Originally Posted by
vincentvanvinh
Hi everyone,
long time lurker first time poster. So my travel schedule is the standard consultant calendar ie. M->TR and I don't mind playing the check-in check-out game. I've been able to maintain top tier at SPG and gold status on Hilton. My question is this: If you had an option of maxing out two hotel chains, which two would they be?
I only ask this, because I tried booking a hotel through spg and noticed they seem to have less hotels then Hilton. But I also know that Hilton gets a lot of flack for not having "standard rooms" and thus causing you to book with more points etc. As the year is relatively young, I'm wondering if there's another hotel program I should think about using as a secondary hotel chain (ie. SPG + Marriott/ SPG + Hilton/ Hlton + Marriott) any input would be great, thanks everyone!
How would you answer these questions?
1) is consistency important to you?
(Marriott)
2) are you staying in mid-tier hotels?
(Hilton - Hilton Garden Inn is the best of the mid tiers IMO)
3) Are you happy to be mid tier in multiple programs?
(Marriott requires a lot of nights to hit top level, and they do not count stays, only nights)
4) what are your consistent areas of travel? (
100% agree that Hyatt is great, but many people find there aren't enough of them to easily make the top tier. And at Hyatt there is a BIG difference between mid and top tier!)
5) is flexibility and suite upgrades important to you?
(SPG offers a lot in their program)
Finally - where do you want to be in your OFF time? Ritz Carlton? St Regis? Hyatt Resorts? You want to
earn points in a program you will be the happiest
spending them!
As you can see - there lots of different things to consider as you develop a strategy - and no one can decide that but you!
FYI - I do Hyatt-Marriott-Hilton.
Good Luck!