Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: DCA, IAD (not BWI if I can help it)
Programs: UA 1MM 1K, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Explorist, status-free on AA, AS, B6, DL, WN, Amtrak, etc.
Posts: 1,481
Overlapping constituencies?
Thinking out loud, or at least in pixels, here...
I agree that anybody who's spent more than 50 nights in Marriott properties almost certainly has status with one airline or another, but my hunch is that elite flyers are not as likely to have elite status with any one hotel operator. Why? Because without any such thing as a hub city for a lodging brand, you don't have geography to shape your decision the way, for instance, my location between DCA and IAD and my frequent Bay Area travel make UA a logical choice. Right?
As others here have said, this probably won't expand the pool of UA Silvers, but it may very well get a lot more people MR Gold status. Like me, for instance--I usually book lodging by cost and location alone. The cost of consolidating enough of my stays with one hotel company to get meaningful status isn't worth the higher price I'd pay. But now that I have that status without paying that cost upfront, I'll give a little more attention to what Marriott spots might work, knowing I can get an above-average value there. So from my selfish perspective: ^