Mattress hopping

Several of my coworkers asked me which hotel I used while I was in the States.  My answer: all of them.  Not really, but it sure was a lot of hotels.  In fourteen nights, I stayed at seven different hotels and I never stayed at the same hotel two nights in a row.

Changing hotels every night helps me maximize Hilton points.  To understand why this works, you have to understand that Hilton gives hotel status based on either "nights" or "stays".  If you spend a week at the same hotel, that is one stay and seven nights.  Hilton Gold status requires 16 stays or 36 nights during the same calendar year.  If you are willing to switch hotels every night (but always stay in the Hilton family), it is a lot easier to get Gold status by accumulating lots of one-night stays.  Of course, this means you have to check-in and check-out every day and a lot of people are not willing to be bothered.  Obviously I am very willing to inconvenience myself in this way so my family can stay for free when we travel in Europe.

Before I left on this trip, I asked Google to tell me about current Hilton promotions.  I found two really good ones:

1. Obtain gold status after only four stays
2. Double points until September 30th

Hilton Gold members get free Internet and a points bonus for each stay (up to 1000 points per stay, depending on the brand of hotel).  I prefer the Doubletree and Hilton hotels because they earn 1000 bonus points per stay.

I spent six nights at the Hampton Inn BWI Airport.  This particular hotel is not very nice but they have free Internet, free breakfast, and a fantastic promotion for people staying on the government rate.

The "Pocket Your Per Diem" promotion gives a $20 gift card to Ruby Tuesday restaurant for each night of your stay.  I ended up with six of these gift cards and I subsequently sold them on eBay for $108.

When it was all over, I had earned 46,553 Hilton points during 14 stays in 14 nights and now I have Gold status through the end of 2012.

If you want to play the game, you have to know the rules.  Here is some introductory reading:
http://thepointsguy.com/
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles-points-1/
http://www.frugaltravelguy.com/
http://boardingarea.com/bloggers.php