If the majority of your hotel stays are one-nighters, you might also want to consider Hilton HHonors and Starwood Preferred Guest programs, where the "elite" levels (and corresponding benefits) become available on the basis of nights *or* stays. With Marriott Rewards, only nights are counted, so it would take you quite a bit longer to reach Platinum in this program than, for example, in SPG (75 nights vs. 20 stays).

I'm not sure what you mean by "swapping" programs. You'd probably have to start from scratch, unless you can qualify for MR Silver with the current Take 2 promo (if you do a search in this forum, you'll find details). Also, if you're interested in pooling your points with your spouse, Hilton HHonors is set up for that (they call a joint HHonors account "Mutual Fund"). You can also transfer points from one SPG account to another, provided both account holders reside at the same address. I believe it was possible to transfer MR points between spouses' accounts, but I don't know if this benefit is still available.

[This message has been edited by honu (edited 04-01-2002).]

[This message has been edited by honu (edited 04-01-2002).]