Originally Posted by
SacTownGuy
It's an interesting theory. Pricey if you aren't staying at Marriott much. Although, you would be able to get status match to Hyatt and Hilton right now too. Gosh, with the hotels giving away status so easily the meager benefits are going to get more meager.
You no longer get a match to Hyatt with MR Plat; doubtful even PP would be matched.
I think Hilton now requires proof of BIB nights.
Best Western will match.
The hotel status matchapalooza has pretty much ended. For now. Both Hyatt and Hilton are getting more choosy on who they match, with an occasional straggler to sneak in.
Originally Posted by
sethb
That's why I pointed out the airline benefits.
It doesn't take many stays to be worth a few hundred dollars; free breakfast for two is $25/night, lounge access may be worth more, and upgrades do happen. If you value a suite upgrade at half the cash cost (if it were worth the full cash cost you'd just book it) you might cover the status cost in 2 or 3 nights.
I still don't see much/any benefit of UAL Silver over just getting UAL's credit card.
IMHO, actual stays at Marriott FS properties is the main value of having Gold/Plat status. And I don't find the small incremental benefit of Plat worth enough to pursue it over Gold.