pointman --

I call it "mileage" for simplicity, but my airline program is Southwest, so I actually earn either 1 credit or 1/2 credit, depending on the particular kind of hotel in the Marriott family (except 0 credit at Fairfield). 16 credits == free trip (equiv to unrestricted fare, or $700ish cross country if used that way, tho of course way less if used in a case where restricted advance would work fine). Marriott will trade me about 5000 points per credit. I earn either 5 or 10 points per dollar. That means I have to spend 500 to 1000 dollars to earn 1 credit, right? (Or is my math off at this late hour?) That sounds like I'd have to stay 5 times or more (in cases where it's cheaper than Hampton) to earn a credit via points when I only have to stay 1 to 2 times to earn the same credit via miles (except, as I said, no Fairfield).

Now, obviously, I could put Marriott points into another program (with an airline that goes somewhere Southwest doesn't), but since I'm not a member of any other program (except MAYBE long-unused TWA Aviators and/or NW Perks -- no flights for close to a decade! -- which I can't even find my numbers for any more!), I'm not sure if it would make sense if I'm not likely to ever get to a free flight.

I'm also a member of WebMiles which I don't know if I'll ever earn enough for a flight from -- I'm a member simply because I earn them by shopping at a supermarket I normally would shop at part of the time anyway [g] -- but I don't think any affordable hotels are partners of that.