Hilton HHonors - Got diamond out of the blue in 1999

Saw the threads about receiving gold cards for nothing. Back in 1999 I received a platinum card out of the blue on account of my company's relationship with Hilton. I wasn't even a blue member at the time.

It worked for them because the next time I took a personal trip I stayed at a Hilton to get the complimentary upgrade. Years later, having not travelled for a while, they quickly reinstated my account with the lapsed points and I am travelling with them again.

They've won me over.

Btw, can anybody tell me why people collect points on SPG? On my calculation for most categories it takes twice as much spend to get a free night.

SPG has some great hotels, particularly overseas. I started using them a few weeks ago. I am building up points in Sheratons and Westins for use in high-end hotels in Europe.

Btw, can anybody tell me why people collect points on SPG? On my calculation for most categories it takes twice as much spend to get a free night.

Pretty easy. I travel to Berlin once a week and I sometimes stay at the Hilton and I sometimes stay at the Westin Grand. Both a comparable. The Westin might be the slightly better hotel, the Hilton has the slightly better location.

On a normal *wood stay for 200 Dollars I receive:

400 base points
200 bonus points Platinum 50% Bonus
500 bonus points Platinum Welcome gift
500 bonus points Online booking bonus because call center is busy.
400 bonus points Double points (receive this for one year now)

This adds up to 2000 points. And they alway have me on some promotion. Even without such promotion I need 3 1/2 nights for one free night. And I always get a suite.

On a normal Hilton stay for 200 Dollars I receive

2000 base points
1000 bonus points Diamond
1000 bonus points double dipping

This adds up to 4000 points. And Hilton is a little bit reluctant with promotions. But I get free breakfast, a lounge with free alcohol and a upgrade to a room facing Gendarmenmarkt. But I need. 8 1/2 nights for a free night.

The charme in the Starwood System is not that you get really a lot of points through the "regular way" but as soon as you know their system, the points add up quite quickly. When booking at certain times, you can take the 500 bonus points for the busy call center for granted. The 2000 points for the *wood "Best rate guarantee" can be obtained in a easy way if you check www.hrs.de. And with all their promotions its quite interesting.

I got a free Platinum card early this year and had about 25 nights with them (mostly in Sheratons and Westins). I am at 80.000 points now whichs buys me nearly 11 nights in the Westin Grand in Berlin. And there was no occaision when I did not get a suite. I was a Hilton follower for 10 years but now I share my business between the two of them and it really pays off.

Cheers
T.

The charme in the Starwood System is not that you get really a lot of points through the "regular way" but as soon as you know their system, the points add up quite quickly.
T.

Thanks for that. So how about applying that logic to Marriott vs Hilton? Which one gets you ultimately more free nights when you work the system? (My problem is that *wood is quite patchy for where I travel)

Also, if you don't expect to get to platinum on *wood would it still be better for points?