SPG vs HHonors as primary loyalty and points redemption
Hi all, I did some searching and couldn't find anything within a decade that talked about what I'm thinking so I'm going to go ahead and ask.
I've been a HHonors member for a few years now, hit Gold this year and will probably be doing a fair amount of traveling next year and might hit Diamond. For some reason I also have SPG Gold status (even though it clearly says I have zero stays since signing up in 2006) and my friend raves about SPG and loving them.
I don't really care, I just like a clean room in a decent location, and in my experience Hilton chains have been good about upgrading me when I ask for it at check-in. I'm just doing raw math and I can't figure out why in the world I would want to switch to SPG and was hoping that you guys might be able to tell me something that I couldn't find anywhere else.
With HHonors double dip I get 15 points per dollar spent and for a 50k category 7 means I'm spending $3,333 for a free night. With SPG I get one point per dollar spent and a 12k Sheraton redemption means I'm spending $12k to get a free night. Of course I'm not counting the quarterly bonuses or elite bonuses or other promotions, but even with SPG's current triple up that is $4k, or more likely as I won't be staying Thursday or Sunday nights $6k.
Am I missing something or is it really just that much easier to get free nights with HHonors at the sacrifice of the posh SPG hotels?