While shinbal may be getting suite upgrades 80% of the time as a Platinum, my experience is quite different. I have reported elsewhere that my success rate over the last year and a half is about 16%. Others have reported figures ranging from 0% to 100%, although most were much less than 80%. Not sure why the huge differences....maybe someone at Starwood doesn't like me.

In any event, having spent significant time as both an HHonors and SPG member, I can say that both programs have their good & bad points. No capacity controls at any level is the key to SPG, in my view. HHonors Diamond level has what appears to be no controls, but at lower levels it is frequently difficult to book free stays. Of course no controls come with a price, namely that SPG points take longer and are more costly to accummulate than HHonors points. Even so, I think the trade-off is worth it.

Hilton has many more properties to chose from with Hampton Inn, DoubleTree, Embassy Suites, etc. This is a big plus over Starwood, which has the in-need-of-an-overhaul Four Points chain. Unfortunately, you would never want to redeem points at a Hampton Inn because too many points are required for a free stay in a room that will typically cost you only $69/night to purchase.