Originally Posted by
FlyerChrisK
You can credit to either airline. Do you have miles with either? Do you have a personal preference for either airline based on past experience? Where else do you fly?
I thought it would be better to earn and credit on the same airline? I have 30K miles on UA. I don't have a preference but I don't fly a lot and don't know if I should have a preference. I would want to accrue miles on the airline that gives me the most options for vacation travel with the family (Europe, Asia, U.S.).
LeMeridien and Westin are part of the Starwood family. Do you have any personal preference?
No, my goal would be to accrue in the program that would give me awards faster with availability in the places I would travel on vacation. An added plus (but secondary to scoring award nights) would be getting upgraded on the business trips to PHL.
Personal preferences. Where else do you travel or want to travel to? Have you read about the elite programs for US/UA and Hyatt/SPG (I have no familiarity with Sofitel and Kimpton)? Does anything seem appealing to you?
I have a family friend on Hyatt; his perspective is that it's best for getting to award nights, but Hyatts aren't in all places. That's the kind of take I'm looking for. I've stayed in some crappy Hyatts (the one on Wacker Drive in Chicago comes to mind), so I'm not really keen on going with Hyatt. I don't know much about SPG, HH, Kimpton, etc.