I am still in negotiations. I think the only way this will work is if I can do the nonstop on NW, but that means less miles :(

What can you do with 100K Marriott vs. 40K SPG? 40K SPG = 5 Free nights (5th night free) in a Cat 4 Hotel (Either W in New Orleans, Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket, Westin Langkawi, and many other stellar properties). Once you are Plat, your points stays are also eligible for suite upgrades...

Not really, with respect to most properties. You always get the Concierge Level, though, and they always seem to honor my room preferences. Also gets one lounge access, which I sometimes value more than an upgrade to a suite. That said, I have been upgraded to larger rooms/junior suites on a handful of occassions. Marriotts, especially in the US, tend not to have many true suites, so there really isn't anything in which to be upgraded, in any case. Not even Plats regularly get upgraded to suites - Plat Premieres often do, however.

My experience as a Marriott Gold was good. Always given lounge access, if not an upgrade to the executive level, without asking. Never have received a suite upgrade at Marriott, but that's also due to nearly all my full service Marriott/Renaissance property stays in the last couple of years being in locations that didn't really have any suites to upgrade to. I've generally had far fewer issues with Marriott honoring its Gold and Platinum benefits than I've had with Hilton honoring the advertised Gold and Diamond benefits.

Yeah, earlier this year. Right after they pulled the MD88 special Shuttle config out of the fleet and promised gogo on all the MD8x planes first to appease the Shuttle crowds. It almost seems that they've thrown in the towel on the Shuttle operations as a whole, though they still charge as though nothing has changed. :rolleyes:

And I still see $500 fares on the CO month-long calendar. Don't call it dead until it really dies!
It is dead. Now to pick which ones to actually fly. :p

Is guaranteed room type still a benefit for Marriott? It used to be something like $50 or $100 cash if they didn't honor your bed/smoking preference from the reservation.

I haven't taken the Shuttle in quite awhile - I usually opt for Amtrak. I thought that they were still using regularly-configured MD-80s, though, but I guess I am out of the loop.

Offhand, I do not know whether that applies to Golds. It might for Plats. I would have to consult the MR benefits chart to confirm.

Just a friendly reminder to all who have signed up for the The first annual Star Alliance Mega DO November 3rd thru 6th (the formerly known as SAS/Airbus DO) and have not e-mailed tommy777 the requested information in This Post to do so. The event is almost full and they are trying to price it all out.

I'm pretty sure they still have that. Smoking preference isn't really relevant now, though, as all Marriotts are 100% non-smoking.

I'm pretty sure I only ever made it to Gold with them and always had that benefit. But I'm not positive.

I value lounge access significantly more than upgraded rooms.

It's roughly similar. Marriott is now doing the redeem four, get a fifth night free thing as well. The number of points required for a free night in a similar hotel is considerably more than SPG, but you also earn at a much higher rate. As a Marriott Platinum I earn 15 points per dollar at Marriott, versus SPG Platinum's 3 points per dollar. From what I can tell, it's all relative.

I am considering doing some hotel hopping during non-bonus periods, since Marriott only allows status qualification based on nights, and SPG allows it on stays. On four night Baton Rouge trips, I could easily do a night at the Sheraton, then two at the Marriott, then one at the Sheraton. That would still help me with the nights I need for Marriott to requalify, and get me two SPG stays in the same trip. If SPG runs another bonus where stays count double, like I had last summer with them, then it becomes four SPG stay credits in one trip.

Do you know how generous SPG is with comping status? I'm Marriott Platinum and Hilton Diamond right now, and it would be nice to get SPG Platinum up front, without having to do the 25 stays to get there (I'd still work in the 25 stays this year to keep the status).

I've replied to that thread and sent two e-mails and still do not show up on the list +1.

EDIT - Just saw Tommy's post about that.

Come to think of it, the last two years when I was Marriott Gold, I'm pretty sure they had the cash guarantee on my room type as well. I'm only a recent Marriott Platinum, as literally my last Marriott night in 2008 got me to exactly 75 nights for Platinum (60 paid nights plus the 15 bonus nights for having the Chase Marriott Visa).

As for lounge access, I generally appreciate it more than a suite as well. 99% of the time I'm traveling alone for work, and would prefer the lounge access than a huge room.