Starwood Preferred Guest - Selecting a primary hotel program (and intro)

Hi All,

I've been stalking flyertalk for about 2 years now and learning how to scam the system from the best. I figured I might as well join officially and introduce myself.

I need a little advice about choosing a rewards program. I'm thinking I want to make my primary program SPG and my secondary Hilton, but I'd like your advice. I used to always stay at marriotts, but this year I realized that I'm not taking advantage of enough promoitions, so I shifted my focus.

EDIT: I removed this thread from the other forums after much yelling..yikes, some way to introduce myself. :)

So here's the deal - this year, my travel bumped up significantly over the last 3 months and I expect it to be that way for hte next year at least. I live in Manhattan and travel just about every other week now. I fly to different places each time so it could be DC or it could be San Diego - you just never know. The length of time can be a single night or the entire week - probably average of 3-4 nights.

Facts:

1) I can choose my own hotel and airline for the most part, so cost isn't a large drivng factor on the assumption I'm not booking anything too wild. i.e- st regis = fail. I'm generally at the middle tier level of quality - sheratons but not W's.

2) I'm very willing to hotel hop night to night which makes me lean towards programs that have stay requirements and bonsus (sorry Marriott...I will miss you). Mega bonus just doens't cut it for me.

3) I value points over comfort (hence point 2), so if I don't care if I sleep at a HGI over a westin. I look at dining at hotels as not really exploring the area (or being painfully busy).

4) My vacations- For long ones, I like to book them in advance with points and then try to priceline until the bitter end to see if the points are really getting their moneys worth. I also do a lot of quick weekend trips which is paid with points if I get decent economy on them. As far as destinations go, I'm pretty flexible. I travel with my GF and I don't have a set travel pattern - i.e- take the kids and the dog to Disneyland every year kinda thing. So even if hilton/marriott have more destinations, I'm ok with that as long as I can use my points sometime for someplace interesting with SPG or Hyatt.

5) Status:

Platinum CO
Gold SPG - going to try and pull off platinum by dec 15th with upcoming travel, though I'm not sure I can do it.
Gold Hilton
Gold Marriott - there's a waste of 35 nights :)
President's Circle Hertz

Soon to have when I get that continental chase card:
Platinum Hyatt
President's Circle Avis

So I realize that was a lot and excuse the rambling. But what do you guys think nets me the most points? I think what it comes down to for me are the promotions because lately SPG has run some killer ones and hilton has had awful ones. Not sure about Hyatt either. So like I said, I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

I'm going to post this in a few forums and get some opinions.

Welcome to FT! Just to let you know, cross posting (posting the same question in more than one forum) is not allowed. There are A LOT of threads comparing the various programs advantages/disadvantages so I would start with a search in each forum and you will probably get more threads than you care to read.

If you have flexibility where you stay and you are generally traveling to metropolitan areas- I say definitely go for Starwood plat. On a whole, I've received great treatment- you can review the Platinum Upgrade Success thread for a sampling of plat upgrades.

SPG points are the most valuable IMO and you can really get them to add up. Plats get a 500 (or 250 if Aloft/4points) Plat amenity so if you hotel hop, you get it each time you check in at a new hotel. Also- theres a 1,000 point per stay promo currently and double nights. Most of SPGs promos are stackable, so if you play your cards right, the points add up. They had a promo last year where every 10 stays =25,000 points- I was in heaven.

Do some digging around the forum- in general you will find many people happy with the program. If you have any questions, there are two extremely helpful Starwood Employees (Starwood Lurker and Starwoord Lurker II).

Welcome!

I'm not sure about netting the most points, since Marriott and Hilton technically give more points per dollar - with the return being that redemption rates are higher.

If we're talking about what nets the most value, I can tell you why SPG is my primary.

Good coverage in major cities, which is where my work typically takes me. This means great options to hop properties in cities like NYC and Seattle; SPG is not a great program if you're consistenly staying in the burbs or podunk towns like Cedar Rapids (although they are trying to change this with aloft and element). If the latter is where you'll be, take Marriott or Hilton who do provide much broader coverage with HGI's, Courtyard, etc. The main reason that I avoid Hyatt is that their property footprint is just too small.

Consistent suite upgrades - you'll hear a lot of debate surrounding this on this board, but I've had tremendous success with suite upgrades, especially on vacations and on points - when it really counts

Fantastic international properties - my wife and I really took advantage of this before the family came along. Starwood has some striking properties around the globe (see: Blue Palace; Mystique, Hotel Alfonso XIII...there's really too many to mention). Marriott has the Ritz-Carlton connection, but in all my years I've never been able to make a redemption despite trying many times.

Killer promotions - outside of the occasional quarter that's light, I've experienced excellent promotions with Starwood that always keep my bank nice and full. Plus, the promos are usually very favorable to those that are willing to hop - as you mentioned a big plus over Marriott.

Platinum Concierge - typically does a great job for me with whatever I need. Yes, I get an occasional rep that isn't stellar, but the consistency is much, much higher than I've experienced with Hilton and Marriott.

Extra Customer Service - the lurkers here provide a great service to the SPG/FT community; the very few times that I've called corporate over an issue, it's been resolved promptly, effectively and with customer service in mind


Are there some shortcomings? Of course, every program has it's limitations. I do wish that Starwood had a bigger property footprint. The property / brand consistency is a love / hate for me. Sometimes my Sheraton is top notch, sometimes it's a complete dump. I've learned to appreciate it though over the mainline Marriott brand which is just McHotel. What city am I in? Who cares...there's my Marriott green carpet, armorie and L-shaped wood desk. That got really old for me. The lounge situation can be inconsistent and does not have the free booze mentioned by so many on this board.

At the end of the day, SPG was the best for me.

Ok, I un-triple posted and just kept the thread here because I do suspect that SPG is the direction I'm going.

I did some searches but wanted to see if my particular circumstances warranted any different thoughts.

Vandalby - I do appreciate the McHotel comment. I've seen the insides of far too many Courtyards and recently just said "ENOUGH!".

Vandalby - I do appreciate the McHotel comment. I've seen the insides of far too many Courtyards and recently just said "ENOUGH!".

It does seem to be their strategy - and I get it. For some people, they just want to know that the experience is going to be consistent. I can't fault that and if it's something that's important to a traveler, I would definitely point them in the direction of Marriott.

I personally love Starwood's inconsistency as much as it drives me mad on occasion. I think a lot of others on this forum are the same way; we can all cite stories of missing out on Platinum benefits, or having to stay in ratty circumstances just as much as we can cite times that we paid rock bottom rates and were upgraded to some two-story penthouse presidential suite with a baby grand. For me, it's part of the 'fun' of travel that keeps me coming back.