Originally Posted by
JDiver
SPG was the card for that, with transfers to AA. I’m thinking SPG is being integrated to Marriott’s Program, so that may not be an option going forward.
The two programs are one this month. Marriott continues, for the most part, the lucrative airline transfer partners and bonus ratio equivalent to the old 20K-->25K. Marriott's excellent air + hotel travel packages also are continuing with only fairly minor tweaks. The OP's existing SPG card continues to exist, however for use in earning airline miles for everyday spending, it has been devalued as of 01 Aug. Rather than effectively earning up to 1.25 miles per dollar on the card, it only earns up to 0.84 miles per dollar. Those looking to use the card for Marriott hotel redemptions may still find value and the legacy card now earns a free night with annual renewal, up to a certain category.
If the OP will be staying at a lot of Marriott properties (including formerly SPG properties) there are several CC options. This post sums up the current offers and rules:
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.c...it-card-rules/
Depending on the OP's decision on airline(s), transferring Marriott to airline miles at the 1:1.25 level and/or the air + hotel packages could be a very good combination - but it all depends on the particulars.
Originally Posted by
acpday9
So I will be flying from Austin to Chicago round trip maybe twice a month. My car rental days will be two 10 day rentals with Hertz; so a total of 20 days. I will also stay about 20 nights per month in a hotel. I am a member of SPG, I will be in Springfield IL. Should I stay the entire 10-15 days in one hotel or keep switching hotels?
I don't know if I can earn status with AA because I am not flying that much, but I have a lot of hotel nights and car rental days. Maybe I can use hotel & car to transfer points to AA?
When it comes time to
redeem your miles (i.e., use the miles for flights), what will your travel goals be? Domestic travel, international, or both? Economy or Business/First? Any particular regions in mind? Those can be as important as how and where you're earning the miles. For example if you mostly want to redeem to travel to a region were a given airline or its alliance/partners have little or no service, that might not be the best option for you.
You just mentioned Springfield, IL in this post...is that your final destination on most trips - or Chicago - or both?