If you've managed to save up a ton of hotel reward points and you're planning on saving them for a nice trip, you should probably book it as soon as possible. Many hotel chains are changing their reward rules and they might be doubling the amount of points you would need for a hotel stay.
Hotels often change their reward rules around this time of year, but this time around, travel experts say many hotels are going full force with changes and it isn't good for the customer.
"Almost every single hotel chain has jacked up, extraordinarily, the amounts of points that you need for a free night," says Brian Kelly of ThePointsGuy.com, according to 9News.
This extraordinary hike could mean that hotels are as much as doubling the number of reward points needed for a free hotel stay.
Major hotel chains are making these changes. Starwood's changes have already gone into effect. Hilton's changes are set to take place at the end of the month. Marriott's changes will go into effect on May 16. If customers book their stays before these dates, they can still use their points at the current lower rates.
Kelly doesn't see this as a good move for the hotel chains.
"I think once people start seeing that these points that they accrued for years are now worth about half as much, I think they're going to start losing customers," he predicts.
Another hotel chain, Wyndham has made changes in the favor of customers. They're now requiring fewer points for a free stay.
David Loeb, a senior research analyst at Robert W. Baird, said the hotel changes make sense as far as business goes.
"Industry occupancy is rising. So for an owner or operator, giving up a room that could be rented by a cash-paying guest to let someone redeem points has a rising cost in terms of giving up the opportunity to make more revenue," Loeb told CNBC.
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