Originally Posted by
sdsearch
Where exactly in the world is Hyatt going to help you as a secondary program to Marriott that you want to use just when there's no Marriott property around or when there's no availability at the Marriott properties? (I guess if you need an overnight at DFW and don't want to waste to time on leaving the airport. Anywhere else?) Don't you need a program with a bigger "footprint" than Hyatt for a secondary program to Marriott???
Meanwihile, on SPG, it depends what you mean by "top tier" and what you mean by "treatment". SPG has "splintered" their top tier. It used to be that top tier was Platinum, reachable by either 25 stays or 50 nights, and you got the same benefits both ways. Now if you get it via 25 stays, you're just Plat lite some say. You have to do the 50 night route (even though it's not called a different tier officially) to quality for suite upgrades. Anyhow, I'm just a regular (stay-based) Plat, and my gripe with SPG isn't lack of upgrades (I don't care that much), it's that I've found the luunge at a typical Sherton to be downright wimpy compared to the lounge at a typical Hilton or at a typical FS Marriott. I've also found the internet to often be in disrepair at Sheratons (where they often don't have wifi in the rooms and yet have problems aplenty with the wired internet connectors), which I never seem to have at Marriotts or Hiltons.
(I don't stay at Hyatt so I can't comment on how it is on these factors. But I don't need to stay at Hyatt to know that its small footprint makes it irrelevant for me, given my travel patterns.)
Hyatt is good for certain areas in Asia where Marriott's presence is not as good. There are also places where Hyatt has better award redemptions than Marriott. Taipei, Taiwan has only Starwood and Hyatt hotels among Western brands. There are no Marriott or Hilton properties. In Tokyo, Marriott's proerties are limited to a CY and a Ritz Carlton. Hyatt has 3 full service properties in Tokyo, with one of them needing only 12,000 points a night. I value a Hyatt point as equal to about 2 Marriott points. The CY goes for 30,000 points a night, so I would argure the Hyatt Regency Tokyo is a better deal.
In Vancouver, BC, the Hyatt Regency needs only 12,000 points for a night while the two Marriott properties in downtown need 30-35,000 points. I prefer the Hyatt at Irvine, CA over the Marriott for weekend stays and award redemptions (8,000 points vs 20,000 points). Hyatt has the best coverage in the Western USA and certain metro areas (DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas).