Originally Posted by
sophiegirl
All true.
So I am starting to choose the hotel that is best for me on the specific trip - without worrying about points, bonuses, or a complicated mental evaluation of whether a free breakfast is worth more to us than suite upgrade!
If you have a MasterCard World Elite card, you should look into their hotel program. It's similar to Amex's FHR program though with reduced benefits (ie you might get a $25 or $50 on property credit instead of $100). Though at the same time it has a fair number of "upscale" properties (Kimpton, Omni, various Starwood properties), versus FHR which mostly has luxury properties (RC, FS, MO, etc). The MC hotel program at a minimum throws in breakfast, and the rates are supposed to be the same as the BAR offered directly by the hotels.