Originally Posted by
UA-NYC
I think it's pretty logical - Gold is good, but the 50 night/yr top tier benefits at Hyatt/SPG are better IMO.
I agree that SPG is better, but that's reason to be in SPG regardless of whether you would be Marriott Gold or Marriott Kettle. In other words, let's say you're on the road 60 nights a year in places where SPG and Marriott are equally convenient. Why did you pick Marriott as your hotel loyalty program in the first place when the Starwood program was so much better?
I don't see the logic of people who had already picked Marriott as their hotel of choice to suddenly switch to SPG.
Same for flying - nice to have a MM fallback, but if you're going to fly DL a lot and hit Plat/Diamond, better with those benefits.
But who is saying I'm going to fly DL a lot? I have a choice of what to fly. I currently have UA status. What's my comparative incentive to fly on Delta?
Originally Posted by
bse118
I'm one of those people who's going to use MR Gold as a fallback. I'm not saying I'm using this program to allow me to focus on qualifying in a different hotel family; I'm saying it provides a nice backup to my existing Hilton status. So a different case that your analogy. My logic:
I'm currently HH Gold. I may as well keep staying at Hilton properties to 1) use my benefits 2) requal for next year. I also happen to like Hiltons
If I can't find a Hilton for a particular stay or if I don't requalify for HH Gold for next year then bingo: MR Gold.
Now this I understand. I do think this incentivizes you to stay at Marriott when you can't stay at a Hilton.
The curiosity underlying my original question is about the psychology making status a goal in and of itself rather than having it reinforce natural biases and create habits.