Also, don't forget about rollover nights. Anything over 75 will get rolled over to next year and allow you to make Plat next year that much easier (I'm assuming they continued this program).

I do think there is merit in having a backup program. I've been plat at marriott for four years, but was forced to stay at a Hilton for 3 months for various reasons. They allowed me to "race" to diamond and get that status after like 20 nights.

This year, I've been mostly at Marriotts (~40 nights so far), but I also have 13 hilton nights/stays, as I went on a big mattress run to max out their Q1 promo. Their Q2 promo is not that good, but I will stay there enough to at least earn gold for next year (which is only 16 stays). It is nice having that status when I do stay at Hiltons, as I'm about 50/50 on upgrades this year.