Originally Posted by
joshua362
I've struggled with that in AC as well. Until you notice a very adequate Sheraton across the street for 7000 SPG points ($7,000 credit card spend) vs. $25,000 on the Marriott. That is what it was the last time I looked in 2013 so holy S, category inflation!! And this was on Saturday nights...
You are looking at it the wrong way. Most Hotel loyalty programs work by making it easiest to earn points with hotel stays. Marriott and Hilton are the prime examples, but IHG is that way, too. Airline loyalty programs, however, make it easiest to earn points through credit card spend or other means--NOT BY FLYING. SPG works like an airline program, which is why the points are transferrable 1-1 or greater to airline programs. So your example is correct if you are considering credit card spend, but in terms of hotel stays, the 25,000 marriott points are $2500 in non-elite hotel spend or $1667 in highest-level hotel spend. Consider the same for SPG... 7000 points is $3500 in hotel spend for regulars and $2333 for platinum members.