Choice Privileges Preferred Hotels & Resorts Redemption
There’s much I like about the Choice Privileges loyalty program. I’ve historically, oddly enjoyed how user-unfriendly it is, although that’s changing soon. My family and I have picked up easy wins at often-overlooked brands such as Comfort, Country, Cambria, Radisson and the Ascend Collection. And “aspirational” only enters the conversation with Choice Privileges Preferred Hotels & Resorts redemptions. This is where I focus most of our redemptions. Unfortunately, booking and managing these award reservations is as quirky as it is rewarding. I previously described some of said wrinkles, but I’m covering a few more today.
A Clunky Search
The overall booking process remains the same – login here to start your search for redeeming Choice points on Preferred properties. But with more experience, I’m losing patience with the lack of search options. There’s no traditional search bar to simply type your destination. Instead, most everything is based on filtering the 313 (as of this writing) participating properties. After finally filtering down and selecting the property I’m interested in, I must click View Rates, then enter occupants and date info, and click Continue to finally see room options. That’s clicking through one or two more pages than necessary, in my view.
Change your mind during the process? Get ready to start from the beginning. All filters reset when I return back to the original 313 property list, whether via the back arrow or clicking “Change Hotel.”
Where’s My Reservation?
I previously described how I received two email confirmations from Preferred Hotels and one from the specific property after booking. These emails are more important than one might originally think. Oddly, the Choice Privileges site doesn’t retain my existing Preferred Hotels and Resorts bookings within my online profile.
But let’s remember that Preferred Hotels & Resorts participates in another loyalty program called I Prefer. Logging in on this site, I can view my current Preferred reservations, which they call “Trips.” Great, I can finally view my reservation online – but that’s about it. More on that next.
How Do I Cancel?
In my view, one of the most underrated benefits of award stays is that most versions have flexible cancellation policies. Consequently, I make many speculative bookings which I subsequently cancel. I haven’t found any option for cancelling a Preferred Hotels & Resorts reservation on the I Prefer site. And, again, such reservations don’t even show up on the Choice Privileges site. How do I cancel?
I dug up the confirmation emails from many months ago. Buried within the first Preferred Hotels & Resorts email is this link to cancel. Individuals just need to enter their confirmation number and last name to cancel. Alternatively, I Prefer members can log into their account on the Preferred site to view and cancel. I instantly received the Choice points back in my account and received a cancellation email from the property a few minutes later.
I Prefer Not
While I joined I Prefer since I was redeeming Choice points for Preferred Hotels & Resorts stays, that first program is largely pointless to me right now. The website doesn’t enable anything new for managing my reservation and I don’t have any points in the program. The benefits seem minimal at best, and I’ve yet to actually receive anything at all. I Prefer is an unnecessary distraction at this point; I seriously doubt I’ll ever benefit from it.
Conclusion
Despite all this wackiness, I have no plans to slow down on my Choice Privileges Preferred Hotels & Resorts redemptions. While I wish we had more properties to pick from, I’m happy enough with what’s currently available. We have several trips centered around a few of these destinations already and look forward to more. Dealing with these booking oddities is just the cost of doing business, in my opinion. And I’d love to hear any I Prefer angles I may be missing. I’d be happen to be proven wrong!
Have you redeemed Choice points via Preferred Hotels & Resorts? How was your experience?
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