Originally Posted by
Points Scrounger
Some background to address your original point ...
Hilton used to offer a choice of one mile per dollar spent, which was called variable miles (depending on how much you spent); they also offered fixed miles, no matter your spending, of 500 miles per stay in most cases at most chains, Virgin gave 1000, and a few others gave odd amounts like half a Southwest credit, etc. Hampton and Homewood's fixed was, I believe, 200 miles per stay. A couple of years back, the Hilton bean counters decided that fixed miles were "too generous" doing away with them altogether, so Points + Miles is now downplayed, existing only in vestigial form.
I have used it once since, on (an Amtrak) promotion that required earning points via partners; I believe I've seen the occasional Delta promotion offering bonus points on Hilton stays (those usually require a two night minimum). As a general rule, variable points are a poor value, I'd take the extra hotel points.
Thats what I was thinking, thanks. I realize Delta may not be the best program to go with, but the fiance has it and nearly enough miles already to fly somewhere in the US, so we will prob use them for a small vacation and switch to something else. I did notice you can do the dining program with Honors as well, just like Skymiles. Now it seems to me it would make more sense to go through Hilton Honors dining program vs Delta, as you can get 5 points per spend as an online member, and then 8 when Elite, vs 3 and 5 with Delta. And with HH Honor points being able to be transferd to Skymiles 1:1 (as far as I understand it) it seems logical to go with the honors dining, yes?