The winners and losers in the new Priority Club reward chart

Well, the new Priority Club reward levels are out.  And, as predicted, it is not good.

The result is what you would have foreseen with a move from brand-based pricing to rate-based pricing.

Hotels in big cities – London etc – have had their points requirements jacked up.  Hotels in small regional towns have, generally, gone down – but then how often do you redeem for those?  (Of course, now they are pretty good value on a ‘£ to points needed’ basis, you may redeem in them more.)

In London, Crowne Plaza hotels have gone from 35,000 per night to 45,000.  (Remember they were 25,000 a couple of years ago.)  Hotel Indigo hotels are similarly at 45,000, except for the new Earls Court one which is reduced to 30,000 as it is still in its ‘soft opening’ phase.

Some Holiday Inn Express properties are 35,000, unbelievably.  Holiday Inn Mayfair, that great bargain of a redemption, goes up from 25,000 to 35,000.  The two new hotels remain slightly discounted – Holiday Inn Commercial Road is 20,000 (was 15,000) and HI Stratford is 25,000 (was 15,000).

It is a similar story in New York, Paris, Hong Kong etc.  The InterContinentals in Dusseldorf and Frankfurt are up by 50%, from 30,000 points to 45,000.  The Holiday Inn Sheffield has gone down by 5,000 points though ….

InterContinental hotels in key cities, such as the IC Cannes (above), remain at 50,000 points.  These remain some of the best value redemptions.

(To see our complete list of all current hotel promotions for the major chains, click here to visit our ‘Hotel Promos’ page or use the link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)