But most people don’t collect these points. Someone else books the room, or they take whatever’s cheapest online, and that’s the end of it. They don’t get points, credits or anything.
There’s a lot you can miss. The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) expects 1.84 billion work trips worldwide this year and $423 billion in U.S. spending. GBTA Chief Executive Officer Suzanne Neufang also said that “companies haven’t stepped away from travel, but they are increasingly more selective and productivity-focused.”
How the points actually reach you
You join a chain’s program once, get a number and put that number on the reservation itself.
Two things then accumulate. Points, which are basically store credit you can spend on a future stay, and a night credit for every night you sleep there.
The points build slowly. IHG and Marriott both hand you 10 points for every dollar at most of their hotels, so a $200 room night is about 2,000 points before tax. It’s useful, but it’s not necessarily a free holiday.
The night credits are where it gets good. If you booked 10 nights in a year, Marriott makes you Silver, which buys you a later checkout and 10% more points on everything after that.
Where the night gets lost
The booking channel
Marriott’s rules say rooms booked through third-party travel sites, like Expedia, Booking.com and Priceline, earn nothing — no points, no night credit and none of your tier perks, so you don’t get upgrades or late checkout. So book on the chain’s own site or app where you can.
But most people can’t — GBTA found 65% of business travelers worldwide say their employer requires or encourages booking through a company system — so if that’s you, drop your loyalty number into your travel profile and it rides along on every booking.
These channels do run their own schemes. Hotels.com added a work-trip mode in September that earns its own credit on eligible business stays, which is useful if you book that way anyway. It just won’t build your standing with the hotel.
Group bookings
When a conference puts the whole block on one company invoice, nobody earns a thing. Ask whether you can pay the hotel directly for your own room. Your employer paying is fine, by the way. Direct billing still counts.
Check your policy before you build a balance
Some employers may say the points are theirs, and the hotel won’t warn you.
