Originally Posted by rny321

Why can't you get a Marriott credit card and spend your way to nights? As long as you don't mind earning 1/3 of what a Starwood card earns on general spending, you can generate one elite night for each $3,000 in spending on a Marriott card. Based on recent valuations, it would cost you about 1 1/2 cents per dollar or $45 per elite night.

I would rather have the additional 6,000 MR points or 2,000 SPG points that I get by using my Starwood card instead of my Marriott card for each $3,000 spent. There are some decent SPG Cat 1 hotels in SE Asia that can be booked on weekends for 2,000 points which would give you one elite night in an actual room.

Because of the earning differential, I put most of my unbonused spending on my SPG card and almost none on my Marriot card. After what is referred to on the Starwood forum as a massive devaluation, my Starwood card will spend most of its time in my desk drawer along with my Marriott card.