Some people get frustrated by how complicated it can be to redeem airline miles, given blackout dates and capacity controls. By comparison, this is something that’s awesome about hotel points, at least on the surface.
Most hotel loyalty programs don’t have blackout dates on award redemptions. However, not all policies are created equal, so in this post I wanted to compare the blackout dates policies of the four most popular hotel loyalty programs among OMAAT readers.
Which hotel programs have no blackout dates?
Among the four biggest hotel loyalty programs in the Americas, there are very different policies when it comes to blackout dates on award stays. Some programs let you redeem points as long as a standard room is available for sale, while other programs let you redeem points only for a subset of standard rooms. So let’s go over the policies of Hilton Honors, IHG One Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy, and World of Hyatt, and see how they compare.
Hilton Honors blackout dates policy
Hilton Honors has no blackout dates or capacity controls on award redemptions — this includes if you’re redeeming for a standard room (typically the best value), or if you’re using Points & Money awards for a premium room. Of the major hotel groups, Hilton Honors has the most straightforward policy.
IHG One Rewards blackout dates policy
IHG One Rewards has no blackout dates on reward nights, but does have capacity controls. What this means is that some number of standard rooms will be made available for award redemptions every night, but that doesn’t mean that all standard rooms are available for award redemptions (as is the policy with Hilton Honors and World of Hyatt). In other words, if a hotel has 100 standard rooms, it could choose to make just 10 of them available for reward nights.
Note however that there are capacity controls and/or blackout dates for Six Senses and Mr. & Mrs. Smith properties, as these are just slowly being integrated into IHG One Rewards.
Marriott Bonvoy blackout dates policy
Marriott Bonvoy has a “limited blackout dates” policy, which I’d basically view as meaning there are no blackout dates but there are some limited capacity controls. On most days most Marriott properties will make all standard rooms available for awards, though “on a limited number of days,” hotels can limit the number of standard rooms available for awards.
In other words, for some number of dates over peak season, hotels can choose to make only a subset of standard rooms available for points. This isn’t as generous as the policies of Hilton Honors or World of Hyatt, but compares favorably to IHG One Rewards, which allows hotels to always only make a subset of standard rooms available for awards.
In the interest of being thorough, also note that the following properties don’t fully participate in Marriott Bonvoy when it comes to redeeming points:
- JW Marriott Scottsdale Camelback Inn® Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, AZ
- Vistana Signature Network and Vistana Residence Network – all properties
- Marriott Vacation Club and Marriott Grand Residence Club – all properties
- Rome Marriott Grand Hotel Flora, Rome, Italy
- Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, Hawaii
- Wailea Beach Resort – Marriott – Maui, Hawaii
- Hotel Cala di Volpe, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Costa Smeralda, Italy
- Hotel Pitrizza, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Costa Smeralda, Italy
- Hotel Romazzino, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Costa Smeralda, Italy
- Homes & Villas by Marriott International
- North Island, a Luxury Collection Resort, Seychelles
World of Hyatt blackout dates policy
World of Hyatt has no blackout dates on free night points redemptions, as long as a standard room is available for sale, with the standard rate also bookable. However, note that there are capacity controls on MGM Rewards and Small Luxury Hotels of the World properties, as well as on points redemptions for suites.
Furthermore, note that Destination Residences, along with the following properties, don’t typically have standard room redemptions available (due to the types of accommodations these properties offer):
- Hyatt Windward Pointe
- Hyatt Beach House
- Hyatt Sierra Lodge
- Hyatt Siesta Key Beach
- Puunoa Beach Estates
- The Islands at Mauna Lani
- Wailea Beach Villas
- Ventana Campground
How do hotels get paid for award stays?
To understand these varying policies, it’s worth being aware of the general business model behind award stays. Individual hotels are typically owned by individual investment firms, and simply managed by the major hotel groups. Hotels get reimbursed by the loyalty programs when members redeem their points for a stay. The reimbursement rate is typically based on how full the hotel ends up being. Very generally speaking:
- If a hotel isn’t close to being full (less than 90% full, give or take), the hotel receives fairly low reimbursement, that covers the costs the hotel incurs for having a guest, but doesn’t cover any revenue loss from an award guest displacing a cash guest
- If a hotel is full (more than 90% full, give or take), the hotel is reimbursed significantly more, typically close to the average daily rate, to account for the possible revenue loss
As you might imagine, loyalty programs love when people redeem points at hotels that are empty, while hotels like when guests redeem points at hotels that are full (especially when award bookings contribute to such high occupancy).
Hotels have varying attitudes toward award guests, regardless of circumstances. Some hotels make a point of being welcoming to award guests, and even view them as an important part of their business model and revenue, while other hotels make award guests feel like an inconvenience.
How some hotels game “no blackout dates” rules
Unfortunately don’t expect to always be able to find a standard room available, even among hotel loyalty programs with no blackout dates and no capacity controls. Individual hotels have creative ways to restrict award availability.
While loyalty programs may require hotels to make all standard rooms available for awards, they don’t dictate how hotels define standard rooms. The most common practice we’ve seen is hotels essentially creating a small subset of rooms that are considered “standard.” Previously maybe 50 rooms at a particular hotel were considered standard, while now maybe five rooms are considered “standard,” perhaps because they have a slightly different view, are on a different floor, or something else.
For example, the Andaz Maui is notorious for this. Only “1 King Bed” and “2 Queen Beds” rooms are available for points. A vast majority of the hotel’s rooms are resort view, partial ocean view, or ocean view, so it seems that several years back some rooms were put in this subcategory so that award availability could be limited.
That’s just one example, but there are plenty of hotels that have done something similar.
Along the same lines, it’s not uncommon to see almost no standard room availability at many of Hilton Honors’ most premium properties, including the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal, Waldorf Astoria Maldives, Conrad Bora Bora, etc.
I’m not suggesting games are being played here, but clearly there are few standard rooms and they’re being snagged early on, so it can be tough to lock these in otherwise (except last minute, when many rooms are often made available). My point is simply to say that while a no blackout dates and no capacity controls policy is as good as it gets, that still doesn’t guarantee easy award availability.
Bottom line
Hotel loyalty programs have varying policies when it comes to blackout dates and capacity controls. As you can see, Hilton Honors and World of Hyatt have the best policies, followed by Marriott Bonvoy, followed by IHG One Rewards.
While no blackout dates policies are great, unfortunately some hotels still play games with award availability, by recategorizing rooms so that there aren’t many standard rooms. Hopefully with some persistence you can still snag the award room you want.
What has your experience been with hotel policies around award blackout dates?
