Jan 18 Update: Big time Hotel Program Changes from IHG, SPG and Wyndham

Today is a day of hotel reward program news! Truth be told most of it is not that good but this is usually what I see happen the first month of every year as every loyalty program re-evaluates their policies, redemption rates and more.

News, Tips & Tricks
Emirates Skywards has released their redemption chart for award flights on Alaska Airlines. Rates ranges from 15,000 Skywards miles for intra-state economy class award tickets to 65,000 miles for First Class Award tickets between the U.S. or Canada and Mexico. More details can be found here

IHG Priority Club's new reward night redemptions come into effect today. As I mentioned previously about 30% of their 4,200+ hotels will go up in points requirements while another 30% will go down and the remainder will stay the same. Gone are the redemption rates by brand and in is a category based reward chart like most of the other major hotel players. The good new is that if you are planning to book a reward night at hotel that has gone up, you have until March 18 to redeem at the old rates. To compare redemption rates, visit PriorityClub.com to see the new rates while utilizing this amazing chart put together by Loyalty Lobby of all the old rates.

Starwood Preferred Guest is 'enhancing' their Cash+Points redemption as of March 5. The good enhancements are that Category 1 and 2 hotels worldwide are now included instead of just U.S, Canada and Asia Pacific plus the addition of Cash+Points options for upgraded rooms and suites. The bad enhancement is that the rates for Cash+Points are increasing! An increase is never good but SPG has not increased these rates in quite sometime and overall they still represent a very good value (vs great value before!). Details of the changes can be found here. Here are the new and old reward charts for Cash + Points:

Cash + Points as of March 5, 2013

Cash + Points until March 4, 2013

Meanwhile Wyndham Rewards has increased the amount of points required for free nights at some of their hotels by extremely large amounts. For a more indepth look at this change please see this post by Mommy Points.

Marriott Rewards has officially published their new Elite Lifetime Status requirements on their site.

Travel Deals
Fairmont Hotels is offering 20% off for Fairmont stays Worldwide (plus an additional 5% if you are a Fairmont Presidents Club member, free to join!) Simply book an Everyone's an Original Rate before January 31, 2013 12PM EST for stays up to April 30, 2013. Oh and by the way this rate earns Double Miles with 7 of Fairmont's airline partners

Bonus Offers
Carlson Hotels Club Carlson
- 6,750 Bonus Gold Points and save up to 20% when you rent a Budget vehicle for 3 or more consecutive days at participating locations in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa, Latin America, Caribbean, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. More... Until Dec 31, 13

Czech Airlines OK Plus
- 50% OK Plus Miles Discount on Reward Ticket redemptions to/from Prague*: Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Madrid, Milan, Minsk, Rome, Stuttgart, Strasbourg, and Warsaw. More... Feb 1 - 28, 13
- 50% OK Plus Miles Discount on Reward Ticket redemptions to/from Prague*: Barcelona, ??Brussels, Budapest, Copenhagen, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Kosice, Madrid, Minsk, Milan, Odessa, Stuttgart and Warsaw. More... Until Jan 31, 13
- Double OK Plus Miles and save up to 33% of on all Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Jun 30, 13

Iberia Plus
- Double Avios when you rent with Avis in Spain. More... Until Mar 15, 13
- Triple Avios when you rent for 3 or more days in the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Spain and USA. More... Book by Feb 28 for rentals until Mar 31, 13
- Double Avios and save up to 33% of on all Hertz rentals Worldwide. More... Book by Jan 31 for rentals until Jun 30, 13
- Double Avios when you rent with Europcar in Spain. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- Double Avios for prepaid Atesa rentals in Spain. More... Until Feb 28, 13
- Quadruple Avios when you rent for 5 or more days at any Sixt location Worldwide. More... Until Feb 28, 13

Scandinavian EuroBonus
- 3,000 EuroBonus points for stays of 2 or more nights in a suite at participating World Hotels Worldwide. More... Until Mar 17, 13

Southwest Rapid Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Rapid Rewards Points for eligible stays at participating Country Inns & Suites, Radisson Blu, and Radisson locations in the United States. More... Until Mar 31, 13

United Mileage Plus
- Quadruple Mileage Plus Miles per stay at La Quinta properties in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. More... Until Feb 28, 13

Vietnam Airlines Golden Lotus Plus (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Double Golden Lotus Plus Miles for flights between Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi and Vientiane or Luang Phrabang. More... Until Mar 15, 13

Virgin Australia Velocity Rewards (on FrequentFlyerBonuses.com only)
- Elite Status Credit when you redeem your Points for a Reward Seat with Virgin Australia. More... Until Jun 30, 13