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On April 18, 2023, Extended Stay America announced a host of new perks and benefits to its loyalty program: Extended Perks. This membership program now includes an exclusive member rate, early check-in, late checkout, and monthly prize drawing for members. Plus, it's free to join.
Here's what you should know about Extended Perks if you're considering a lengthy stay.
New Membership Perks Overview
The revamped Extended Perks program now includes the following perks and benefits at Extended Stay America properties:
- An exclusive member rate.
- Complimentary early check-in and late checkout when staying seven nights or more.
- Monthly prize drawings for members, including gift cards.
- 10% discount when booking your next stay with the discount provided during program registration.
You can register for Extended Perks here.
Exclusive Member Rate
Members of the Extended Stay America Extended Perks membership program now receive a members' rate when booking their stays. While this is a nice welcome bonus, it is not uncommon in the hotel world. Amongst others, Hilton Honors and IHG One Rewards offer members exclusive rates when booking stays at their own extended stay brands. These include brands like Home2 Suites, Homewood Suites, and Staybridge Suites.
Early Check-In and Late Checkout
These days, late checkout is almost a standard benefit in hotel programs. While any program IHG program members can request a late checkout, only elites with Hilton and World of Hyatt can do so. On the other hand, early check-in is a little more exclusive and is only available to higher-level elites in most programs. For instance, only IHG One Rewards Platinum and Diamond members can request early check-in.
One thing to note is that your stay needs to be seven nights or longer to qualify for early check-in or late checkout with Extended Stay America Extended Perks. Given that this is an extended stay brand, that may not be an issue for many guests, but it's worth pointing out that other programs don't have minimum stay requirements for these benefits.
10% Discount When Booking Your Next Stay
As a welcome bonus, Extended Stay America Extended Perks members receive a 10% off promo code to use on a future stay. The code is only valid once and cannot be used on pre-existing reservations or bookings.
While few other programs offer this kind of discount for signing up, many provide regular discounts on both paid and award stays. These discounts can be 15%–25% off paid stays or award stays — far better than what you get as a one-time gift from Extended Perks.
Related: Hotel Promotion Roundup
Lack of Status Tiers and Award Points
What makes the Extended Perks program different is that you don't earn points. In this regard, there's nothing to track…but there's also nothing to earn. You won't have anything to redeem for a free stay.
Additionally, there are no status tiers. Everyone has the same elite status level: member. Once you join Extended Perks, you qualify for all the benefits and don't need to attain a higher tier to get the best benefits.
Monthly Drawings
This is a very unique feature of a very unique program. In fact, we struggle to think of another program that has regular drawings to award prizes to its members. The press release says the awards will be “gift cards and other various prizes,” though there's no information on what those might be.
You'll receive one raffle entry for each night stayed at an Extended Stay America property in the previous month. To gain additional entries, you can complete surveys.
Discounts With Partners
Extended Perks members also can receive discounts with affiliated partners. To see your available deals, log into your member account.
Deals will rotate regularly, but you could enjoy $0 delivery fees with DoorDash for a month, up to 60% off at crocs.com, 20% off plus free shipping with 1-800-CONTACTS, or discounts at Target.
Our Take
Maybe your travel regularly involves extended stays; maybe you aren't concerned with chasing status and getting to know the nuances of the various hotel rewards programs. In that case, it may be worth you taking a closer look at the Extended Stay America Extended Perks membership program. Overall, the new perks make the program more attractive and rewarding.
However, if you spend many nights in hotels, learning about a hotel rewards program could pay off over time. This would provide points that you could redeem for free nights in the future — or enough stays that you qualify for higher elite status tiers with more perks.
What do you think about the Extended Perks program? What would you change about it?
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