Originally Posted by jpdx

Where would you go if you left IHG?

I used to stay around 100 nights annually with SPG/Marriott from 2015 to 2019, but post-Covid, my experience deteriorated significantly. 2023 was ridiculously bad -- I received minimal (and in many cases zero) upgrades even in Europe and Asia. Add to that crowded lounges with reduced offerings, petty attempts to water down the breakfast benefit, and grotesque Bonvoy points redemption rates in many places. Hyatt treats me very well as Globalist, with suite upgrades on perhaps 70% of my stays, but their footprint is lacking. What else? Hilton, GHA, Radisson are more of a joke than serious hotel programs these days. In contrast, I was very pleased with IC/Regent/Indigo/voco in the last 18 months, with meaningful upgrades on the vast majority of my stays (although admittedly usually to larger/view rooms or junior suites, never to a standout suite), exceedingly fair breakfast rules (no insufficient-$-allowance or continental-only-with-$25-copay-for-full-breakfast BS), and generally generous rules (choice of breakfast at lounge or restaurant, drink chit given in addition to breakfast/points, etc). Besides the relative difficulty of obtaining the lounge pass (for blog reading "program gamers"), I credit some of these positive experiences to the newness of the Diamond/Milestone program, which hasn't given hotels reason and time to water down benefits to the extent that Bonvoy and HH have done due to elite overload. For now, I thoroughly enjoy my IHG Diamond status with LP; indeed, I find my experience better than what I was used to when I was RA for 7 or 8 years a decade ago. IHG has become my #1 program (by number of nights) again after a decade of having no more than a couple dozen nights annually as Spire/Amb. I don't see a massive, overnight devaluation or even complete elimination of the lounge pass, but making it harder to obtain (e.g., as 70 night Milestone only or with a validity limited to 1 year from date of issue, or even valid for five 7-night stays available at the 40 and 70 night mark) certainly wouldn't push me back to Marriott as primary program.