Originally Posted by mfirst

I am still at a loss to understand the pros/cons of SNA vs ENC
... I can see if you are close to the next tier - especially for carry over to the next year for using ENC?
... I am sure this has been asked, but do the ENC count towards lifetime status?
... but I also hear that SNA are so difficult to use - especially at the nicer/higher end places.

I am sure there are many comments on these - but will take some time (like, until the selection deadline?) to go thru the 95 pages of comments?

Originally Posted by bgriff

The ENCs are less valuable than you are making them out to be. They are only valid for the current year, there's no carry over or choice to apply them to a different year.

If you were going to end this year with 70-74 nights, then the ENCs are actually a great choice -- it would put you over 75 nights, earning you Titanium and another choice. So it's actually a no-brainer in that case because whatever else you might have selected for 50 nights, you could select for 75 nights instead plus have Titanium. If you're in the 90-99 night range maybe it could be useful, but you still need the spend minimum to get Ambassador, which is the bigger constraint for most people.

I'm not sure if they apply to lifetime status, but for most people the number of years elite (especially the 10 years platinum+ for Lifetime Platinum) is the bigger constraint on lifetime status.

Yes, SNAs are not always easy to use, but for a lot of people the ENCs are totally useless.