For sheer bang for the buck, the Aspire card wins, especially if you can use the resort credit and the airline credit. For the status, Brilliant wins by a mile. Platinum status is much more valuable, especially if travelling outside the US, where room and suite upgrades are much more common. Also, I find the breakfast benefit generally better for Marriott Platinum vs Hilton Diamond in the USA. 4:00 p.m. late checkout is really valuable to me. I do not think I have ever gotten later than a 2:00 p.m. checkout at a Hilton, and often have to beg for that. Of course, if you can, go for the best of both worlds and get both. I am Titanium and still feel I get enough extra value out of the Brilliant card (such as the 25 night credits, which with a business card giving me 15 nights, puts me close to an Annual Choice Benefit). If you have a spouse and both get the cards, you can then back-to-back the stays. Now that my wife became Platinum with the Brilliant card, we can tack on an extra night from one of her free night certificates to one of my stays and continue to get benefits and hopefully the same upgraded room .