住酒店快速累積航空里程的四種方法

Can you parlay a hotel room reservation into thousands of frequent-flier miles?

你能利用酒店預訂獲得上萬英里的常客飛行里程嗎？

In the last year, the leading websites that allow travelers to do just that, PointsHound and Rocketmiles, were acquired by Points International and Priceline, respectively. How are they measuring up? And if you haven’t tried such sites before, is it worth trying them now?

過去一年裏，給旅客提供這種回報的主要網站PointsHound和Rocketmiles分別被Points International和Priceline收購。這兩家網站水平怎麼樣？如果你以前沒試過這些網站，現在值不值得試試？

PointsHound and Rocketmiles give you frequent-flier miles in exchange for staying in hotels booked through their websites. There are, of course, trade-offs. For instance, when you don’t book directly with a hotel, you often have to forgo points and elite qualifying stays in the hotel’s loyalty program; any changes to your reservation must be made through the third-party site instead of with the hotel; and you may not always receive the lowest rate.

通過PointsHound和Rocketmiles網站預訂酒店，可以獲得常客飛行里程。當然，這是有代價的。比如，如果你不是直接從酒店預訂房間，通常就得放棄酒店忠誠度獎勵系統中的獎勵積分和貴賓資格積分。另外，如果你想更改預訂，必須通過第三方，而非酒店；而且不一定總能獲得最低價。

On the other hand, you can accumulate enough miles for free flights and upgrades on airlines such as American, Air France, British Airways and JetBlue.

不過，這樣做的好處是能在美國航空公司(American)、法國航空公司(Air France)、英國航空公司(British Airways)和捷藍(JetBlue)等航空公司積累足夠多的里程，獲得免費飛行和升艙的機會。

When you reserve a room through PointsHound, you can generally earn up to 6,000 points a night in the airline or rewards program of your choice (there are exceptions: A recent search turned up a one-night stay at the Peninsula New York that would earn 16,100 miles on American Airlines). Properties marked with a Big Earn banner rake in the most miles. The site also has its own rewards program where members at the top levels (based largely on the number of nights booked) earn points at higher rates. Users of Rocketmiles, the primary PointsHound competitor, can earn up to 5,000 miles a night on their airline of choice.

通過PointsHound預訂房間，每晚通常能獲得6000點航空公司積分或自選獎勵計劃（也有些例外：前不久我搜索時發現，在紐約半島酒店[Peninsula New York]住一晚能獲得美國航空公司16100英里的免費飛行里程）。打有“回饋豐厚”(Big Earth)標語的酒店獎勵的里程最多。該網站還有自己的獎勵計劃，最高級別的會員（主要是依據預訂酒店的天數）能獲得最高比例的積分。Rocketmiles是PointsHound的主要競爭對手。它的用戶訂一晚酒店能積累自選航空公司的5000英里免費里程。

Both PointsHound and Rocketmiles allow members to earn miles on carriers including Air France, Alaska Airlines, Alitalia, American, Etihad, Finnair, Frontier, Hawaiian, Icelandair, JetBlue, Saudi Airlines and Turkish Airlines, as well as Asia Miles, a travel and lifestyle rewards program.

PointsHound和Rocketmiles的會員都能獲得以下航空公司的里程：法國航空公司、阿拉斯加航空公司(Alaska Airlines)、意大利航空公司(Alitalia)、美國航空公司、阿提哈德航空公司(Etihad)、芬蘭航空公司(Finnair)、邊疆航空公司(Frontier)、夏威夷航空公司(Hawaiian)、冰島航空公司(Icelandair)、捷藍、沙特航空(Saudi Airlines)和土耳其航空(Turkish Airlines)。同時能獲得亞洲里程(Asia Miles)的獎勵，它是一個旅行和生活方式獎勵計劃。

In addition to the airlines mentioned above, users of PointsHound can also earn miles on AeroMéxico, AirBaltic, LAN Airlines, TAM Airlines and US Airways. (They can use their hotel bookings to accrue the virtual currency, Bitcoin, as well.)

除了上述航空公司，PointsHound的用戶還能獲得墨西哥航空(AeroMéxico)、波羅的海航空公司(AirBaltic)、智利航空公司(LAN Airlines)、巴西天馬航空公司(TAM Airlines)以及全美航空公司(US Airways)的里程（還能用酒店預訂獲取虛擬貨幣——比特幣）。

Users of Rocketmiles have more options in addition to the carriers above: They can earn miles on British Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Norwegian, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, Singapore Airlines, Southwest, United, Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic, as well as points for Amtrak, Aeroplan and the Avios travel rewards program.

而Rocketmiles的用戶亦能獲得以下航空公司的里程：英國航空公司、埃塞俄比亞航空公司(Ethiopian Airlines)、馬來西亞航空公司(Malaysia Airlines)、挪威航空公司(Norwegian)、阿曼航空公司(Oman Air)、卡塔爾航空公司(Qatar Airways) 、約旦王家航空公司(Royal Jordanian)、新加坡航空公司(Singapore Airlines)、美國西南航空公司(Southwest)、美國聯合航空公司(United)、維珍美國航空公司(Virgin America)和維珍大西洋航空公司(Virgin Atlantic)。他們還能獲得美國鐵路公司(Amtrak)、Aeroplan以及Avios的積分。

To see what kind of mileage could be accrued during even a brief getaway, I performed several searches, always comparing both sites on the same day around the same time. Let’s use as an example a hotel search I ran for two guests staying in Orlando, Fla., from July 24 through July 26, with AAdvantage from American Airlines as the loyalty program of choice.

爲了弄清一次短暫出行能積累多少里程，我進行了幾次搜索，總是在同一天的幾乎同一時間比較這兩家網站。舉個例子，假設兩位賓客計劃從7月24日至26日在佛羅里達州奧蘭多市住宿，選擇的是美國航空公司的AAdvantage忠誠度獎勵系統。

PointsHound turned up more than 200 hotels, including the Waldorf Astoria Orlando, Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort and Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Available miles on American Airlines ranged from 3,300 miles (for a two-night stay in an eight-bedroom house with a private pool at Champions Gate Vacations Villas near Walt Disney World at $500 a night), to 5,800 miles (for a two-night stay in a deluxe queen room at the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek near Downtown Disney at $203 a night).

我在PointsHound網站搜出了200多家酒店，包括奧蘭多華爾道夫-阿斯多利亞飯店(Waldorf Astoria Orlando)、奧蘭多沃特迪士尼世界度假村(Walt Disney World Resort)和迪士尼當代度假村(Disney’s Contemporary Resort)的四季酒店(Four Seasons Orlando)。美國航空公司提供的獎勵里程從3300英里（在迪士尼世界附近的冠軍門度假別墅[Champions Gate Vacations Villas]住兩晚。這裏的別墅有八個臥室和私人泳池，房價每晚500美元）至5800英里（在迪士尼中心特區[Downtown Disney]附近的奧蘭多博內溪溫德姆至尊度假村[Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort]住兩晚奢華大牀房，房價每晚203美元）不等。

For the same search, Rocketmiles turned up some of the same hotels, but far fewer: 35. They included the Radisson Hotel Orlando in Lake Buena Vista, DoubleTree by Hilton at the entrance to Universal Orlando and Hilton Garden Inn Orlando at SeaWorld. Additionally, Rocketmiles didn’t offer the major Disney-branded hotels found on PointsHound, including the Contemporary.

我在Rocketmiles網站進行同樣的搜索，顯示出部分相同的酒店，但是數量要少得多：35家。包括奧蘭多比娜·維斯塔湖的拉迪森酒店(Radisson Hotel Orlando)、環球影視主題公園(Universal Orlando)入口處的希爾頓逸林酒店(DoubleTree by Hilton)，以及海洋世界(SeaWorld)附近的希爾頓花園酒店(Hilton Garden Inn Orlando)。除此之外，Rocketmiles沒有提供在PointsHound上能找到的主要迪士尼品牌酒店，包括迪士尼當代酒店(Contemporary)。

The site is designed to show users the best miles or points deals at any given time, however, so only the hotels that deliver on that promise appear. Indeed, one Rocketmiles hotel deal, at the Hilton Orlando, promised 10,000 miles (for a two-night stay in a deluxe queen room at $239 a night) — that’s 4,200 miles more than the best deal at PointsHound. Lock in that kind of offer for several trips and it won’t be long before you rack up 60,000 miles — enough for a round-trip flight to Mexico on American Airlines.

Rocketmiles網站的設計是爲了隨時向用戶展示最佳里程或積分交易，所以只有滿足條件的酒店得以顯示。的確，Rocketmiles提供的一項交易是，在奧蘭多希爾頓酒店(Hilton Orlando)下榻（在豪華大牀房住兩晚，每晚房價239美元），可以獲得一萬英里的里程，這比PointsHound提供的最佳交易還多出4200英里。在幾次旅行中採用這項交易，用不了多久你就能攢夠六萬英里，足夠搭乘美國航空公司的航班免費往返墨西哥。

As you can see, several factors should be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not to book through such sites:

如你所見，在決定是否通過這些網站預訂酒店時，要考慮以下幾個因素：

Q. How much can you spend on a hotel (and might it be worth it to pay a little more to earn a lot of miles)?

問：你在住宿上能花多少錢（多花點錢以獲得很多里程的做法值得嗎）？

A. The nightly rates at the top miles-earning hotels on both PointsHound and Rocketmiles were the same as those on the hotel’s own websites. So if I were to book through either of the sites, I would not be paying more just to earn miles. Excellent news. PointsHound promises that its rates tagged “price match guarantee” are the lowest online: If you find a lower rate for the same dates and the same hotel, you will be refunded the difference. The details are at Rocketmiles does not have a best-rate guarantee. The website notes that the rates offered are in line with those of other online competitors, though, which is easy enough to spot check.

答：PointsHound和Rocketmiles網站上獎勵里程最多的酒店的房價與那些酒店自己網站上的價格是一樣的。所以如果我通過這兩家網站預訂，我不必爲獲得里程而多花錢。這真是好消息。PointsHound承諾，貼着“最低價保證”(price match guarantee)標籤的價格是全網最低的：如果你在同一天、同一家酒店找到更低的價格，能獲得差價補償。詳情請見。Rocketmiles沒有最低價保證。它聲稱自己的價格與其他網絡競爭對手的價格是一樣的。不過，這個太容易抽查了。

What’s the cancellation policy?

問：取消政策是怎樣的？

Booking directly with a hotel typically gives you the most flexibility when it comes to room preferences, making changes to your reservation, or canceling it outright (unless you booked a nonrefundable rate). On both PointsHound and Rocketmiles, most of the rates are refundable up to a few days before arrival at the hotel, though the specific cancellation policy varies from reservation to reservation so be sure to read the fine print. Changes must be made through the sites though, not through your hotel. That can be inefficient, but it need not be a deal breaker, especially if you’re poised to earn a lot of miles.

答：直接向酒店預訂的話，在挑選房間、更改預訂或徹底取消方面通常是最靈活的（除非你訂的房間是一定比例內不退款那種）。在PointsHound和Rocketmiles上，提前幾天取消大多是可以退款的，具體取消政策各不相同，所以務必閱讀附屬細則。不過，更改預訂必須通過網站進行，而不能通過酒店。這樣效率可能比較低，但不必因此放棄，特別是如果你打算獲得很多里程的話。

Will you miss out on earning points, status or reaping the benefits from a hotel chain’s own loyalty program, and if so, is it worth it to earn miles?

問：你願意放棄連鎖酒店忠誠度獎勵計劃的獎勵積分、貴賓資格積分或優惠嗎？如果願意，爲了獲得免費里程，這樣做值得嗎？

Here’s where you have to make the hard choices. If you book through Rocketmiles, hotel rewards points will generally not be earned in addition to miles. That means you’re forgoing the hotel loyalty program in favor of an airline loyalty program. On PointsHound, for a time rates with a Double Up icon would earn you both hotel rewards points and stay credit toward elite status even as you earned miles. None turned up during my various searches; here’s hoping they make a comeback.

答：你必須做出這個艱難的決定。如果你通過Rocketmiles預訂，通常無法在兌換里程的同時還能獲得酒店的獎勵積分。也就是說，你放棄酒店的忠誠度計劃，選擇航空公司的忠誠度計劃。有一段時間，PointsHound網站上有“雙重積分”(Double Up)標誌的酒店預訂能讓你既獲得里程，又獲得酒店獎勵積分和貴賓資格積分。在我進行的幾次搜索中，沒有看到這種情況。希望它能再次出現。

Is the hotel with the best miles offer a place you actually want to stay?

問：獎勵里程最多的酒店所提供的房間真的是你想住的嗎？

Don’t choose a hotel just to bank a few thousand miles; stay where you’ll be happy.

答：不要僅僅爲了獲得幾千英里免費飛行里程而選擇某家酒店；選擇你喜歡的酒店。

Bottom line: These sites are a great way to score frequent-flier miles. The fundamental issue is that using them means you’re generally choosing to earn miles instead of hotel points. Would you rather work toward a free night at a Marriott in Rome, or a free flight to Rome? For some travelers, the boarding pass trumps the room key.

最重要的是，這些網站是獲得常客飛行里程的好方法。根本問題是，使用這些網站意味着，你選擇獲得里程，而不是酒店積分。你更願意免費在羅馬萬豪酒店(Marriott)住一晚，還是更願意免費飛到羅馬？對有些旅行者來說，登機牌比房間鑰匙更重要。