Starwood Preferred Guest - What's a good domestic 2nd Hotel loyalty program?

I'm SPG Platinum, and plan to stay that way. That said, there are nights where SPG hotels just aren't available (due to location, price, booking, whatever). I would guess 10+ stays a year aren't with SPG. I would like to get the benefit of these stays with another hotel program, but haven't decided which one.

My travel is always domestic and sometimes includes smaller cities that may be serviced by Hampton Inn like hotels.

I am primarily interested in upgrades rather than point accumulations. I would be particularly interested in programs with a credit card that helps go to status.

I'm guessing some of you SPG folk are in the same boat and I'm anxious to hear your experiences. Thanks.

I'm in the same boat with travel to lots of smaller locales. I have gold status with Marriott and Silver with Hilton. I think Marriott has the better program, but their mid-market offerings of Fairfield and Courtyard aren't nearly as prevalent as Hamptons. In general, I prefer the Marriott product and program due to the value of the points. However, status is much easier to achieve with Hilton, although silver is worth next to nothing. 10 stays per year with Marriott will get you silver, which, unfortunately, is also worth very little, although the points will probably add up to a free stay or two or some FF miles.

I am kinda in the same boat also.
I am abanding any brand loyalty to Marriott-they have shown none to their best customers and I intend to return the favor.If the price is right I will still stay at a Marriot property-I just am not going to give them the benefit of my loyalty if I can find comperable lodging cheaper-and I am not going to do any Matress runs for MR status.

SPG has been very good to me-I will continue to stay at SPG properties even if the price is within 20-30% of the competition.

I am looking at Hyatt-but according to many posters whose opinions I respect Hyatt just is not as good as it used to be.

I have contacted Kimpton Group.They have offered to comp me Top Tier based on my stay and spend history with other chains-they do not do this for everyone and it is not automatic.The only problem is that while they are growing there depth of properties is still vary limited-but if they are in the cities you travel to frequently then you just might want to to give them a try.

That leaves us with two biggies (and a couple of limited service brands(which are not of interst to me)IHG and Hilton.
Both are everywhere you will most likely travel and both have many different brands under their umbrella.I think those two should be the chains to look at (if Kimpton does not meet your needs)-they are pretty interchangable as far as bennies for the mid tier traveller.

I know you all are looking for a second to Starwood, but I thought I would suggest checking over in the MilesBuzz forum there are some nice threads on "hotel comparisons" and the "master status match" thread gives some examples of how people chose their programs.

Just a thought as I know some people only read forums that they are members of.

I would suggest Hilton, but if you are mainly interested in upgrades, then you won't find much at Hamptons, although there are many locations, which is a plus to me. I believe they have an AmEx where you can get Gold with something like a 20k spend.

I can heartily recommend the InterContinental/Holiday Inn family via PriorityClub. As a SPG Plat (325+ nights in the past 18 months, mostly at 4Pts properties) I can say PC's program is currently extremely generous, for the 2007 4Q I've switched most of my SPG business over to a Holiday Inn Express that compares favorably to the Hampton Inns that I've stayed at.

I'd take Hilton over Holiday Inn any day. I quit staying at Holiday Inn's a few years ago when the quality went way downhill. Hamptons have been consistently good for my stays. When it's an Inn & Suites, I've always been upgraded to a suite. No, Hamptons are not as luxurious as Hiltons, etc., but they are everywhere and the price is right.

I would go with Hilton also due to the number of choices / locations.

If you are looking for hotels in small cities, Hilton is pretty good. Upgrades are rare at the smaller hotels. What do you want other then an upgrades? To use your points at Hilton they do not have as many top end hotels as SPG, Marriott has More top end hotels to use points at, but not as many small city hotels.

I'm SPG Platinum, and plan to stay that way. That said, there are nights where SPG hotels just aren't available (due to location, price, booking, whatever). I would guess 10+ stays a year aren't with SPG. I would like to get the benefit of these stays with another hotel program, but haven't decided which one.

My travel is always domestic and sometimes includes smaller cities that may be serviced by Hampton Inn like hotels.

I am primarily interested in upgrades rather than point accumulations. I would be particularly interested in programs with a credit card that helps go to status.

I'm guessing some of you SPG folk are in the same boat and I'm anxious to hear your experiences. Thanks.

I'd go with Hilton. I was once Hilton Diamond, but switched to SPG based on how they treated me and haven't looked back; but, somehow, despite only staying at a Hilton 2-3 nights per year (generally using up my points!) since 2003 when my Diamond should have lapsed, I've been Gold for every year either through a soft landing in year +1, promotions that I haven't figured out where they came from yet, and other "complimentary" status that seems to be valid for 2+ years. So, they've always been my second since I get the bonus points and I generally find they have a hotel of some type everywhere.

I've settled on Marriott and SPG as my pair, after trying Hilton and Hyatt. I've been able to be top tier in all, so YMMV. But I've found that some version of a Marriott property is available just about everywhere - certainly more than Hyatt.

As top tier in all three programs, I would say Hilton and then IC group. Depends where you travel and what's available to you though. IC hotels are everywhere, even where Hilton properties aren't in some rural areas where I travel.

Advantage Hilton: upgrades (real upgrades), free good breakfasts (at some properties anyway), generally higher quality hotels (although USA and UK are more uneven); upgraded accommodations with free breakfast (ie benefits) on reward stays; double dip for airline miles and hotel points;

Advantage IC Group: if you read the IC forum on FT you will find out many promos that will earn you extra points in the year, help you requalify easily and get you a whack of points for redeeming how you like (much more than Hilton which seems to have the fewest promos); ubiquitous locations; redeem points in any chain and get rooms with no significant capacity controls

both have good quality low end offerings (Hampton and HI Express) that generally are not run down, have free high speed internet etc.

Disadvantage Hilton: few promos; crappy properties in USA; some capacity control issues (less so as Diamond)

Disadvantage IC Group: crappy Holiday Inns, especially in USA (much better overseas); no benefits on reward stays; poor or no breakfasts (though adequate) at many properties in North America; top tier only in non-IC hotels; harder to achieve top tier Royal Ambassador which gets great benefits at "Intercontinental" name hotels; uneven access to upgrades (more so than Hiltons in my experience)

I think Hilton is a real good second option, especially because of the convertability to other programs.

I don't have experience outside of SPG and Marriott... but even as a gold marriott member i was extremely unimpressed. crappy service... little recognition and don't get me started on point redemption....

A few recent projects have brought me to some small, random cities and in turn opened my eyes to the world of Hampton Inns and HI Expresses. Times have changed, and I'm impressed at the level of quality and value those chains offer while debunking my opinion of remote controls locked to the nightstand, cheap beds, etc. As loyal Starwood member I had no idea these hotels offered free wifi, full breakfast, gym, and parking included in the rate! (Obviously they were not plush or cool as a Westin or W).

I'm hoping that the huge numbers of element and aLoft properties planned will get Starwood into these smaller markets and offering better value.

Thanks to everyone. I probably should have done a poll on this topic. The responses have been really helpful.

Thanks in large part to these messages, I'm going with Hilton. Since I won't be getting a ton of points, the hotel points are worth less to me. I really like the double dip feature. I also like the Hampton Inn quality, the upgrade options and the diversity of the Hilton hotels in major cities.

Let me give one shout out for Marriott. In my experience it really is second only to SPG.

Yes, you need a lot of points for free nights, but every year they have one or more MegaBonus promotions which make it easy to rack up a ton of points. Also, it's a sliding scale, unlike SPG, so 5 nights is actually less points than simply 1 night x 5 like SPG.

Also, Marriotts are EVERYWHERE and the Courtyard brand has been completely revamped and is MUCH nicer than Hampton!

Yes, SPG has my primary loyalty, but unfortunately my travels often take me to places where there are no Starwood hotels for hundreds of miles.

Thanks to everyone. I probably should have done a poll on this topic. The responses have been really helpful.

Thanks in large part to these messages, I'm going with Hilton. Since I won't be getting a ton of points, the hotel points are worth less to me. I really like the double dip feature. I also like the Hampton Inn quality, the upgrade options and the diversity of the Hilton hotels in major cities.

I think you made a good decision.

Other aspect to look at your situation is, since you are looking at the second option for about 10 stays, I assume you will only make middle elite tier of the program.

IMO, HHonor Gold has the best mid-tier elite benefits compared to others.
(I don't have experience with all programs, though)

I would go with Hilton also due to the number of choices / locations.

Totally agree. You can't beat Hilton for having the most domestic properties in all price ranges. Kimpton and Hyatt are fine hotels but the number of properties they have is extremely limited. You can also get Gold status at Hilton with $20K in annual spending on the Hilton Amex card (no annual fee). That's a good deal and better than the SPG Amex card which has an annual fee and requires $30K in annual spending to get Gold status.

You can also get Gold status at Hilton with $20K in annual spending on the Hilton Amex card (no annual fee).

And the points awarded by the Hilton AMEX are quite generous and they occasionally have double points promotions, which the SPG AMEX does not.

A few recent projects have brought me to some small, random cities and in turn opened my eyes to the world of Hampton Inns and HI Expresses.

I'm in the same boat. The new company I work for has a lot of rural locations that I need to visit - no SPG around many of them at all. There are however, plenty of HI Express and Hamptons, and often Homewood Suites which I also like. They are usually newer, in good shape, and have good beds! Better than I can say about most 4 Points! These work well because they like us to keep our hotel costs down.

I'm still keeping my SPG gold, but getting enough stays to have HH Gold too.

I'm going with SPG and Hilton. I've actually been finding that Hampton Inn quality is more consistant than the 4pts properties.

Hilton for me for 1 reason ... more options

Thanks to everyone. I probably should have done a poll on this topic. The responses have been really helpful.

Thanks in large part to these messages, I'm going with Hilton. Since I won't be getting a ton of points, the hotel points are worth less to me. I really like the double dip feature. I also like the Hampton Inn quality, the upgrade options and the diversity of the Hilton hotels in major cities. Good choice for second. Make sure to learn about MyWay. You can change your options anytime. I use points & points as I dont really need airline miles. But sometimes switch to points & miles when the Hotel i'm staying at has double or triple miles promos going on. Cheers^

I vote for Hilton as well. Gold is easy to get and gets a free breakfast at all properties.

SPG Plat remains a priority, mostly because of suite upgrades (which I have done very, very well with lately) and a plethora of higher end properties worldwide at which to spend points, many of which are willing to extend suite upgrades to Plats on reward stays.

One thing irritating about the Hilton program is that you are very unlikely to get a suite on a reward stay and there is no way to pay for this with points. That said, many Hiltons located outside the US are much nicer than a typical US Hilton.

There are very few destinations without a SPG or Hilton property that I have travelled to on business or leisure in the US, so I have minimal/no stays in other programs.

Jumpgate wrote"Let me give one shout out for Marriott. In my experience it really is second only to SPG.

Yes, you need a lot of points for free nights, but every year they have one or more MegaBonus promotions which make it easy to rack up a ton of points. Also, it's a sliding scale, unlike SPG, so 5 nights is actually less points than simply 1 night x 5 like SPG."
My "ton of points"maxed out on 25k after fifteen nights-not even enough to get one night in one of the best Marriotts.
Piece of junk fluff promotion-I did not even bother.

I guess YMMV. I've stayed 51 nights at Marriotts this year and have requalified for PLT and accumulated over 225,000 points due to bonuses during the year. That's enough for 10 nights on Kauai, Maui, Aruba, Grand Cayman, St. Kitts, etc. (or 14 nights at an average Cat 4 property). 1 night on a tropical island for 5 nights in Tyson's Corner, VA is a pretty good deal.

SPG's been no slouch either in terms of promos - I'm to PLT for the year, and my balance is back to where I'm comfortable having it (200K+)

My experience has been that finding a Marriott brand is easier than Hilton. Adding up the numbers on the websites, Marriott has more properties. Having tried all the majors, my experiences keep me at SPG and Marriott.

I'm recently a HH Gold and haven't yet had much experience with the program. "Lots of options" is also attractive to me, including the Conrad brand. While I think it's properties are not generally as wonderful as the Starwood "Luxury Collection" , they're located in a lot of international cities where *wood may not have a presence.

If you're talking 10 or so stays in small towns, your choices are probably going to be Hilton, Priority Club, and Choice.

Do you know where most of the 10 stays will be? I'd probably base my decision on the cleanliness of the specific properties in question moreso than any kind of upgrade they might give. All of the motel brands will upgrade elites to a larger room or perhaps a jr. suite with a jacuzzi tub (in the case of Hampton), but who wants an upgrade if the hotel itself is filthy and run down?

All three of the above have good & bad in the roadside motel category. I personally like Hamptons because I also do occasional FS Hilton stays and use the HH Amex enough to be Gold, but there definitely are some bad ones out there. Priority Club might be interesting if you like a little dose of "full serviceness" as in some small towns the Holiday Inn is the "big hotel" for an entire county. Choice has built out quite a few new properties in recent years, so there should be plenty of fresh, clean properties out there. (No idea what their reward program is like - other than the fact that people were buzzing on the SPG board a week or so ago about juicy conversions through Amtrak to Choice to get either WN credits or independent boutique hotel nights.)