Well, in my opinion, MR and SPG are two totally different animals. If you have the Starwoods Amex and you are a Platinum, the going in good at *woods. They do treat their Plats pretty nicely. Marriott has gone downhill the past few years and completely alienated it's Elite members. I used to be MR Plat as well as *woods Plat, so this is from my own personal experience. As for the awards, yes many of the MR rewards you can "buy" with your points are pretty cool. Not really sure they are worth the cost in points though. If you intend on using your points for travel, the SPG Cash+Points option is very, very attractive at many luxury properties where rooms often run $300+ a night. In the end, it all depends on what you are planning to use the points for. If your goal is to not travel on your free time because you've had too much travelling for work, then perhaps spending your points on products from the MR catalogue is the best thing for you. If you are looking for recognition while travelling and upgrades, etc.. then *woods is probably your best bet.