Originally Posted by sdsearch

Well, my point is, what works for you doesn't work for everyone.

I don't think SPG annual fee is worth it (for me)! Reason: I have a Diners Club already, and now that it's an MC (for a number of years now), I can use it "everywhere", while there are some signficant places where I can't use Amex, so I'd always have to be looking for something else from SPG.

Furthermore, I want to collect points in a variety of hotel programs, SPG not among them (because I don't do any reimbursed travel, and SPG is typically outside my personal budget). Diners will let me transfer to lots of hotel programs, but SPG being a hotel card obviously won't transfer to any other hotel program.

And some of the airilnes I want to be to transfer to include UA, which SPG supports at a poor transfer rate, so making up for Diners not supporting UA with SPG wouldn't make sense.

So 1:1 from a card I can use to partners that SPG can't is worth more to me than steady 1:1.25. And SPG doesn't solve any additional problems for me that Diners Club doesn't do about as well.

But, of course, for several years now, no one who didn't have a Diners Club (US/Canada) already has been able to apply for one. So it's not an option for anyone looking for a card right this second.

But I do agree with matching the card to your program usage. In my case, I do do mostly 1-night stays (because I'm so used to promos which give me oodles of bonus points or miles per stay, which can only be maxed out by hotel hopping). And I have been active in Priority Club for years.