Originally Posted by
stimpy
Status matching is good marketing, but I'm not sure how well it works in the long run. I get a free comped Hilton Diamond each year but I don't use it unless I really need to stay at a Hilton. Like there are several very well placed airport Hiltons that I stay at when I need to. So they get a bit of revenue from me thanks to the comped card, but I really don't like most of their bland boring hotels. IC's and many Starwood hotels are more interesting to me and give me much more enjoyable stays.
I have also had a comped HH Diamond for the last 5 years (after 11 years of earning it) and my Hilton stays have been pretty minimal but it all depends upon travel patterns.
I now need to regularly visit some UK locations and my Hilton use has increased (because many UK IHG properties are dumps with no meaningful upgrades). I will requalify for Diamond again this year properly (luckily as my BA comp is coming to an end).
I think status matches (and I picked up RA initially and then again some years later after failing once to requalify via the referral scheme) attract a lot of customers who use it for only a year to milk the benefits but it is the 10% that stick which are the target.