Originally Posted by
ATLWWW
I for a few years stayed at exclusively Marriott properties, then back in mid 2000 or so when they banned smoking on hotel balconies, which I thought was a little crazy, I quit and switched to HH. I have been HH Diamond, but got knocked down to Gold this year. Also a note, seems Marriott properties are really dated, not sure if this has changed, I just dont see a Courtyard being comparable to a Hampton Inn of HGI.
BUT, I did get a bunch of Marriott points last year for having a suite at a conference, not an honor, but something each person on our team takes turn hosting the rest during the conference/trade show whatever. It is a pain and a mess, but besides the point. When booking a rewards stay recently in Charleston, SC, I could stay 2 nights at a Renaissance for 60K, Courtyard 50K whereas a Embassy was 100K or a Hampton Inn was 80K. I noticed this a couple of years back, thought maybe a fluke.
Do Marriott points go further than Hilton? Am I missing something?
I dont smoke anymore so could change back to Marriott, sure they would match status
The answer is yes, but you also earn them slower (if using HH points + points). With all bonuses during a non-promotion time, I think it comes to 20 points/$ spent for diamond at Hilton and 15 points/dollar spent at Marriott. Hilton also has a bigger welcome bonus.
I think that if you're going for free rooms only, the earn/burn rate basically evens out. I think Marriott has some better redemption options (ie travel packages) than just standard hotel redemptions.
FWIW, I'm planning on maintaining my Marriott and Starwood platinums this year and dropping Hilton diamond, unless they come out with an incredible promo like they did last year. All of my Hilton stays last year (except reward ones) were during the Q3FN earning period.