Originally Posted by
SkiAdcock
Sounds like *Wood is matching Hilton re: Golds. Hopefully it's something that Marriott won't follow.
No, they're not matching SPG Gold to Hilton Gold, but neither should they. Hilton Gold is second level up, while SPG Gold is first level up.
They're more or less matching stay-based SPG Plat to Hilton Gold, and
very roughly matching night-based SPG Plat (and/or beyond) to Hilton Diamond.
Hilton Gold still gives free breakfast and free internet as a default, and then may give something else in some cases.
SPG makes you choose between free breakfast and check-in bonus points as Plat, and makes you choose between free internet and check-in bonus points as Gold. (I didn't even see a
breafkast choice for Gold in the official announcement, so I don't know if that's even an option or not.)
Everyone, please stop using terms like "Gold" generically (when comparing programs), as this term means something
completely different in one program (like SPG) where it's the first level up versus another program (like Marriott and Hilton) where it's the second level up.
It's also hard to compare levels in
any manner between three-level programs like Marriott or Hilton versus two-level programs like SPG.