<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by BigLar:
It seems there is some sort of consensus that *wood is the "best" (whatever that means). Every forum has members who insist that "their" program is the best.</font>
Here's a quick comparison between HH and Starwood. You can find a Cat. 5 HH (35K) and a 10K Starwood each for about $285/night before tax. If you get your HH points via airline transfers, the 35K HH costs 17,500 in airline miles (35K/2).
So in this example you could say the HH award was 75% more expensive [(17,500-10,000)/10,000].
But on a Point Stretcher, the 35K HH award only costs 21K HH points, or 10,500 airline points - about the same as Starwood.
It would be mind-numbing to do this analysis for lots of properties, which is why most people make their decision on big-picture issues. And even though I use all the hotel programs you mentioned, Starwood's
benefits make it the most convenient for me.
[This message has been edited by Family flyer (edited Feb 28, 2004).]