the points you have been awarded and it comes with 2 forms, one for adjustments so if you did not receive the points for a stay you can complete the form and send it off with a copy of your receipt and they will correct it. You also get a claim form so you can claim your rewards.
The magazine details special offers and new hotels that have been added to the group.
Web Site.
The priority cl
ub web site is very good, you can register on line or you can pick up a form at any holiday inn hotel. When you register you need to provide details of your name and address obviously, you are also asked to provide your credit card details and your preferences for rooms such as smoking or non smoking and double bed or twin beds. This speeds up your use of the online reservations as it uses these as defaults when you are logged in.
The website links into all the bass hotel websites so you can check availability and make reservations on line. If you have logged in with your priority club membership number and pin number then you don’t have to worry about entering your details as it already knows who you are and what you want, but it does give you the ability to change these at the time of booking.
You can also review your account details on line and make changes to your account details and preferences. You can also view your statement on line and review your points balance.
Summary,
I like to use Holiday Inn hotels wherever I can as I find them comfortable a value for money so the points are just a bonus.
Unless you are staying at a hotel every week you are unlikely to earn enough points for much more than one night away, but the additional benefits make it well worth signing up. For me the priority check in was enough to make me join, but the other benefits are great as well.
If you think you may want to stay at one of the hotels in the Bass group I recommend you register for your membership now you have nothing to lose.
Summary:
More Products
