Originally Posted by vsevolod4

Anything is possible. Many people do believe other invite-only programs like United Global Services vary based on home airport, so people in hubs may have higher thresholds than non-hubs. This is plausible.

But also, there is a likelihood that criteria are based on spending, not just room nights. If so, Chinese ICs are somewhat less expensive than, say, European, so you might need more room nights to drive spend up. .