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There is a lot of information online (including at InsideFlyer!) on how to maximise value when staying at chain hotels – whether that’s through bonus points, discount rates, status benefits or myriad other ways.

But what about those stays when there are no chain hotels, when you just fancy something a bit different, or maybe (like many people) you simply do not travel enough to make finding out about traditional hotel loyalty programmes worthwhile?

This series of posts is designed to show that you don’t have to miss out on extra value, just because you’re not staying with one of the big chains!

Part Three: PointsHound – 600+ Miles on First Booking

We have already covered similar hotel booking sites Rocketmiles and Kaligo in this series, but PointsHound is worth knowing about too.

The basic premise is the same as other two sites – you earn Frequent Flyer Miles in a programme of your choice when you book your hotel stays through PointsHound.

You can currently earn Miles with 21 different programmes, including Virgin Flying Club, American AAdvantage and Alaska MileagePlan (or Bitcoin if you prefer!). Strangely, Avios does not seem to be one of the available options.

Rocketmiles offers large amounts of Miles but a limited number of (relatively expensive) hotels, Kaligo has a larger range but fewer Miles, and PointsHound is at the other end of the spectrum, with a very large range of hotels but usually considerably fewer Miles.

Although the number of Miles on offer isn’t as attractive, the greater range of hotels on PointsHound means that you can earn Miles even on really cheap stays (£19.00 is the lowest I found), which just aren’t an option on the other sites.

The minimum number of Miles you will earn per night is a rather miserly 100, but it is usually better than that!

If you sign up using our Link you will also get 500 bonus Miles on your first booking, so at least 600 in total (we receive 500 too, thanks!).

If you’re booking a non-chain hotel in some of the cheaper parts of the world, that could be a 30%+ rebate if you value Miles at 1 pence or more, which isn’t bad at all.

Remember you can always refer your travel companion once you’ve signed up yourself, and would end up with at least 1,700 Miles between you on a two-night stay, which could be nearly 50% in value back!

The prices on PointsHound aren’t always the very best available (so always check elsewhere too!), but they are generally much closer to the lowest rate than Kaligo or Rocketmiles.

Summary: PointsHound is more flexible than the other Miles earning sites and particularly useful for cheap stays. It’s definitely worth taking advantage of the sign-up bonus if you’re staying somewhere relatively cheap.

You’d have to be barking not too! (Ed – oh dear….)