Choice Hotels is an American hospitality company owning a few hotel brands such as Clarion, Comfort and Quality. They are not as popular in the frequent traveller world as many of their competitors, probably because:

• Their presence is very limited outside North America
• They mainly focus on the midscale and economy consumer markets

They do however, have a loyalty program called Choice Privileges which could be interesting to anyone even if you don’t travel to North America. Many aspects of the Choice Privileges aren’t relevant to most of us, so today we’ll specifically look into free night redemptions only.

[Buying Points]

If you are not US-based, then the easiest and most practical way of acquiring Choice points is through purchasing. The best deal would be the annual Daily Getaways event, through which you pay only $5.2 per thousand points. But there are some gotchas:

• It is intended for U.S. residents only, although in reality you just need a credit card that can pass with a U.S. billing address
• Stock is limited so you need to be fast
• You have only one chance per year

Failing that, Choice Privileges also runs frequent bonus offers on points sale, and the bonus usually ranges between 25% and 50%. The best rate you’ll get is maybe $6.8 per 1K points, which is a far cry from Daily Getaways but could still make a lot of sense if you read on.

[Japan]

Choice has a few hotels in the following Japanese cities: Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fukuoka and Nagasaki. Many of these hotels cost only 8,000 points a night, including the ones at Tokyo.

All hotels in Japan fall under the Comfort brand, which as you may have guessed is a no-frills economy brand. If you are on budget and just want a place to sleep, this is the way to go.

We’ve received feedback from readers which speak very highly of the Comfort hotel in Tokyo – convenient location, free breakfast and nice tea lounge.

[Europe]

Choice Privileges has some footprint in Europe, mainly at the most popular tourist destinations. You can expect to pay between 16,000 and 30,000 points for a Comfort or Quality hotel, which is not terrible but I’d stick with say Marriott and IHG instead.

The only sweet spot I’ve found is at Venice. This Ascend hotel has a 9.3 rating on Booking.com and can be frequently seen at €300 a night.

On the low-budget end, there are also a few 8,000-point hotels at Vienna and Prague.

[Strawberry]

This is in my opinion the highlight of the Choice Privilege program. Strawberry, formerly Nordic Choice, is a hotel group in Northern Europe that has had a franchise agreement with the Choice Hotel Group since 1994. Although they are different companies, Strawberry also uses brand names such as Clarion, Comfort and Ascend.

Even better, you can redeem Choice points on Strawberry hotels too, and they have a much more exciting portfolio. Strawberry operates some of the best hotels in Scandinavia, including The Thief in Oslo and At Six in Stockholm.

You can book reward nights at such properties directly on Choice’s website as usual. Many of them cost as few as 10,000 points, and many luxury properties cost only 20,000 points.

Needless to say there’s fantastic value to be had here. Reward availability is generally good, and there’s no peak or dynamic pricing so the cost remains the same.

Choice Privilege elite benefits don’t apply at Strawberry hotels. However there’s a way to claim Strawberry Platinum status right now, and you can add your booking to Strawberry’s system manually on their website.

[Premium Rooms]

One last thing: you can sometimes book room types beyond the standard room at the same cost. Here is the room availability of Aquarius Hotel in Venice:

You can book a suite for the same 20,000 points. A few other examples:

• Stockholm, Clarion Hotel Sign – Family Room & Superior Room
• Stockholm, Nordic Light Hotel – 1 Bedroom Suite
• Oslo, Comfort Hotel Grand Central – Superior Room
• Oslo, Clarion Collection Hotel Bastion – Family Room & Superior Room
• Helsinki, F6 – Deluxe Room
• Helsinki, GLO Hotel Art – Superior Room

Choice Privileges is a hidden gem and you can get great value out of it especially when travelling to Northern Europe. I don’t think you need to spend a lot of time on the program itself – just accrue some points when there’s a promotion and spend them towards your next adventure.