5 Reasons You Should Use a Hotel Rewards Program
5 reasons you should use a hotel rewards program for youth travel sports
It’s no secret that youth sports can be expensive. According to the Aspen Institute, the average family spends $883 each year for one child’s primary sport. If you have multiple children who play several sports throughout the year, that expense could easily get up into the thousands. If a sport requires travel, that same survey estimates that it will make up more than a quarter of the cost for the average family: $260 per season (per child!).
With all the different types of expenses related to youth sports — including registration, equipment, and travel — it’s important to save as much money as you can, especially to combat rising costs.
In this article, we’ll explore how to get more from your sports travel with a hotel rewards program and how to make sure you’re getting the best possible perks.
Making the most of your sports travel
When planning a trip with a youth sports team, one of the best ways to keep your travel budget-friendly is to work with a housing company.
You can save money by using the event producer’s official housing company to book your hotel stay. Typically, they’ve already done the legwork to negotiate the lowest rates on rooms, often with extra perks like free or discounted parking, breakfast, and more. Meal expenses add up when you’re feeding a whole squad of growing athletes, so continental breakfast or even a ‘grab and go’ breakfast bar can help you start the day off right, without breaking the bank.
By working with a housing company, you can take advantage of contracted blocks that protect you from having to find a backup hotel last-minute, which can be frustrating and costly.
Benefits of using a hotel rewards program
One more surefire way to make the most of your youth sports travel is to use a hotel rewards program. That way, you can earn rewards for hotel stays and elevate every trip for you and your children.
- Get more for your money
In addition to free breakfast, a hotel rewards program can get you access to more free amenities, including free high-speed WiFi so you can stay connected to work, coaches, teammates and family.
You could also get the VIP treatment with perks like flexible or priority check-in and checkout for added convenience. For example, if you need to get into your room early to gear up and drop off your bags, you may be able to do so before heading to the game. Some hotel loyalty programs will also let members sleep in for an extra hour or two after a long tournament by delaying your checkout time for no extra cost. - Enjoy exclusive discounts and upgrades
Most hotel rewards programs offer member discounts on rooms and guarantee you their best available rate when you book directly through the hotel’s website. When you reach a certain status or tier of a loyalty program, you may even be able to take advantage of room upgrades.
If your rewards program has partnerships with airlines or car rental companies, you may also get free upgrades on flights and rental cars for travel sports events that are out of driving distance. - Earn points toward future stays
Hotel loyalty programs are all structured in a similar way: When you stay at a hotel that’s part of the program, you earn points that you can use toward future stays, including a trip for another youth sports tournament or even leisure travel.
With the right hotel rewards program, a season’s worth of travel sports trips can actually help pay for your next family vacation. Being a member allows you to earn points on the trips you’re taking anyway, and put those points toward the trip you’re dreaming to take.
For example, you can earn points through the Wyndham Rewards hotel loyalty program and redeem them for free nights at any participating Wyndham Hotels & Resorts property — including all-inclusive resorts where your meals and drinks are covered. Talk about a home run, touchdown, three-pointer…you get the idea. - Personalize your experience
On top of the possible early check-in and late checkout when you need it, you could work with a hotel to arrange transportation to and from an event venue for the whole team.
If you’re making a weekend out of your sports travel, you could also enjoy discounts on local attractions through your hotel — including pro sports and stadium tours, museums, theme parks and more. - Pair with a credit card to maximize rewards
Many hotel loyalty programs offer special credit cards that complement your rewards. Members who use these credit cards for travel, gas, and everyday expenses can earn even more points to be redeemed toward free nights at hotels. When you combine your points earned for hotel stays with credit card bonus points, you can stack up rewards pretty quickly.
Some hotel credit cards also feature bonus point introductory periods, during which you can earn a large sum of bonus points if you spend a certain amount within your first 90–180 days of when you first get your credit card. If you hit a target minimum spend every year, you could also be eligible for an annual point bonus.
How to choose the best hotel rewards program
Once you decide to join a hotel loyalty program, it can be tough to figure out which is right for you. Of course, you can always sign up for multiple rewards programs — but the most efficient way to travel is to accumulate as many points as you can with one account.
Here are some factors to consider when choosing the best hotel rewards program for your family:
- The ease of earning points – Some loyalty programs make it very easy to load up on points through hotel stays, credit card spend, and more. The more points you earn, the further you’ll go.
- Value of your points – Do the math to make sure that the points you’re earning are actually worth something. Are you getting rewards for every dollar you spend? Are you able to earn bonuses throughout the year? How many points do you need for a free night?
- Your travel habits – How often do you travel as a family? For work? Do you take a lot of trips in addition to sports travel? What types of hotels do you usually like to stay at? Do you have a preferred brand or brands?
- Locations and options – The right rewards program for a youth sports parent or coach is probably the one with the most hotels near tournament and event locations. You should also consider whether you’ll have a variety of options in each location, i.e., different hotel brands under the same program.
- Additional perks – Every loyalty program lets you earn points. What are the other perks that are most attractive to you? Look for free breakfast, complimentary upgrades, flexible check-in and checkout, and more.
- Elevated status – Realistically, how quickly will you be able to reach a higher tier of the program so you can take advantage of the best offers and benefits they have available?
- Partnerships and point transfers – Many hotel rewards programs partner with other travel companies—like airlines, car rental agencies, and even other hotel brands. See how you can redeem and/or transfer your points through partners to get the most out of your membership.
Why you should consider Wyndham Rewards®
For seven years in a row, USA Today has ranked Wyndham Rewards® as the best hotel loyalty program. Also, for the past two years, the rewards program has been ranked the #1 by U.S. News & World Report. One of the main reasons the program comes so highly recommended is that members can earn enough points for a free night in as little as seven stays.
With 6,000+ participating hotels in the United States — across a multitude of the most loved hotel brands — travelers like you get the best of both worlds: more places to earn points and more places to redeem them. Not only can you redeem your Wyndham Rewards points for free and discounted nights, you can also put them toward flights, activities and experiences, online shopping, gift cards and more.
Popular hotel brands for sports travelers include La Quinta® by Wyndham, Trademark Collection® by Wyndham, Ramada® by Wyndham, and AmericInn® by Wyndham. You can also earn points on car rentals through partners Avis and Budget, and flights through United Airlines and Air Canada. Plus, you can link your Wyndham Rewards account with Caesars Rewards to earn and redeem points at Caesars Entertainment properties.
If you want to earn points even faster with Wyndham Rewards, you can sign up for the Wyndham Rewards Earner Card, which has taken the top spot in USA Today’s best travel and hotel rewards cards list. Together, the right hotel loyalty program and credit card can make your sports travel — and other family trips — even more rewarding.
Become a Wyndham Rewards member today and see what special offers are waiting for you.
Tim Ellis is the Sr. Strategic Account Director at Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. He focuses on the sports, tour and travel, entertainment and third-party business segments, helping to connect guests to 9,200+ hotels in the global Wyndham family. Tim is a dad to four children, all involved in youth sports.