Originally Posted by
pinniped
(1) Their "no capacity controls" feels more real to me than either Marriott's or Hilton's. I can't prove it, but when I look at high-demand situations I almost always end up booking a SPG award because MR and HH have no awards available - even if all three brands are still selling rooms for cash.
(2) I think SPG realizes that most of its frequent guests are reaping a lot of benefit from general credit card spending. They can keep their hotel-spend requirements higher and guests are still happy because the CC is so powerful.
(3) SPG is geared to reward the Plat member more than anything, with better Plat-only promotions and a meaningful-value Plat stay bonus. Marriott and HH both offer "welcome amenity" points if we choose, but the amount is small and we usually opt for something else.
Great post. Re #1 above, I have found that HH award availability is virtually unlimited for Diamond special request, which makes the value of HH & Diamond a winner, this is in comparison to SPG Plat and most recently Hyatt Diamond. Hyatt Diamond does not have a special Diamond availability rule, does have a no blackout rule, but does tightly control award availability via the "Standard" guestroom only rule......try and book an award at a Grand Hyatt where only 10% of the rooms are "Standard" guestrooms and you will see what I mean.