Choosing a hotel loyalty program

[ribollita]

I travel for work about every month, and to date I have been collecting hotel points when able, but haven't had a clear strategy.

Which is your favorite loyalty program, and why?

When I travel, it's usually to large convention cities where I have a lot of options.

For using points, I would probably prefer SPG, Hilton, or Hyatt family properties for a variety of reasons, but I could be convinced to Marriott or Wyndham as well. I don't believe I'd have as many options for earning or using Accor.

Any thoughts?

(I am not sure it matters but I am completely tied to Delta for airline points - I know there may be an SPG benefit to this but need to review further.)

cheezer SJ @choco  y4m

ETA: I am up for opening a new CC if that will help me, but I wouldn't plan on using it as my default card as I have to spend $25K on my Delta Amex per year and then switch to the US Bank Flexperks.

[SJ]

I am no help when it comes to hotels, just airlines.

We often stay in private clubs or bounce around to various chains. I do have reward accounts for a few of the large groups, but no real strategy or advice.

[v]

I think a lot depends on who you are traveling with and where you're going. Marriott is my main program, because that's what my bosses prefer (so when I travel with them, we will be staying at a Marriott property when available) and I do quite a bit of travel to small cities and suburbs where there wouldn't be a SPG or Hyatt or Wyndham property anyway.

The lower level statuses on Marriott and Hilton kind of suck though -- very few perks -- and I'm too picky about hotels to put 50 nights a year in one chain to get better status.

[sporky]

We prefer Hyatts from a points standpoint. I've found that it generally takes far fewer points to cash in a free night's stay than through other programs, like Hilton.

[ribollita]

Oct 5, 2015 8:41:00 GMT -5 v said:

I think a lot depends on who you are traveling with and where you're going. Marriott is my main program, because that's what my bosses prefer (so when I travel with them, we will be staying at a Marriott property when available) and I do quite a bit of travel to small cities and suburbs where there wouldn't be a SPG or Hyatt or Wyndham property anyway.

The lower level statuses on Marriott and Hilton kind of suck though -- very few perks -- and I'm too picky about hotels to put 50 nights a year in one chain to get better status.

I often travel to the same cities as colleagues but we can each stay wherever we'd like as long as we stay within policy (which is $400 I believe except for a few expensive cities).

Good to know about Marriot/Hilton lower level statuses. I travel (relatively) often but not for many nights at a time.

[raangoli]

I have a membership with the three hotel brands I stay at the most - Hilton, Marriott, and SPG. Lately I've racked up more Hilton points. For me it was easier to decide since we have preferred brands that we can book for work travel.

[Pom]

We like Omni the best, but Mr. P stays there often for work near his main office. Wyn.dham seems like more of a hassle. Their website sucks and when I called in the CS was worse. The agent couldn't find the property and it's a big resort? We stayed at that Wyn.dham property 2 weeks ago and the rate changed from the time I booked it on the website to check-out time. They were not pleasant about it.

Do you have a favorite hotel/located where you travel the most? I'd probably focus on where you are most likely to stay and/or the benefits.

[ribollita]

Oct 5, 2015 8:41:24 GMT -5 sporky said:

We prefer Hyatts from a points standpoint. I've found that it generally takes far fewer points to cash in a free night's stay than through other programs, like Hilton.

The only place I know I'm going for sure next year is a Hyatt Regency (as well as a likely stay at a Grand Hyatt for leisure). I just read that you only need 5 stays for status, so I may try that out for 2016.

[frlcb]

Oct 5, 2015 8:41:24 GMT -5 sporky said:

We prefer Hyatts from a points standpoint. I've found that it generally takes far fewer points to cash in a free night's stay than through other programs, like Hilton.

We love Hyatt. I am diamond and get great perks. And if you have the Hyatt card you get one free night a year. We have stayed at really nice hotels for free.

[audette]

We've split things between DH and I. For me, when I travel for work I tend to stay at Choice Hotels or La Quintas (when in the US, outside of the US, I try for accord hotels).

DH collects points for Hiltons, Hyatts, and SPG, as he more often ends up at these when travelling for work.

When we're travelling for ourselves, we pick which name to reserve the room in based on what hotel chain we want, and which of us has the account for that chain.


I know they aren't exactly high-end hotels, but I like the programs at Choice and LQ. Fairly easy to earn status, and there are decent perks for having status. And, more importantly, I seem to earn a fair number of free nights at them.

[ewall]

It depends on where you travel. My job requires weekly travel to a lot of rural areas where you are lucky to find a Courtyard as your fancy option. So I've used Marriott for 6+ years now because pretty much every town has a Marriott property of some sort. I'm working on Lifetime Platinum status, I'm only at Lifetime Gold right now.

[cheezer]

Definitely agree it depends on where you travel. I still do SPG but a lot of my travel is either day in and day out on the west coast so I don't get a hotel or back to the home office where I often stay at the Peninsula. I really like Kimptons but that's not as widespread and certainly not in small towns. H and I both decided that Hilton is the worst program. It seems like it takes forever to get a free room. My 2nd choice is Hyatt only because our Chase card can be used for Hyatt points and we like to use our CC points to stay in Park Hyatts.

[v]

Oct 5, 2015 8:43:29 GMT -5 ribollita said:

Oct 5, 2015 8:41:00 GMT -5 v said:

I think a lot depends on who you are traveling with and where you're going. Marriott is my main program, because that's what my bosses prefer (so when I travel with them, we will be staying at a Marriott property when available) and I do quite a bit of travel to small cities and suburbs where there wouldn't be a SPG or Hyatt or Wyndham property anyway.

The lower level statuses on Marriott and Hilton kind of suck though -- very few perks -- and I'm too picky about hotels to put 50 nights a year in one chain to get better status.

I often travel to the same cities as colleagues but we can each stay wherever we'd like as long as we stay within policy (which is $400 I believe except for a few expensive cities).

Good to know about Marriot/Hilton lower level statuses. I travel (relatively) often but not for many nights at a time.

Buuuut ... Even if you have that flexibility, are you actually going to exercise it? Particularly outside of cities, when driving is involved, I find it much easier to stay at the same place as my colleagues. And I wouldn't want to be the PITA/non team player who is always staying at Hiltons while everyone else is down the road at a Marriott. You know? I *could* do it -- and the people I work with travel enough and care enough about status that they'd understand -- but the benefit of getting two free bottles of water because I'm Hilton gold is outweighed by far by the convenience and optics of staying where everyone else is. So Marriott/United it is for me because those are my bosses' choices.

[boiler717]

I find SPG easier to earn free nights than Marriott, but Marriott is only one available where my home office is.

[stephm0188]

We try to use SPG mostly. We like their hotels, and it's nice to use the points to stay on site at Disney.

If SPG isn't available, we'll do Hilton or Marriott.

[rikki]

I was a Hyatt Diamond member for many years. I love, love, love Hyatt. Even now as a lowly Platinum, they still treat me really well. They require fewer points for redemption than any other chain.

[maddiepaddy]

I'm pretty loyal to Hilton. I find that they have decent options almost everywhere I go (sometimes Hampton Inns in smaller locales, etc). I was disappointed at the lack of options in Scandinavia though, but that's not a frequent destination for us.

I am tempted by Hyatt, but I have found that when I'm paying for stays (rather than redeeming points) Hilton properties are often less expensive than their comparable Hyatt counterparts.

If you do decide to go the Hilton route, I'd suggest the Citi Hilton Reserve card. It has a $95 annual fee, but comes with automatic Hilton Gold status offering a variety of benefits including 25% extra points, fairly frequent upgrades, free breakfast, wifi, etc... The card also offers 10 Hilton points per dollar spent at Hilton - which will almost double the points you can earn for each paid stay. They also give you 1 free night certificate each year that you spend at least $10K on the card.

[janegold]

Starwoods is my favorite but we are also racking up a lot of Marriott and Hilton points right now. We kind of rotate between which program we focus on (and which rewards credit card we use most often), and right now we're focusing on Marriott for a vacation this winter. I do like that Marriott and Ritz Carlton have a crossover program. From a "value" perspective, Starwoods points are worth the most of any hotel brand, I believe. The Points Guy has a chart comparing relative value of all the credit card rewards programs: thepointsguy.com/2015/09/september-2015-monthly-valuations/.

[ribollita]

Oct 5, 2015 11:39:04 GMT -5 v said:

Oct 5, 2015 8:43:29 GMT -5 ribollita said:

I often travel to the same cities as colleagues but we can each stay wherever we'd like as long as we stay within policy (which is $400 I believe except for a few expensive cities).

Good to know about Marriot/Hilton lower level statuses. I travel (relatively) often but not for many nights at a time.

Buuuut ... Even if you have that flexibility, are you actually going to exercise it? Particularly outside of cities, when driving is involved, I find it much easier to stay at the same place as my colleagues. And I wouldn't want to be the PITA/non team player who is always staying at Hiltons while everyone else is down the road at a Marriott. You know? I *could* do it -- and the people I work with travel enough and care enough about status that they'd understand -- but the benefit of getting two free bottles of water because I'm Hilton gold is outweighed by far by the convenience and optics of staying where everyone else is. So Marriott/United it is for me because those are my bosses' choices.

Yes. I have never needed to rent a car on a business trip. While my colleagues and I may be going to the same destination we go as individuals.

[y4m]

Spg has the best rewards, followed by Hyatt in my experience. I try to stick with those two when I can, but both are smaller than Marriott or Hilton, so it kind of depends on whether you can make it work in the cities you're in. I am much more dedicated to my airline status versus hotel.

[mpc]

I started with Hilton because that's where most of my coworkers stayed. Now there are several that are Marriott loyal, but I haven't wanted to switch. Mostly, I love Embassy Suites. I like the big rooms and they have the best (free) breakfast, IMO. Half my travel is to Denver, where there are lots of options. But a lot of my other travel is to a small town that has very few options, of which the embassy is by far the best.

[ribollita]

Oct 5, 2015 12:38:00 GMT -5 rikki said:

I was a Hyatt Diamond member for many years. I love, love, love Hyatt. Even now as a lowly Platinum, they still treat me really well. They require fewer points for redemption than any other chain.

Random but I think you have been to the Grand Hyatt on Kauai, correct? Did you enjoy it? I have two free nights there but additional nights are currently pricing at $688. !! I am hoping a deal comes out by the time we go. The other nights we will be staying with family.

[ribollita]

Oct 5, 2015 15:12:42 GMT -5 mpc said:

I started with Hilton because that's where most of my coworkers stayed. Now there are several that are Marriott loyal, but I haven't wanted to switch. Mostly, I love Embassy Suites. I like the big rooms and they have the best (free) breakfast, IMO. Half my travel is to Denver, where there are lots of options. But a lot of my other travel is to a small town that has very few options, of which the embassy is by far the best.

I am definitely a fan of Embassy Suites, especially when my family can join me on work trips. I just love the set up for traveling with a family.

[v]

Oct 5, 2015 15:43:59 GMT -5 ribollita said:

Oct 5, 2015 12:38:00 GMT -5 rikki said:

I was a Hyatt Diamond member for many years. I love, love, love Hyatt. Even now as a lowly Platinum, they still treat me really well. They require fewer points for redemption than any other chain.

Random but I think you have been to the Grand Hyatt on Kauai, correct? Did you enjoy it? I have two free nights there but additional nights are currently pricing at $688. !! I am hoping a deal comes out by the time we go. The other nights we will be staying with family.

We stayed there on our honeymoon (8 years ago, so grains of salt needed) and thought it was awesomely overrated.  It was a nice property, sure, but not the level of nice I expected for the price we paid (something like $500 a night) and a huge letdown after staying at the Four Seasons in Maui.  I remember coming back from the trip mad at all the Knotties who talked it up as all-out luxury  Unless they've done massive renovations (including big changes to the floor plans of the rooms), on principle I'd have a lot of trouble bringing myself to spend anywhere close to $688 for extra nights even with 2 nights free.

I count it and The Borgata as the most overpriced hotels we've stayed at, and we did not pay $688 for the Hyatt.

[ribollita]

Oct 5, 2015 16:04:59 GMT -5 v said:

Oct 5, 2015 15:43:59 GMT -5 ribollita said:

Random but I think you have been to the Grand Hyatt on Kauai, correct? Did you enjoy it? I have two free nights there but additional nights are currently pricing at $688. !! I am hoping a deal comes out by the time we go. The other nights we will be staying with family.

We stayed there on our honeymoon (8 years ago, so grains of salt needed) and thought it was awesomely overrated.  It was a nice property, sure, but not the level of nice I expected for the price we paid (something like $500 a night) and a huge letdown after staying at the Four Seasons in Maui.  I remember coming back from the trip mad at all the Knotties who talked it up as all-out luxury  Unless they've done massive renovations (including big changes to the floor plans of the rooms), on principle I'd have a lot of trouble bringing myself to spend anywhere close to $688 for extra nights even with 2 nights free.

I count it and The Borgata as the most overpriced hotels we've stayed at, and we did not pay $688 for the Hyatt.

Good to know. I would mostly be going for my pool/waterslide obsessed kid, not the room. I think two nights should be sufficient unless some great deal is released.

[mokes]

I started with Marriott because that's what my company prefers, so I don't know know much about other programs. I have Platinum status now, and I do feel like they take care of me. Some of the program perks I enjoy/find most useful:

• I'm almost positive it's Marriott's policy to upgrade Platinum members whenever possible. It's very rare that I'm not upgraded, even when traveling on points.
• At the hotels that have a lounge, free food/drinks
• Almost guaranteed availability -- has come in handy quite a few times for hotels that are sold out
• Free internet
• Automatic Gold status on United

Those are the ones that come to mind, anyway. I also like that when you redeem nights, you get 5 nights for 4 nights' worth of points.

[rikki]

Oct 5, 2015 15:43:59 GMT -5 ribollita said:

Oct 5, 2015 12:38:00 GMT -5 rikki said:

I was a Hyatt Diamond member for many years. I love, love, love Hyatt. Even now as a lowly Platinum, they still treat me really well. They require fewer points for redemption than any other chain.

Random but I think you have been to the Grand Hyatt on Kauai, correct? Did you enjoy it? I have two free nights there but additional nights are currently pricing at $688. !! I am hoping a deal comes out by the time we go. The other nights we will be staying with family.

I actually have not. The only hyatt that I've been to in Hawaii is the Andaz in Maui. I've heard great things about the Kauai property though!

Do you have any points you could use? You could do cash and points for 50% of the typical points and I (I think) $150 copay.

[v]

ribollita, the pools at the Kauai Hyatt are really cool for a kid.

I've been down a bit of a rabbit hole here after staying at a Hilton property for what I swear was the first time in years, yet apparently I have silver status? No idea why. At any rate, regardless of the program you use, look into status matching possibilities at other chains...

Some info here: thepointsguy.com/2014/12/hotel-elite-status-match-and-challenge-plans-for-2015/