Hotel & restaurant shops

Hotel & restaurant shops - no pay?

Noticing a few shops pop up on one of the MSC I have registered with that are reimbursement only. Some are restaurants and one is an overnight hotel stay. I can understand a restaurant; at least you are getting a "free" meal in return for filling out the shop report. I'm not sure I understand the hotel, especially now with COVID. The one I saw today you get the hotel stay paid for, and then $12 reimbursed for buying something at the hotel snack shop.

I'm not judging anyone's reasons for choosing the shops they do, just curious what others get out of these types of shop. I guess I could understand the hotel if you were able to make a mini-vacation out of it but now with COVID, personally I wouldn't be going out of my way to stay in a hotel for no compensation.

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In the past, I would do what you are referencing. Use it for down time and get reimbursement. If it's a stay that is farther away, I will try to line up work for the time I am there. Recently, like you've said, I haven't found it worth the risk, LOL.

I just did a three-night stay at a resort in exchange for recording a sales presentation and doing a pair of extremely short surveys. It was within driving distance, the unit had a kitchen so we brought our food, and was adjacent to a lot of nice hiking and other outdoors activities. While of course there's no such thing as a truly Covid safe vacation, it was a way to get out of town and enjoy some nature in a relatively low-risk way. Local hotels in my area with few amenities have been shopped recently and I had no interest in doing a lengthy report for a one-night stay.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2021 11:51PM by NinS.

I am usually happy to as long as I can get rewards credits for the stay. I have top tier loyalty and the extra nights give me lots of points towards free stays in the future.

Since the Covid thing started staycations have become my go to ...I'm just reluctant to eat out when I can't do anything about airflow and table size and distance. Overly cautious I guess.

The real benefit of reimbursement-only hotel shops is when you have the matching rewards credit card(s). For years I have had lovely vacations in great hotels, all paid for with MS-generated hotel rewards points. I also use, and pay monthly in full, all cards for everyday purchases and home improvements.

Based in MD, near DC
Shopping from the Carolinas to New York
Have video cam; will travel

Poor customer service? Don't get mad; get video.

Good comments about the side benefit of rewards/loyalty programs. I hadn't really factored that in and I suppose it could add up if you do enough. I'm not really comfortable staying in a hotel quite yet, but will keep it in mind for the future!

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Hotel & restaurant shops - no pay?

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