Start here: Sonesta Travel Pass — join free, earn and redeem Reward Points, and reach Silver, Gold or Platinum

Step 1: What Sonesta Travel Pass is and who it suits

You will learn: how much discretion Sonesta keeps over the programme, and the four definitions that decide whether a stay counts.

Membership and its benefits are offered at the sole discretion of Sonesta, which reserves the right to terminate, modify, revise or change the programme, its terms, benefits, rewards, Membership tier qualifications, inventory and availability of rewards at any time, with or without notice [1]. Membership of participating hotels and partner affiliations may change at any time without prior notice, and changes may reduce the value of benefits or points already accumulated or result in forfeiture of unused Reward Points [1].

A Qualified Rate can include retail rates such as Best Available Rate and Packages, Consortia, Negotiated Corporate, Extended Stay and Government, and may include discounts such as advance purchase, length-of-stay offers, AAA/CAA, 55+, and discounts on Sonesta.com or through Sonesta International Reservations [1]. A Non-Qualified Rate can include third-party internet sites — merchant sites such as Booking.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, Orbitz and Travelocity, and opaque discount sites such as Priceline and Hotwire — plus contract, wholesale, voucher, barter, Sonesta Business Rates, Reward Stays and special promotions on third-party internet sites [1]. A Qualified Room Night is an overnight stay where the reservation is in the member's name, carries the member's programme identification number and is booked and paid for at a Qualified Rate; Qualified Room Revenue is room and suite revenue at Qualified Rates, excluding taxes and fees; and a Qualifying Year is any calendar year in which the member was both registered and active [1].

The programme suits guests who stay at participating hotels in the locations the terms list: the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Egypt and St. Maarten [1]. The terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, whose federal and state courts have exclusive jurisdiction in the first instance [1], and any taxes on reward stays and benefits are the responsibility of the member or reward recipient [1].

Go deeper: Start here: hotel points — how hotel loyalty currencies work and which stays usually count.

Step 2: How to join

You will learn: who is eligible for a membership and what Sonesta may do if a membership is misused.

Enrolment is complimentary and open to individuals residing in countries that legally permit participation in frequent stay programmes; each member may maintain only one membership, no joint accounts are permitted, and membership is void if prohibited by law in the member's or applicant's country of residence [1]. Members must be at least 18 years of age, or the age to sign a binding contract in their state or province of residence, whichever is older, and because sign-up happens online a member may be asked to provide personal identification showing date of birth to verify age at check-in [1].

Sonesta may discontinue a membership or remove points where the programme appears to be used inconsistently with the terms [1]. The listed grounds include unruly behaviour or conduct unbecoming of a guest of a Sonesta hotel, resort or cruise; acting inconsistently with local, state, provincial or federal laws; enrolling as a company or other entity, since only individuals may enrol; failure to provide and maintain valid contact information; and failure to pay hotel charges or expenses incurred during a stay, including where a cheque is returned for insufficient funds, a credit card chargeback occurs, or payment is invalid for any reason [1].

Membership is for the sole use of that member and is non-transferable [1]. Members must keep Sonesta updated with changes to personal information that could affect the membership, using the profile on Sonesta.com, where the Reward Point balance can also be checked [1]. The full terms are published at sonesta.com/travel-pass/terms-conditions [1].

Go deeper: Sonesta Travel Pass programme hub — every Flyerfolio page about this programme, grouped by task.

Step 3: How earning works

You will learn: what has to be true before points post, which brands have a printed rate, and how the cap and the bonus work.

Reward Points and Qualified Room Night credit may be earned only upon completing both the Qualified Room Night stay and payment for that stay, and nothing is awarded for no-shows even if the room is paid in full [1]. Members earn one Qualified Room Night credit, per member, per night, towards tier status [1]. A member may receive Reward Points for their own room and up to two additional rooms, provided the programme identification number is on the reservation at the time of check-in or before, all rooms are reserved and registered in the member's name with the number on every reservation, the member pays for all rooms and requests that arrangement at check-in, and the member stays in one of the rooms [1]. If payment is reversed for any reason, points and credits are not awarded, and any already awarded are reversed [1]. Only the member listed as the primary guest earns points and benefits for a qualified stay [1].

Ten Reward Points are awarded for each U.S. dollar of Qualified Room Revenue, exclusive of taxes and fees, at The Royal Sonesta Hotels, Sonesta Hotels & Resorts (expressly excluding cruises), Classico: A Sonesta Collection, Mod: A Sonesta Collection and Red Lion Hotels, and five at Sonesta ES Suites, Sonesta Simply Suites, Signature Inns, Sonesta Nile River Cruises, Americas Best Value Inns and Canadas Best Value Inns [1]. No rate is stated for other participating brands such as Sonesta Select, Sonesta Essential or Sonesta Posadas del Inca [1]. Bonus points begin on the next qualified stay after the member reaches the tier and are not awarded for stays on any Sonesta Nile River Cruise, where Elite means Silver, Gold or Platinum [1]. A member may not accrue more than 100,000 Reward Points per stay per room, including up to two additional rooms [1], and qualified stays up to 30 days before enrolment may be credited if requested within 60 days of enrolment [1].

For partners, Viator awards five Reward Points per U.S. dollar spent on activities sold by Viator, exclusive of taxes and fees, with the programme number listed at the time of purchase, and points earned on fully paid partner purchases are issued in the calendar month immediately following the date the purchased activity was redeemed [1]. Outside limited-time promotions or other offers, bonus points are not issued on purchases from Sonesta Travel Pass partners [1].

Go deeper: Hotel points versus cash — weighing a points stay against paying a cash rate.

Step 4: How to redeem Reward Points

You will learn: where a Reward Stay can be booked, what room type it buys, and who it can be given to.

Reward Points may be redeemed for Reward Stays at participating hotels by booking direct at Sonesta.com, or by contacting the Sonesta Travel Pass Customer Care Desk [1], and the balance can be checked through the profile on Sonesta.com [1]. Reward nights at The Royal Sonesta Hotels, Sonesta Hotels & Resorts (excluding cruises), Classico: A Sonesta Collection, Mod: A Sonesta Collection, Sonesta Select, Sonesta Essential, Red Lion Hotels, Signature Inn, Americas Best Value Inn, Canadas Best Value Inn and Sonesta Posadas del Inca are for Base Room Types, which vary by hotel and are assigned at check-in; at Sonesta ES Suites and Sonesta Simply Suites they are for Studio room types where available, or One-Bedroom room types when the hotel has no Studios [1]. Reward Stays are valid for up to two adults [1].

There are no blackout dates for Reward Nights, but they are subject to current availability on Sonesta.com at the time of redemption, a minimum length of stay may apply and room inventory may be limited from time to time, and a credit card is required to guarantee the reservation [1]. Reward Stays are non-transferable except to immediate family — parent, child, spouse and siblings — and the transfer must be requested at the time the Reward Points are redeemed; points can be transferred on completion and submission of a transfer form, and once the authorisation is processed the transferor relinquishes all rights to the transferred points, which become the recipient's [1].

Go deeper: Award versus cash calculator — comparing a reward night with the cash price, and points value calculator — turning a point balance into a per-point figure.

Step 5: Tiers and keeping your points

You will learn: the four tier thresholds as printed, what each tier adds, and the two inactivity rules.

Tiers are awarded on the number of Qualified Room Nights or points accumulated within a Qualifying Year, and once a tier is reached the status is granted and maintained for the remainder of the calendar year and the subsequent year [1]. Bronze is awarded for 0 to 9 Qualified Room Nights or 0 to 9,999 points; Silver for 10 to 19 nights or 10,000 to 19,999 points, with 25% bonus points on certain Qualified Room Nights; Platinum for 40 or more nights or 40,000 points or more, with 75% bonus points [1]. The Gold threshold is printed as “twenty (20) to thirty-nine (39) or more Qualified Room Nights” or a balance of 20,000 to 39,999 points, with 50% bonus points; as printed that night wording is not a closed range [1].

Benefits at participating locations include upgrades to preferred room types, subject to availability at check-in; complimentary premium internet where available for members who are registered guests, with additional bandwidth and up to seven devices for daily in-room use, excluding in-room television internet service, hotel work centres and group and meeting space, and a one-hour internet access card per stay on board Sonesta Nile Cruises; a voucher or credit for complimentary continental breakfast at participating outlets, which may vary by brand; and a discounted suite upgrade at the hotel's discretion at check-in [1]. Programme benefits are provided only on Qualified Room Nights and Qualified Reward Nights [1].

The terms word inactivity in two ways. Members who do not engage in eligibility activity for 24 months are re-classified as “Non-Active”, with eligibility activity including accruing or redeeming Reward Points and accruing a Qualified Room Night, and Sonesta may extend active member status in its sole discretion [1]. Separately, all Reward Points expire after 24 months of inactivity from the date of their issuance [1].

Go deeper: Status progress tracker — tracking nights and points against a tier threshold.

Step 6: Your first concrete action

You will learn: the five moves that set up a membership correctly on the first stay.

1. Join free if you are 18 or over, or the older age of contract in your state or province, keeping one membership per person, using the Sonesta Travel Pass terms and conditions as the reference [1].
2. Book a Qualified Rate and have your programme identification number on the reservation at or before check-in, avoiding the third-party sites the terms list as Non-Qualified Rates [1].
3. Ask for any qualified stay in the 30 days before you joined, within 60 days of joining [1].
4. Earn or redeem at least once within every 24-month period, since Reward Points expire after 24 months of inactivity from the date of their issuance [1].
5. Before redeeming, check availability on Sonesta.com and have a credit card ready to guarantee the Reward Night [1].

Next: read the Sonesta Travel Pass programme hub for the pages on each step, or take Start here: hotel points first for the general version.