Free Club1 Hotels membership worth $675 plus $150 credit giveaway!

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When it comes to saving money on travel, I’ve always been the go-to person for my friends and family members. While some of them collect miles, most of them just want to know how they can save on paid travel, and I think I have a new answer for them: Club1 Hotels.

Club1 Hotels is a travel booking site/OTA that offers wholesale rates on hotels, airlines, car rentals, and tour packages. They are cheaper than Trivago, Expedia, and Kayak – my previous go-to travel booking OTA – and offer substantial savings over direct hotel bookings.

The way they’re able to do this is by charging a $675 annual membership fee instead of getting a commission on each booking. The great news? They are offering PointChaser readers a FREE 1-year Club1 Hotels membership [EXPIRED].

Hotel front desk check-in bell

In addition to a free 1-year beta membership, Club1 Hotels has offered me a $150 booking credit to give away to one lucky reader. Here are the rules and instructions on how you can enter for a chance to win:

  • Sign up for a free Club1 membership (EXPIRED).
  • Leave a comment in this post, letting me know at which hotel you plan on spending the $150  credit (make sure it’s a hotel listed on the Club1 website).
  • The deadline for entries is October 9, 2016 at 8:30 PM (PT)/11:30 PM (ET).
  • Winners will be chosen via random.org and announced on October 10 at 12:00 PM (PT).
  • Please respond within 3 days or I will have to pick a new winner.

Regardless of whether you end up winning the $150 credit, Club1 Hotels offers substantial savings on travel bookings. I did a quick search for some upcoming travel and was seriously amazed by the incredible deals I found.

How to Find Travel Deals Through Club1 Hotels

Club1 Hotels has a fairly user-friendly website. All you have to do is log in and search for travel like you would with any other OTA. The nice thing about Club1 Hotels is that in addition to searching by city, you can specify a hotel name. This is useful for comparing Club1’s rates against those listed on hotel websites or other OTA’s. There’s no need to wait for a huge list of results. You can narrow it down to the hotel you want, right away.

The search results will show the total for the entire stay, minus taxes and fees. Once you select the room you want and continue to the booking page, you’ll see the total cost with taxes included.

I was recently searching for hotels during the week of the Chicago Seminars and found rates to be especially high this time around. On October 12 – 16, a standard room at the Hyatt Regency Chicago was listed as $2,108.32 on the Hyatt website ($449 per night before tax):

Club1 Hotels cheaper rates than hotel website
Rates listed on the Hyatt Regency Chicago website are $700 higher than Club1 Hotels!

Meanwhile, Club1 Hotels was offering the same room for  $1,412.75 with taxes included. That’s nearly $700 in saving on a four night hotel stay!

If I were to keep my Club1 Hotels membership after the first year, this booking alone would off-set the $675 annual membership fee. Which brings me to the questions I know you all must be asking by now.

Club1 Hotels discounts with free membership
Hyatt Regency Chicago rates listed on the Club1 Hotels website

Can Club1 Hotels Rates Be Used for Best Rate Guarantee Claims?

Most hotel chains don’t honor lower rates unless they are accessible to the general public. Since Club1 Hotels is a members-only site that requires a log-in to search for and book hotels, their lower rates are not eligible for Best Rate Guarantee claims.

Do Club1 Hotels Reservations Earn Points and Qualify for Elite Benefits?

While saving 50% on hotel rates certainly makes foregoing elite status and points worth it, it doesn’t have to be this way. A representative informed me that the rules vary across hotel chains and individual hotels, but some of them do in fact offer points and elite benefits on reservations made through Club1 Hotels. Here’s  an overview of the various hotel chains and their policies regarding reservations made through Club1 Hotels:

  • At some Fairmont hotels (i.e. Fairmont Monte Carlo), members will earn stay credits from reservations made through Club1 Hotels.
  • Starwood, Marriott, Hilton, IHG and Hyatt do not offer points or elite night credit.
  • Starwood, Hilton, and IHG will not honor elite status benefits.
  • Marriott and Hyatt will honor elite status benefits.

There may be exceptions among individual hotels, but if you’re saving a substantially on hotel bookings, then foregoing elite benefits may be worth the trade-off.

I suggest you claim your free Club1 membership and see if the site can save you some money on your next hotel booking. The great thing about the free membership is that you don’t have to provide a credit card, so there’s zero chance of getting stuck with a $675 membership fee next year if you decide not to renew it.

In the meantime, be sure to leave a comment in this post as your entry for the $150 credit giveaway. Don’t forget to provide a valid e-mail address so I can reach you if you do win.

Please note, I will earn a $4 referral fee for every person who signs up for a free Club1 Hotels membership using the link in this post. Thanks for your support and good luck!

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82 thoughts on “Free Club1 Hotels membership worth $675 plus $150 credit giveaway!”

  10. Beechy

    Quick question : can I use a Hyatt suite upgrade on a reservation ? I am looking at Hyatt Ziva Cancun. Thanks 🙂

    Reply
  12. Lawrence

    $150 credit? I’d use it to book the Antigua Yacht Club, in Antigua and Barbuda! Thanks for the site info, Ariana!

    Reply
  21. IslandTraveler.com

    Ariana! I would stay anywhere expensive, exotic, and tropical. Thanks for sharing the Club1 membership info with us! Hope to see you at the Chicago Seminars.

    Reply
  33. Thomas J.

    Once I get a confirmation email from them, I would stay at the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. I would use the money I save from Club1 and give good gratuities to the staff there since Mr. Trump refuses to give them a fair contract.

    Reply
  34. jcaffrey47

    OK, signed up without a problem but I wonder if you would compare this program to the 4th night free program offered by Citi Prestige. After the free one year expires would it be worth paying the rather high annual fee?

    Reply
  41. Teri

    In looking at my profile on the website, I see that they have designated me as a travel agent. All options are for some sort of travel industry employee. Curious as to know why the hotels involved are even participating. Do they get a kick-back from your $675 annual fee?

    Do you know if you could pay for this with Barclay Arrival or CapitalOne Venture and pay for the annual fee in points (for second year and beyond)?

    Reply
  45. Andrew

    I’m going to Lima and would like to stay in any hotel over there. It does look like Casa Andina Private Collection Miraflores looks nice!

    Also, Ariana, I don’t get you. The other day you posted about $400+ fares not being exciting enough to you — because 1) they don’t offer same level of comfort as business class seats, and 2) you can spend those money manufacturing way more points than needed for a business class seat.

    And now you’re excited about $353 per night rate for a 4-category hotel? Why? Even if you follow the most expensive MS way, you can generate more than 52K points from one night, which is almost enough for 4 nights at this hotel! How you can justify this arithmetic? Why it’s not ok to spend money on economy class tickets but ok to spend same amount on economy rooms?

    Reply
  47. BarbaraMae

    I’d like to stay at the Ritz-Carlton in Los Angeles. It’s close to home, but would be so fun to have a weekend of luxury!

    Reply
  51. bluebluecat

    Something not kosher when you try to book a car—wrong number of days appears. Example, pick up a car on a sunday at 9AM and drop off on Tuesday at 6PM—>they will quote you a bid and tell you it’s for “2 days”

    This alone makes me nervous about booking a hotel room with them.

    Reply
    1. Jessica

      Hi BLUEBLUECAT, thank you for your comment! Car rental guidelines and restrictions are set by the car rental supplier. For example, if you book a Hertz car rental through us, you’ll find Hertz’s rules and restrictions listed (including how days are counted). Please be assured that all bookings are handled with much detail and care within our electronic and human capital (Member Services) systems. Please feel free to give us a call or send us an email with any additional concerns or questions! (312-757-4866 and MemberServices@Club1Hotels.com)

      Reply
  58. Kat

    I would like to stay at the Hyatt Ziva in Los Cabos. I visited Cabos during a cruise several years ago and would like to book a longer stay.

    Reply
  59. Pam

    If they offered the Andaz Papagayo I’d have booked it today. But sadly not offered. So I’d probably use the credit towards Hyatt Ziva.

    Reply

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