Marriott Rewards (including Ritz-Carlton) - Marriot and Hilton equivalent reward value?

I am platinum with both Hilton and Marriot and for the first time have the option of choosing which hotel I want to stay at as I travel 4 days a week for the next 6 months. I have very few points with Marriot and ~250k points with Hilton.

I want to get the best bang for my buck from a rewards perspective, which one do I chose? I must pay with my corporate card (for now), and both properties are the same distance away and equally as nice... I am having trouble decrypting the various valuations of the hilton peso and the marriot dollar...

Some say that all in all, each hotel's reward points are worth the same, so then it would just come down to which property I want - do any agree with this?

Thank you so much!!!!!

A couple of points to consider:


What and where do you want to use your points? If you want to take a great vacation in a spot that has only a Marriott or a Hilton, then I'd focus on making sure I had the necessary points in that particular program. Also, do you need airline miles as well? You can earn airline miles, along with Hilton points for your stays. But Marriott has its Travel Package award which will get you airline miles basically for a 1-to-1 points-to-miles ratio. The Marriott TP award is one of the best, if not the best single hotel awards in the industry. (But if you don't need or want airline miles, then it probably won't be a big factor for you.)
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What is the difference between the two hotels you mentioned? You will be spending a lot of time in them (i.e. 4 days a week for the next 6 months). If one offers more services, better customer service, upgrades, better breakfast, better pool and/or workout rooms, etc. That can also affect which you may want to stay at.
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If you go with Marriott, call MR up and ask for a Plat Challenge. That way you will instantly become a Plat (and to keep it they will require you to stay something like 18 nights within a 90 day period.)
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As for point valuations between the two, I think that most would tend to say that Marriott points would have a littel more value "per point" than Hilton. But note, a lot of what the true "value" to you would be very dependent on how you would use those points.
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Having a sizeable number of points (and elite status) in multiple programs can be very beneficial. You may not always be able to find a quality use of your points for every award need with each program. Having more hotel choices can allow you more flexibility in your vacation choices. I know a number of folks here would probably tell you they have at least one "back-up" hotel choice and possibly even 2 or 3 backups.

Personally I think Marriott points worth more because:

1. They have the 5th night free when you redeem points for award stays (not when you use free certs)

2. MR points don't expire

3. I think some might find the Travel Package from Marriott as a very good way to use points.

4. Marriott doesn't have the 'non-participating property' issue.

HH and MR has very similar earning ratio, HH allows you to double dip but on the other hand it also requires more points to redeem award stays.

Where are your target reward destinations?

If they are in any location where Marriott would describe its property as a "resort", choose Hilton. Hilton provides full elite benefits at resorts; Marriott does not.

If they tend to be city stays, especially international, I'd probably go Marriott. I think your total bang-for-buck is best if you reach the Travel Package range, which your 100-ish total paid nights could do depending on your typical rates of course. You'll get more total value out of that award per dollar spent on paid rates that anything Hilton has to offer.

Only downside is that neither program is terribly strong if your award plan is lots of weekend getaways or other short stays. (Starwood is better for that.) Both programs are strongest on the longer awards at the higher-end properties.

And if you can ever ditch that corporate card requirement, your earnings will accelerate nicely at either chain...

So, in general is it fair to assume that from a reward value perspective 1 week at a marriot at a $125 rate and 1 week at a hilton for $125 rate will more or less equate to the same reward value??

Thank you so much for the advice guys.

I am platinum with both Hilton and Marriot and for the first time have the option of choosing which hotel I want to stay at as I travel 4 days a week for the next 6 months. I have very few points with Marriot and ~250k points with Hilton.

I want to get the best bang for my buck from a rewards perspective, which one do I chose? I must pay with my corporate card (for now), and both properties are the same distance away and equally as nice... I am having trouble decrypting the various valuations of the hilton peso and the marriot dollar...

Some say that all in all, each hotel's reward points are worth the same, so then it would just come down to which property I want - do any agree with this?

Thank you so much!!!!!

As others mention there is very little difference between the two. I am currently a MR gold and HH diamond. I normally stay 3 nights a week in London and was thinking along the same lines as yourself, with regard which chain to build up my balance with. To satisfy my curiosity I worked out the how many points I would accrue with each program and then look at how many reward nights I would get at my chosen destination. For me Marriott just came out on top. But only just as far as points were concerned (there was really nothing in it). The one thing that tipped me in favour of the Marriott was the free night certificate promos. I currently have three nights from the last promo and will get three more in the next. This, against Hilton's refusal to put any London hotels in the Q3 promo made my mind up. For me its the Marriott for now. But I will keep an eye on future promos, as I will more than likely use more than one hotel on my next holiday.

So, in general is it fair to assume that from a reward value perspective 1 week at a marriot at a $125 rate and 1 week at a hilton for $125 rate will more or less equate to the same reward value??

Thank you so much for the advice guys.

You'd be in a similar ballpark IMHO. (Exception: Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites earn 5 base points per dollar, not 10.)

15 MR pts/$ vs. 20 HH pts/$ with all of the elite bonuses...I used to think of SPG:MR:HH as 1:3:4 but in the past 2-3 years I've been thinking of them as 1:3:5 since HH has watered down a bit.

I guess I'm saying that if you thought you'd be able to reach the 300k Marriott level, and you had a good international non-resort hotel you want to spend a week in, Marriott takes the lead in total value.

But if you're thinking that a shorter stay or a resort stay is more your bag, then it's probably fairly close to even. You might actually look at the exact cities you think you'd might spend an award stay in and see how the Marriotts and Hiltons stack up there. (When I originally got into Hilton 10 years ago or so, it was specifically to reach the ALON awards in Hawaii.)

What brands are you comparing for the business stays? That might play into it a bit too...

I dunno about anyone else but I was looking at a 2 night stay at the doubletree in SBA and the options for points was like 150K points. 75K per night... Highest Marriott is 40K/night (and thoes are few and far between), very nice Marriots are 30K (Cat 6).

I dunno about anyone else but I was looking at a 2 night stay at the doubletree in SBA and the options for points was like 150K points. 75K per night... Highest Marriott is 40K/night (and thoes are few and far between), very nice Marriots are 30K (Cat 6).

All of those awards are likely to be poor value.

Hilton's "premium rooms" can be hilariously poor value, and they keep offering them after regular rooms are sold out. See the HH board for long threads about how some hotels are gaming the system by defining "premium" rooms that aren't really all that premium.

Two nights in the SBA area? I'd start by looking for regular paid rates, then at Starwood Cash & Points (if you have SPG), then at Priceline, etc. Maybe look at a flatter-category program that isn't built around the long stays, such as Priority Club. A regular HHonors or Marriott reward would be about the last thing I'd do.