Originally Posted by
alanjrobertson
Agree re. diversification. Hilton's footprint does play a big part too though as you say. Personally - I like SPG but their property choices are far smaller here in the UK - those they do have tend to be extremely pricey. Hyatt are pretty non-existent, Marriots are pretty poor. Carlson have some reasonable options in Europe with fairly good points earn/burn rates (although no credit card unlike their excellent US one), Accor are very strong in Europe at the budget/mid-range end, but sadly pretty rubbish elite benefits. IHG also pretty good coverage and previously very easy to earn points with (less so this year), elite benefits extremely poor though.
Overall I still like the elite benefits on offer with Hilton and their prices are pretty good. Just spent 270k of my pot - managed to get some quite nice redemptions in FL at $500-900/night spending 50-60k a night so around 1.5c/point which I'm pretty happy with. Now to work out where to spend next! I'll probably still retain a semi-reasonable stash as some of the European redemptions in the 30-40k range are still not bad value.
+1 - it's all about where you travel to and what your options are. I made Diamond for the first time in 2012 staying in Hiltons across the UK, where we have limited presence of other chains.
I always thought it was nuts that aspirational properties like the Conrad Rangali, Koh Samui, Hong Hong, Singapore, and the Hiltons in the Seychelles were 37,500 per nights on 6+ nights stays. I 'lived' in different London Hiltons at £1,000/$1,500 per week for several weeks in 2012 and made nearly 40,000 per week with quarterly bonusses, MyWay settings and Diamond bonus. So for every £1,000/$1,500 my company spent, I earned a night in a £600/$900 room/villa at one of the above mentioned properties.
This simply could not go on, and HHonors points-rates more closely reflecting cash-rates just seems sensible from the perspective of Blackstone and the invidividual properties. For me, it will mean I am more likely to redeem in 4* European and American properties outside London, NYC, Paris, etc. in the future. Like Hilton Sorrento Palace, Hilton Prague Old Town and Conrad Miami.
But first, I am going to enjoy my 12 nights in the Seychelles in late 2013 at a cost of 450,000 points, which I booked this morning
