Originally Posted by
pinniped
I've been Marriott Plat for 15 of the past 20 years (now lifetime Gold) and HH Diamond for 10 of the past 20, including the past 4. Most of my best upgrades over the years have been at international Hiltons. In the US and Canada, neither status means much at all except extra points.
SPG Plat is another story. I only held that for 3 1/2 years pre-merger, then dropped to Gold, and felt that the SPG Plat experience was something more special. More suites in those 3 years than in all of my Marriott and HH experiences combined.
If Marriott can somehow keep the secret sauce of SPG Plat alive into the future, then no question about it - it's a better status than HH Diamond. But if they can't, meh, it's basically the same thing. C-level usually. A mention from the FDC. Some extra points.
I have no status at SPG but get upgrades and a 4 p.m. guaranteed checkout as part of the Delta crossover program and I've had better luck with upgrades lately at SPG with kettle status and being a Delta diamond than I have at Hilton as a multi-year diamond. My biggest complaint with Hilton is they don't guarantee a late checkout and SPG and Hyatt have both received a few stays in the past couple months that would have gone to Hilton just because I had later flights and needed a late check out.