Last week I introduced Hotel Hustle, a tool for comparing hotel rates – award and cash – across several different brands. Not surprisingly there were a few bugs in the code and many requests to make things better. Or at least a bit different than how I implemented them initially. The first few steps of those changes have now been implemented (with many more to come). Here’s what’s new:
Search by ZIP code
If you’d prefer to specify a search location by ZIP code rather than airport you can do that now. Just start typing the number into the search box and you can go from there.
Note that this is just to specify where the search is centered, not to limit results. I’m still working on a decent way to limit search radius or filter results by location after the list is generated. In the interim zooming in on the map is probably the best bet.
Currency Conversion
All hotel rates are now displayed in US Dollars. There are a few reasons I did this. One is that several people asked for it. Another is that it makes comparing the point values consistent and given that one of the main reasons I built the tool is to make those comparisons I figure that having a consistent basis for the conversion is a good idea. The conversion rates are updated daily from www.OpenExchangeRates.org and when the published rate is not in USD I’ll do the math to get to that point. Those rates will be displayed with a * next to them to show that they are converted.
Hotel Hustle Hotness
The far right column on the display is now what I’m calling the “Hustle Hotness” factor, though I think that name might be a bit too cheesy and need to change. Looking at the Cents per Point (cpp) calculation is interesting, but it doesn’t really take into consideration that different programs’ points are generally worth different amounts. The Hustle Hotness factor aims to help with such comparisons. The idea is to not just find a good cpp value but to get an award night where the value of the points as redeemed exceeds the nominal value of those points as much as possible. So I’ve come up with a system which looks at what the points are worth (more on that in a sec) and then compares that to what the redemption value is. If you can beat the theoretical value by 45% I call that damn good deal (5 stars in the system). At the same time, if you’re only getting 55% of the theoretical value when redeeming that’s probably not such a great thing (one star). Between 85% and 115% is a 3 star rating.
As you can see in the example below, a 1.29 cpp value from IHG scores higher than 2.6 cpp in the SPG program. Up to you whether you think that’s actually true or not…keep reading.
Currently I’m using following values:
- Club Carlson: 0.6 cents
- IHG Rewards Club: 0.7 cents
- Marriot Rewards: 0.7 cents
- Starwood Preferred Guest: 2.2 cents
- Wyndham rewards: 0.65 cents
I didn’t just pick those numbers out of a hat. I reviewed a number of other expert sources and combined their analysis into an aggregate pool of information and chose the values based on that. But I also realize that many of you have your own numbers. I’m ready for that, too.
I’ve built in the code to be able to calculate the Hustle Hotness factor based either on the default “expert” valuations or based on your personal numbers. Alas, I do not yet have the UI built to allow you to enter the values but I promise that is coming soon. But all the other code, including the database and the calculations is ready for it.
What else??
I know that adding Hyatt and Hilton to the tool are high up on the list. Filtering based on price, too. And including Cash & Points awards where the chains offer them. I’ve got those things on my to do list and I’m pushing through them as best I can.
What else do you want to see in this tool?
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Why not use your data to get a real average value per point, instead of relying on ‘experts’?
Love the tool. Prioritize getting Hilton / Hyatt in there over dealing with theoretical point values.
I intend to start collecting data at that level at some point. But right now I don’t have enough to go on for that to make sense. Plus there is the part where some people have different views about the values from the “norm” so I want to allow for that.
In the end the goal is to make sure that you get what you want for your points. While also working to guide you in that trek.
Seth
Liking “Hotel Hustle” a lot & will trying using it for previously booked award stays & see how well I did/didn’t do!
You are right & Hotel “Hotness” factor is not right for your site & a little too Paris Hilton for most of your followers. How about go manly Marine & use “hooray” instead. Serves well as indication of a positive win, score, YES!, etc., no matter how your readers pronounce it.
Maureen
dude. this is really cool. Thanks for the amazing tools you build!
I really love the concept. I’ve tried a few searches and I find that in some situations I’m very location sensitive so if there was any way to filter the results based on where the map is zoomed to that would be perfect. But adding Hilton and Hyatt is probably a priority over that still.
I did a search for 94111 (San Francisco embarcadero/financial district), it returned lot of results – from San Jose to Santa Rosa to Davis. It would be nice to filter or sort by distance.
“I actually put a bit of effort into the UI to make it look a bit nicer than most of my tools.” – Your tools are great, but you should hire a UI designer 🙂
Filtering the results is challenging for a bunch of reasons mostly around using gps coordinates for everything with the maps. Right now zooming in on the map is going to be the best way to handle that stuff.
And hopefully I’ll come up with a better solution soon.
I tried “SEA” for 12/24/14 – 01/01/15 and came up with “No data available in table”. The map was zoomed out to 500 nm radius, centered on Seattle.
Then I tried Zip Code: 98103 (also in Seattle) for 12/24/14 – 01/01/15, and came up with the map centered west of Gabon and the Congo in the Atlantic Ocean.
Keep at it please, it IS going to be great!!