Originally Posted by mgold9

Personally, I like the extra points and the lounges. My family and my wife's family are located very close to a Marriott and I can use the AAA or Military discount to get very good rates. So for the nearly 19 years we have been married, we take at a minimum one trip a year to each set of parents. This generates lots of points - and I also have the Marriott Chase Visa, which gives you even more. As a Platinum I get 20 points a dollar (10 per dollar plus 50% Platinum bonus and 5 points per dollar on the card).

We have traveled to Europe and the mid east in the last couple of years and in London and Brussels, the breakfasts were FREE (usual cost was 20 pounds in London and 25 Euro in Brussels. Plus drinks, snacks and desserts at night probably saved us over $100 a day in food alone.

But for me, it is the points - I transfer all the points with the Marriott travel packages to an airline and my family has in the last several years traveled business class to Hawaii, Europe and Alaska. Marriott is my first choice but my employer has the actual choice, so sometimes it is Hyatt or other hotels.

All things being equal, I chose a Marriott - but if there is a nice trip to Vegas or elsewhere, I chose the best hotel.

If you just want lounge access, Gold is really good enough, but if you want to maximize your points, I would aim for Platinum.