Sorry...I'm going to respectfully disagree with almost everything that
99luftballoons said. This is likely the first time anyone in the history of Flyertalk has said that hotel statuses don't matter but rental car elite status rocks.
To repeat the upthread mantra: there is no surefire best hotel loyalty program. All four of the ones listed by the OP have unique benefits that the others don't have. All four have their own "sweet spots" - the optimal reward within that program. All of different strengths in terms of their global footprints and breadth of brands offered.
Questions that
sappy needs to answer to get the process started:
- Total number of paid nights per year?
- Mix of leisure vs. business? Only reason I ask is that someone who travels 100% leisure
may want to consider whether chasing the points and status is worth it, given that booking channels like Priceline
can result in lower out-of-pocket costs upfront. If that price difference is enough, it may impact your strategy to some extent.
- U.S.-based, with access to all of the hotel credit cards frequently discussed here? If yes, your total annual credit card spend?
- Types of hotels you'd do a paid stay at. Rural, small city, big city, U.S. vs. international, resort vs. non-resort, extended stay vs. more full service hotel?
- Your ideal award redemption: frequent weekend getaways, weeklong international trips, beach resorts, etc.
- You mention "quality" hotels, but go a bit further with that: are you looking for truly luxury properties (Forbes 4-star or better), unique/interesting properties, or just good clean hotels in as many places as possible?
- You don't mention suite upgrades as important to you. Are frequent upgrades important, or are you generally happy as long as you're in a desirable regular room?
My personal take is that you
do want to hold a decent hotel status or two - Marriott Gold, SPG Platinum, HH Gold, or HH Diamond - if you can get it without great expense. I won't try to compare it to airlines or rental cars: just that it's a good thing to have if you are indeed getting involved with one of the big chains. There are ways to get a couple of these fairly quickly, but first you have to figure out which chain is right for you...