I just want everyone to be aware of some facts if they book a hotel with a travel advisor or through a credit card travel portal like Chase Ultimate Rewards, Capital One, Citi Travel or Amex (booking a hotel that is not an Amex Fine Hotel).
First, you will not earn points on the stay. I would make sure that what u are getting from the travel advisor, travel site, etc. is better than what you can book on your own because you are giving up the ability to earn rewards on the stay. I get it that a travel advisor makes it easy, but just know what you are giving up.
Even just as important, often you will not receive your status benefits when you book a hotel stay with a travel advisor or travel site. Hopefully the travel advisor was able to get you comparable benefits to what you would have had with your status, but if not, I’d probably book the stay on my own.
Note, this is not the case with airlines. You can book flights on the travel sites, thru a travel advisor, etc and still earn miles on the flights and still take advantage of your status benefits on the flights.
Just thought I would give you all a heads up about this before you make your future hotel stays. Sorry to all my travel advisor friends. 🙂