Originally Posted by
bosman
Just one perspective, but I think you need to clarify what is your primary objective. You indicate "gather points for the occasional “aspirational trip”" above. If that is accurate and you won't be actually staying at hotels a lot as you build up your points, things like status, upgrades and free breakfast should be low on your consideration check list and you would be more focused on which CC SUB and on-going points earnings are worth the most.
I also wouldn't throw Hyatt out of the equation unless you have a huge amount of UR points you are willing to allocate to your aspirational trip as those can get very pricey point-wise, particularly if you are looking to stay in a premium room.
You can check out The Points Guy's latest valuation for hotel points and then do the math on what the SUB and on-going earnings are worth, recognizing that the latter gets complicated depending on where you spend (dining, gas, etc.) that have different multipliers across cards.
PS nice summary of the programs!
Thank you for the response. You're probably right in that status and things like free breakfast wouldn't matter so much if I am not frequently staying in hotels. One thing that I thought WOULD be a benefit would be finding my way to getting a room upgrade. For example, I hear constantly about trips to the Maldives or Bora Bora. They sound wonderful, but in order to get one of those overwater rooms, you're either spending a fortune, or using more points than someone like me could possibly accrue. So the thinking was perhaps being eligible for a room upgrade would allow me to experience that (though who knows how likely a room upgrade like that is to happen). This is why I was considering Hilton (despite the once-in-a-lifetime limitations) since status with the cards makes you eligible for an upgrade, or InterContinental Ambassador. Please tell me if my thinking is incorrect here.
As for Hyatt, I currently have the Ink Cash card, and intend to add the Ink Preferred. With my business, I am able to collect a decent number of UR points per year. So I figured Hyatt would be a good transfer option for UR points. Unfortunately, Hyatt doesn't have the greatest reach, so I thought going for a hotel chain that had more hotels would give me more options.