ddfr

I, like everyone else, was very disappointed in the significant increases that are going to be implemented with respect to the Hilton Honors Program in January.

However, I unlike many of you, earn the majority of my Hilton Honors points through the use of our Am EX Hilton and Citibank Visa Cards. Both cards gives us Hilton points (though I think AM EX is better) and neither card has an Annual Fee.

However, given this significant increase in Honors Points needed for redemption it has made me wonder if perhaps there would be a better hotel rewards program for someone likes me who does a great deal of spending (probably around $50 K per year) on credit cards but doesn't accrue a lot of points from stays at hotels.

Thanks.

TAHKUCT

Take a look at Starwood Oreferred Guest Program: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/preferredguest/index.html

and the SPG Amex Card which is still considered one of the best affinity card:
https://www143.americanexpress.com/a...NFIRM_SPG_HOME

Jailer

Think about where you like to take vacations; if it’s high end properties in Europe (and probably even if it’s not) the Starwood Amex cannot, IMHO, be beat.


....And, welcome to FlyerTalk.

btw, I earn most of my hotel points via credit cards as well.

MichaelColey

Quite a few of us earn most of our hotel points through credit cards.

I would agree with those who recommend the SPG Amex. It does have an annual fee ($45?), but it's well worth it for the Starpoint earnings (and Gold status with $30k/year in spend). Many of us value Starpoints at 2-2.5 cents each, so that's a great value.

After the upcoming HHonors devaluation, I'll probably value HHonors points at 0.5 cents each (they're worth 0.7 cents each to me right now), so it definitely shifts from a slight SPG advantage to a much bigger one, excluding everyday spending categories (groceries, gas, pharmacy, phones, etc.) and Hilton spend.

MoreMilesPlease

Or you could look at the hilton AMEX Surppass card. It has a fee but if your annual spending is $40,000 you will be Diamond in HHH.

Ruhetag

This is the best card for Hilton Honors (HH) points.
9 points at Hilton Properties
6 points at Grocery Stores and Drug Stores
3 points everywhere else, excluding 7-11 which do not take AMEX

With the current HH promo of double HH points now through 12/31/2009, I am gettin 39points per dollar spent at Hilton Properties! ^

ddfr

Dear All:

Thank you for the warm welcome and all your help. I appreciate it. I do have a few questions/comments:

1) For those of you who want to accumulate Sheraton points, is there a "complimentary" MC or Visa Card that you can use if AMEX is not taken. In the New York area, there are many places that don't take AMEX so having the Citi Visa Hilton cards to accumulate points is a nice alternative when needed.

2) Many of you have written that the Sheraton card is far superior to Hilton, so there is obviously something to it. I believe that someone in one of the posts even wrote a formula but I don't understand it. For example, if I am correct, to stay at a Sheraton in NYC costs approximately 12,000-16,000 (depending on season) points which means that it will cost you that much in spending (one point per dollar earned I see) to stay there while with Hilton it will cost you now 50,000 points to stay at an NYC hotel and if your average accumulation is four points earned like mine(three points on some purchases, six on others) you will need to spend 12,500 so I am really not seeing a difference. Plus, as I mentioned earlier, there is no annual fee on either Hilton Card that I use, though I know that AM EX has the card that offers more points per purchase, for which there is an Annual Fee.

What am I missing here?

Thanks for all your help.

squeakr

I see it is not exactly 100% Hilton related but as long as posters are giving helpful info on the comparisons I think it's fine to stay here.

thanks

squeakr
comod HH

MichaelColey

For your example (and most hotel redemptions), they're basically the same. At the very highest categories (where SPG is 20k+), HH works out to be a better value, but you're not going to find such high category hotels many places.

Where SPG shines is the ability to do Cash & Points (usually a significantly better value) and favorable transfers to airline miles.

Braindrain

+1

There's some sage advice!

ddfr

Michael, thanks so much. I hate to sound stupid but what exactly is cash and points? Also, I am now Gold with Hilton so we get breakfast and/or an upgrade when we stay over, does Sheraton have a similar benefit?

Also, to the moderator, being new to flyer talk, what was objectionable about my question earlier?

Thanks so much

Eugene

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/prefer...sh_points.html

No free breakfast with SPG Gold.

TAHKUCT

Your question is absolutely fine. I have suggested to the moderator to move it to http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...-programs-599/ IMHO I thought you might get better responses to your question there. However it is working out fine in this forum.

Welcome to the Flyertalk!

ddfr

Thank you all very much

MichaelColey

It's basically a way to stretch your points with Starwood. For instance, instead of using 10k points per night for a Category 4, you can use 4k points per night + $60 per night. When you do the calculations to determine the value that you get out of a point, Cash & Points almost always beats out any other option. I would go into more detail, but there are plenty of threads with examples.