Yes, if you need the in-hotel benefits of status, Choice is not a program for you.

If you need hotels in small towns around the United States, then SPG is not a program for you.

Each program has its strengths and its drawbacks. Elite recognition is definitely a drawback of the Choice program. Forget getting upgrades (at well over 95% of Choice properties, that probably just means a room overlooking the parking lot away from the street rather than facing it), most Choice properties do not even acknowledge at checkin that a guest is a member of the program.

The primary strength of the Choice program other than the breadth of properties: a fairly generous earnings structure because of regular variants of their "stay two, earn 8000 points" promotions coupled with some excellent European and Japanese redemption opportunities, frequently at 8K points. The great majority of Choice properties, however, are functional and hardly luxurious.