Originally Posted by
factory81
If you think of the annual nights as pre-paid..or paid for with your hotels annual fee - you may feel more comfortable about carrying around 3-4 hotel cards. Like I said, you can take those 3 or 4 prepaid nights, double up with your spouse and turn them into 6 or 8 prepaid nights. And you can piece together some pretty decent vacations with these annual free nights - you just end up hotel hopping every day or two.
I don't really consider free nights to be worth it just because they expire, and I'm not a prolific enough vacationer to have a guaranteed vacation every year where I can redeem those free nights, which is why I value points a great deal more. I'd rather do a big trip once every two or three years and redeem all of the points I've collected in that time.
If anything, I'll apply for the cards that offer free nights closer to when I'd actually take a vacation (e.g. apply in the early fall for a winter/spring vacation), so that I can increase the likelihood of utilizing the free nights.
And definite no to hotel-hopping. I do want to save money, but only as far as it doesn't impinge on the experience.
Originally Posted by
factory81
I think that Hyatt has a terrible selection in Europe. To the point where it is worthless to consider them outside of 3 cities. I have been looking at what works for me in Europe quite a bit - and Marriott/SPG are really the best candidates there. They literally have zero hotels in Spain, one in Italy, a few in France, a few in Germany.
I thought SPG didn't have good European coverage?
How about Hilton?
Originally Posted by
factory81
If I had to pick 3 that would cover the worldddddddd round - I would go IHG + SPG + Marriott. IHG and Marriott are just monsters.
I've heard IHG is rather inconsistent compared to Marriott/Hilton/SPG/Hyatt. Personally, I'd rather have a lower status level with decent perks but greater consistency than play a roulette game on quality and perks. Being disappointed at the front desk is a terrible way to start a vacation.