Originally Posted by
Travelosopher
Agree! Only a handful of my nights have come from that relatively new rule. I’ve been an SPG member since 1999 (Westin before that) and a leisure traveler paying for ALL of my own nights. I love to travel, and have loved staying at Starwood properties & enjoying my elite benefits and upgrades, but my travel has mostly been with my spouse - sometimes solo travel, sometimes with a friend or a family member. Rarely have I had the occasion to need to book multiple rooms. And when I’ve done so on those rare occasions, the money to pay for those rooms has come right out of my own pocket.
Yeah this isn't even really much of a debate frankly. If I look at my CC spend on the AmEx the last 8+ years, under MR Visa rules, it would have earned me about 250 LT nights (vs. 0 with SPG). Of course the SPG AmEx is better for everyday spend, so even if I had only ever used it on hotel stays (which I'm guessing many MR Visa owners do), I would have still earned ~180 nights from it.
Not begrudging the MR rules, it was a nights bonanza for anyone who took advantage of them (plus rollover nights, plus meeting event nights)...but it's intellectually dishonest to basically say that SPG made it easier.