so, here's my deal. i'm HH Gold, and i complete the bare minimum of HH stays for GLD a year. i squeak by repeatedly with the greatest of ease.

i've gotten sick of Hilton, plain and simple. i find the low-scale options in SPG to be pathetic, and i hear good things of the Marriott sorts.

so sell me a bit, and do be so kind as to answer a couple of questions...

1.i have a FirstUSA credit card with a different program; has anyone changed a FUSA card from another sort of program to Marriott? that would at least give me silver.

2.i have 45,000 Amex MR points. is this gonna give me anything relating to a decent head start in the Marriott program?

3.What are the top points that you'd give someone looking for a change, and what are the caveats you'd honestly give a potential switcher?

thanks heaps.