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Can you parlay a hotel room reservation into thousands of frequent-flier miles?
你能利用酒店预订获得上万英里的常客飞行里程吗？
In the last year, the leading websites that allow travelers to do just that, PointsHound and Rocketmiles, were acquired by Points International and Priceline, respectively. How are they measuring up? And if you haven’t tried such sites before, is it worth trying them now?
过去一年里，给旅客提供这种回报的主要网站PointsHound和Rocketmiles分别被Points International和Priceline收购。这两家网站水平怎么样？如果你以前没试过这些网站，现在值不值得试试？
PointsHound and Rocketmiles give you frequent-flier miles in exchange for staying in hotels booked through their websites. There are, of course, trade-offs. For instance, when you don’t book directly with a hotel, you often have to forgo points and elite qualifying stays in the hotel’s loyalty program; any changes to your reservation must be made through the third-party site instead of with the hotel; and you may not always receive the lowest rate.
通过PointsHound和Rocketmiles网站预订酒店，可以获得常客飞行里程。当然，这是有代价的。比如，如果你不是直接从酒店预订房间，通常就得放弃酒店忠诚度奖励系统中的奖励积分和贵宾资格积分。另外，如果你想更改预订，必须通过第三方，而非酒店；而且不一定总能获得最低价。
On the other hand, you can accumulate enough miles for free flights and upgrades on airlines such as American, Air France, British Airways and JetBlue.
不过，这样做的好处是能在美国航空公司(American)、法国航空公司(Air France)、英国航空公司(British Airways)和捷蓝(JetBlue)等航空公司积累足够多的里程，获得免费飞行和升舱的机会。
When you reserve a room through PointsHound, you can generally earn up to 6,000 points a night in the airline or rewards program of your choice (there are exceptions: A recent search turned up a one-night stay at the Peninsula New York that would earn 16,100 miles on American Airlines). Properties marked with a Big Earn banner rake in the most miles. The site also has its own rewards program where members at the top levels (based largely on the number of nights booked) earn points at higher rates. Users of Rocketmiles, the primary PointsHound competitor, can earn up to 5,000 miles a night on their airline of choice.
通过PointsHound预订房间，每晚通常能获得6000点航空公司积分或自选奖励计划（也有些例外：前不久我搜索时发现，在纽约半岛酒店[Peninsula New York]住一晚能获得美国航空公司16100英里的免费飞行里程）。打有“回馈丰厚”(Big Earth)标语的酒店奖励的里程最多。该网站还有自己的奖励计划，最高级别的会员（主要是依据预订酒店的天数）能获得最高比例的积分。Rocketmiles是PointsHound的主要竞争对手。它的用户订一晚酒店能积累自选航空公司的5000英里免费里程。
Both PointsHound and Rocketmiles allow members to earn miles on carriers including Air France, Alaska Airlines, Alitalia, American, Etihad, Finnair, Frontier, Hawaiian, Icelandair, JetBlue, Saudi Airlines and Turkish Airlines, as well as Asia Miles, a travel and lifestyle rewards program.
PointsHound和Rocketmiles的会员都能获得以下航空公司的里程：法国航空公司、阿拉斯加航空公司(Alaska Airlines)、意大利航空公司(Alitalia)、美国航空公司、阿提哈德航空公司(Etihad)、芬兰航空公司(Finnair)、边疆航空公司(Frontier)、夏威夷航空公司(Hawaiian)、冰岛航空公司(Icelandair)、捷蓝、沙特航空(Saudi Airlines)和土耳其航空(Turkish Airlines)。同时能获得亚洲里程(Asia Miles)的奖励，它是一个旅行和生活方式奖励计划。
In addition to the airlines mentioned above, users of PointsHound can also earn miles on AeroMéxico, AirBaltic, LAN Airlines, TAM Airlines and US Airways. (They can use their hotel bookings to accrue the virtual currency, Bitcoin, as well.)
除了上述航空公司，PointsHound的用户还能获得墨西哥航空(AeroMéxico)、波罗的海航空公司(AirBaltic)、智利航空公司(LAN Airlines)、巴西天马航空公司(TAM Airlines)以及全美航空公司(US Airways)的里程（还能用酒店预订获取虚拟货币——比特币）。
Users of Rocketmiles have more options in addition to the carriers above: They can earn miles on British Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, Norwegian, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Royal Jordanian, Singapore Airlines, Southwest, United, Virgin America and Virgin Atlantic, as well as points for Amtrak, Aeroplan and the Avios travel rewards program.
而Rocketmiles的用户亦能获得以下航空公司的里程：英国航空公司、埃塞俄比亚航空公司(Ethiopian Airlines)、马来西亚航空公司(Malaysia Airlines)、挪威航空公司(Norwegian)、阿曼航空公司(Oman Air)、卡塔尔航空公司(Qatar Airways) 、约旦王家航空公司(Royal Jordanian)、新加坡航空公司(Singapore Airlines)、美国西南航空公司(Southwest)、美国联合航空公司(United)、维珍美国航空公司(Virgin America)和维珍大西洋航空公司(Virgin Atlantic)。他们还能获得美国铁路公司(Amtrak)、Aeroplan以及Avios的积分。
To see what kind of mileage could be accrued during even a brief getaway, I performed several searches, always comparing both sites on the same day around the same time. Let’s use as an example a hotel search I ran for two guests staying in Orlando, Fla., from July 24 through July 26, with AAdvantage from American Airlines as the loyalty program of choice.
为了弄清一次短暂出行能积累多少里程，我进行了几次搜索，总是在同一天的几乎同一时间比较这两家网站。举个例子，假设两位宾客计划从7月24日至26日在佛罗里达州奥兰多市住宿，选择的是美国航空公司的AAdvantage忠诚度奖励系统。
PointsHound turned up more than 200 hotels, including the Waldorf Astoria Orlando, Four Seasons Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort and Disney’s Contemporary Resort. Available miles on American Airlines ranged from 3,300 miles (for a two-night stay in an eight-bedroom house with a private pool at Champions Gate Vacations Villas near Walt Disney World at $500 a night), to 5,800 miles (for a two-night stay in a deluxe queen room at the Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek near Downtown Disney at $203 a night).
我在PointsHound网站搜出了200多家酒店，包括奥兰多华尔道夫-阿斯多利亚饭店(Waldorf Astoria Orlando)、奥兰多沃特迪士尼世界度假村(Walt Disney World Resort)和迪士尼当代度假村(Disney’s Contemporary Resort)的四季酒店(Four Seasons Orlando)。美国航空公司提供的奖励里程从3300英里（在迪士尼世界附近的冠军门度假别墅[Champions Gate Vacations Villas]住两晚。这里的别墅有八个卧室和私人泳池，房价每晚500美元）至5800英里（在迪士尼中心特区[Downtown Disney]附近的奥兰多博内溪温德姆至尊度假村[Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort]住两晚奢华大床房，房价每晚203美元）不等。
For the same search, Rocketmiles turned up some of the same hotels, but far fewer: 35. They included the Radisson Hotel Orlando in Lake Buena Vista, DoubleTree by Hilton at the entrance to Universal Orlando and Hilton Garden Inn Orlando at SeaWorld. Additionally, Rocketmiles didn’t offer the major Disney-branded hotels found on PointsHound, including the Contemporary.
我在Rocketmiles网站进行同样的搜索，显示出部分相同的酒店，但是数量要少得多：35家。包括奥兰多比娜·维斯塔湖的拉迪森酒店(Radisson Hotel Orlando)、环球影视主题公园(Universal Orlando)入口处的希尔顿逸林酒店(DoubleTree by Hilton)，以及海洋世界(SeaWorld)附近的希尔顿花园酒店(Hilton Garden Inn Orlando)。除此之外，Rocketmiles没有提供在PointsHound上能找到的主要迪士尼品牌酒店，包括迪士尼当代酒店(Contemporary)。
The site is designed to show users the best miles or points deals at any given time, however, so only the hotels that deliver on that promise appear. Indeed, one Rocketmiles hotel deal, at the Hilton Orlando, promised 10,000 miles (for a two-night stay in a deluxe queen room at $239 a night) — that’s 4,200 miles more than the best deal at PointsHound. Lock in that kind of offer for several trips and it won’t be long before you rack up 60,000 miles — enough for a round-trip flight to Mexico on American Airlines.
Rocketmiles网站的设计是为了随时向用户展示最佳里程或积分交易，所以只有满足条件的酒店得以显示。的确，Rocketmiles提供的一项交易是，在奥兰多希尔顿酒店(Hilton Orlando)下榻（在豪华大床房住两晚，每晚房价239美元），可以获得一万英里的里程，这比PointsHound提供的最佳交易还多出4200英里。在几次旅行中采用这项交易，用不了多久你就能攒够六万英里，足够搭乘美国航空公司的航班免费往返墨西哥。
As you can see, several factors should be taken into consideration when deciding whether or not to book through such sites:
如你所见，在决定是否通过这些网站预订酒店时，要考虑以下几个因素：
Q. How much can you spend on a hotel (and might it be worth it to pay a little more to earn a lot of miles)?
问：你在住宿上能花多少钱（多花点钱以获得很多里程的做法值得吗）？
A. The nightly rates at the top miles-earning hotels on both PointsHound and Rocketmiles were the same as those on the hotel’s own websites. So if I were to book through either of the sites, I would not be paying more just to earn miles. Excellent news. PointsHound promises that its rates tagged “price match guarantee” are the lowest online: If you find a lower rate for the same dates and the same hotel, you will be refunded the difference. The details are at Pointshound.com/low-price-guarantee. Rocketmiles does not have a best-rate guarantee. The website notes that the rates offered are in line with those of other online competitors, though, which is easy enough to spot check.
答：PointsHound和Rocketmiles网站上奖励里程最多的酒店的房价与那些酒店自己网站上的价格是一样的。所以如果我通过这两家网站预订，我不必为获得里程而多花钱。这真是好消息。PointsHound承诺，贴着“最低价保证”(price match guarantee)标签的价格是全网最低的：如果你在同一天、同一家酒店找到更低的价格，能获得差价补偿。详情请见Pointshound.com/low-price-guarantee。Rocketmiles没有最低价保证。它声称自己的价格与其他网络竞争对手的价格是一样的。不过，这个太容易抽查了。
What’s the cancellation policy?
问：取消政策是怎样的？
Booking directly with a hotel typically gives you the most flexibility when it comes to room preferences, making changes to your reservation, or canceling it outright (unless you booked a nonrefundable rate). On both PointsHound and Rocketmiles, most of the rates are refundable up to a few days before arrival at the hotel, though the specific cancellation policy varies from reservation to reservation so be sure to read the fine print. Changes must be made through the sites though, not through your hotel. That can be inefficient, but it need not be a deal breaker, especially if you’re poised to earn a lot of miles.
答：直接向酒店预订的话，在挑选房间、更改预订或彻底取消方面通常是最灵活的（除非你订的房间是一定比例内不退款那种）。在PointsHound和Rocketmiles上，提前几天取消大多是可以退款的，具体取消政策各不相同，所以务必阅读附属细则。不过，更改预订必须通过网站进行，而不能通过酒店。这样效率可能比较低，但不必因此放弃，特别是如果你打算获得很多里程的话。
Will you miss out on earning points, status or reaping the benefits from a hotel chain’s own loyalty program, and if so, is it worth it to earn miles?
问：你愿意放弃连锁酒店忠诚度奖励计划的奖励积分、贵宾资格积分或优惠吗？如果愿意，为了获得免费里程，这样做值得吗？
Here’s where you have to make the hard choices. If you book through Rocketmiles, hotel rewards points will generally not be earned in addition to miles. That means you’re forgoing the hotel loyalty program in favor of an airline loyalty program. On PointsHound, for a time rates with a Double Up icon would earn you both hotel rewards points and stay credit toward elite status even as you earned miles. None turned up during my various searches; here’s hoping they make a comeback.
答：你必须做出这个艰难的决定。如果你通过Rocketmiles预订，通常无法在兑换里程的同时还能获得酒店的奖励积分。也就是说，你放弃酒店的忠诚度计划，选择航空公司的忠诚度计划。有一段时间，PointsHound网站上有“双重积分”(Double Up)标志的酒店预订能让你既获得里程，又获得酒店奖励积分和贵宾资格积分。在我进行的几次搜索中，没有看到这种情况。希望它能再次出现。
Is the hotel with the best miles offer a place you actually want to stay?
问：奖励里程最多的酒店所提供的房间真的是你想住的吗？
Don’t choose a hotel just to bank a few thousand miles; stay where you’ll be happy.
答：不要仅仅为了获得几千英里免费飞行里程而选择某家酒店；选择你喜欢的酒店。
Bottom line: These sites are a great way to score frequent-flier miles. The fundamental issue is that using them means you’re generally choosing to earn miles instead of hotel points. Would you rather work toward a free night at a Marriott in Rome, or a free flight to Rome? For some travelers, the boarding pass trumps the room key.
最重要的是，这些网站是获得常客飞行里程的好方法。根本问题是，使用这些网站意味着，你选择获得里程，而不是酒店积分。你更愿意免费在罗马万豪酒店(Marriott)住一晚，还是更愿意免费飞到罗马？对有些旅行者来说，登机牌比房间钥匙更重要。
