Originally Posted by
stimpy
AMB/RA is not an anomaly. It is a fully functioning program. And you must not have gotten my point which is you cannot compare Spire with SPG Plat or Hilton Diamond. Those programs serve both low and high end properties. Spire only serves low end properties. So there's no point in comparing.
And if you insist on comparing, then you should compare your Spire benefits against SPG Plat and Hilton Diamond ONLY when staying at cheap low end properties. Like I said I think PC Platinum already compares very well to SPG Plat and Hilton Diamond when we are talking about HI's versus Four Points and Hamptons. In terms of upgrades PC Platinum is generally better. Spire should increase those upgrades.
You're going from one extreme to the other:
IHG has a full-service brand (Crowne Plaza) which is not covered by AMB/RA, and thus is only covered by Spire. Since when is Crowne Plaza a "low end" property? 
I think it's quite valid to compare what IHG status tiers give you at its full-service brand compared to what HHonors gives at a Hilton or SPG gives you at a Sheraton (both of those also being "mainstream" full-service brands, not the top properties in either program). You don't need to compare what happens at the top brand, just what happens at a full-service brand.