Originally Posted by
MikeFromTokyo
I agree. Unless one chain happens to perfectly fit most of your needs, it makes little sense to bother with top tier status.
Get mid tier status at all chains through credit cards, and then choose based upon preference as well as convenience, price, and promotions.
But, in cases where it's more or less equal, I would preferentially go with Starwood/Ritz-Carlton/Marriott.
Thanks for the response!
1) OVERALL SPEND STRATEGY: The best overall strategy appears to use cards to "mid tier status at all chains through credit cards, and then choose based upon preference as well as convenience, price, and promotions." How does this translate into actual everyday spending and hotel spending strategy?
A. Spend Strategy? Should I concentrate all everyday spending (e.g. gas, groceries etc) on one hotel card (e.g. Star/Marriott) or spread across several or use the Chase family of cards?
B. Hotel Reservation Strategy? It appears I should just reserve/spend based on promotions/cost/convenience.
2) Which cards should I go with to "get mid tier status at all chains"? So far I've found:
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Hilton Surpass for Automatic Gold Status
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Marriott for Automatic Silver (Or Ritz Carlton for Auto-gold first year) -
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SPG Need to spend for status? How do you get "auto-gold" as mentioned by some folks?
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Platinum from AMEX Auto Gold for SPG/Hilton
3) Any other hotel/travel cards worth applying for? For example, should I continue with the Chase Reserve given the above strategy of getting "mid tier status at all chains through credit cards, and then choose based upon preference as well as convenience, price, and promotions." This goes back to where to concentrate my everyday spending.
5) Which hotel provides lowest redemption for decent hotel rooms? It seems they all range from ~15,000-40,000 pts required for redemption.