Originally Posted by shawbridge
I've never paid much attention to hotel points, and stay in the US, Europe, Australia, Latin America, etc., usually at locations close to my client. But, I was wondering if one chain (or a couple) do a better job for their frequent stayers (e.g., more reliable upgrades to executive club floors, easier to get free rooms, etc.).
I stay at Hilton, Marriott, IC/CP/HI, Starwood and have the Starwood Amex but also occasionally at Hyatt, Fairmont, Shangri-La, Mandarin Oriental.
They answer for upgrades is
totally different than for free rooms.
The answer for upgrades is (almost) whichever chain you say with
consistently! (That's because the highest status, not the best chain, is what gets you upgrades, at least at most of the chains you mentioned. Tho it may vary by territory: for example, at CP/HI, upgrades are much more common in Europe and much less common in the US.)
The answer for free rooms is not a consistent answer. It's "follow the bonuses". Bonus earnings, when around, can
far outweigh normal earnings, to the point where normal earnings are almost irrelevant by comparison. The ultimate example of that is those bonuses which get you a free night for every two stays. Hyatt periodically has those as FFN (Free Nights Faster), but what you get (after every two stays) is a limited time voucher for a free weekend night.
Currently, a chain you didn't mention (because it's "lower" than all the ones you mentioned) is the winner in bonuses: midscaler Choice Hotels (Comfort/Quality/etc) has a promo where for every 2 stays you get 8000 points (total), which they claim is enough for a free stay. Well, at some properties, while at other properties you need more than that (say, double), but I know of no other chain giving you a free night for even 4 stays right now. And while you can only
earn Choice Priveleges points at those midscale properties in the US and Canada, you can
redeem them for Choice or Preferred Hotels properties worldwide. (I know of people who use this program simply to get free stays at Preferred.)
Second place for bonuses right now would be Priority Club (IC/CP/HI/etc), but only if you go to the Priority Club section here and find out about all the current bonuses. (Priority Club tends to have several bonuses simultaneously, but not all of them are easy to find at their website.) Also, you need to be subscribed to their email (as a PC member) to get the most bonuses, since some are targeted and if they don't have you on their list they can't target you. It's also the easiest chain to get to elite statuses with, since you can get there on points (including points from bonuses, points transferred from credit cards, points earned from dining programs, etc, etc), or if you stay at ICs a lot there's a separate elite program you can pay to join. (I know less about that since I tend to stay at their lower properities, as all my stays are on my own dime.)