Choice Hotels is another chain with quite a few properties in the Maritimes. Brands include Comfort Inn, Quality Inn, and Econo Lodge among others. The Ascend Collection includes hotels that one might not be aware are even affiliated with a chain, such as the Inn on the Lake in Fall River, NS. Here’s a directory of Choice hotels in Canada.
Choice Privileges is the loyalty program for these hotels. The current promotion is one they have run frequently in the past: Stay 2 times, get 8000 points. It’s actually described as “Stay Two Times Earn A $50 Gift Card” but the terms and conditions reveal that it’s really just 8000 points which can be redeemed for a gift card at select retailers. The second qualifying stay must occur by August 18. You can repeat the promo an unlimited number of times. Here’s the link.
Unlike Wyndham Rewards with its flat 15,000 point redemption approach, hotels in the Choice Privileges program not only have varying point requirements but they change depending on time of year. The website also mentions “Flex Rewards” where participating hotels may also require fewer points either during the week or on weekends. You can see the different point requirements if you click through to the page for the specific hotel. For example, the Quality Inn and Suites in Summerside PEI from June 26 – July 2 is 12,000 points Sun-Thurs and 25,000 points Fri-Sat From July 3 – Sept. 15 it’s 25,000 any night and Sept. 16 – Nov. 30 it’s 16,000 any night. Choice has a points + cash option but it’s only open to U.S. residents. These points are good to have if you’ll need a hotel for an overnight layover in Montreal or Toronto as there are multiple options near each airport at the 6000 or 8000 level. An example of a Maritime option is the Comfort Inn in Dartmouth at 8000 points until Sept. 15 when it increases to 10,000.
So, if your travel plans this summer include a couple of stays at a Choice brand hotel it might be worth it to register for this. Remember, as with most such promotions, it’s important to book through Choice and not a third party booking site. Note, there is a .ca and a .com version of the Choice Hotels website. The .ca one appears to be an older version and it doesn’t seem to let you search by points rate or special rates like CAA or Senior until after you do a search and then click the tab that says “Additional Discount Rates”.
Finally, if you have a membership with Choice Privileges, you can “Refer a Friend” to earn 500 points upon your friend’s first qualifying stay. Your friend will earn 500 points as well.
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