Originally Posted by
bhrubin
Redeeming with Marriott/Ritz Carlton is better now due to the 1:3 ratio, that’s true. But not necessarily when burning on a luxury SPG hotel that will suite upgrade you as a Platinum, something that happens for me all the time with St Regis and Luxury Collection. Heck, I'm most often upgraded well beyond standard suites at St Regis and Luxury Collection hotels, so the value of awards is even higher! Ritz Carlton won’t upgrade a Platinum to even Club level, let alone a suite. But St Regis and Luxury Collection do--and often for Plats, and especially Plat100s like me. So the burn at SPG luxury hotels ends up being far more worthwhile as a result.
Agreed - most of my redemptions are 1) OUS, 2) luxury / nicer / resort properties, or 3) some combo of the 2. And when I do that, I'd like an upgrade and I'd like to get a halfway decent free breakfast (the latter of which is irrelevant to me when I am on business travel).
StR / LC / nicer Ws and Westins and LMs will get me those benefits, whereas RCs and Marriott resorts likely won't. So while I give up marginally better points earning by staying w/Starwood properties, the benefits I get far outweigh that.