bwiadca

Hi All,

So today I was checking my old mail. I've got one letter from US Airways with Hilton HHonors card in it.
I went to Hilton's web page and registered. Now I have Gold VIP status with Hilton. Is it the same level as Marriott's Gold elite?
Each year I stay in Marriott hotels between 200 and 250 nights. So for the next two years I don't have to stay there even one night to keep my Platnium status.
Is it worth to get next level with Hilton? How easy is award redemption. I can just say that Marriott always has room for me, no matter how early or late I make the award reservation. Many times I make my award reservations less than 24 hours in advance. How it is with Hilton?
I'll be stuck in hotels for the next 9 months so I'm trying to justify splitting my stays between to hotel companies.

Thanks!

BearX220

The FAQ will answer your questions in detail, but:

** HHonors Gold is roughly equiv to Marriott GE. Big plus for HHonors Gold is free breakfasts.

** Requalifying is easier with Hilton; 16 stays, or 36 nights, or 60k base points.

** HHonors points have just been devalued by +/- 20% so a Cat 7 property is now 50k / night... they're almost not worth the trouble it takes to accumulate them. If you're spending your own money, definitely not.

** Award availability is not as good as Marriott I don't think (I'm only Silver with Marriott but have never had trouble... HHonors claims no blackout dates, but then trots out lots of cryptic reasons why you can't redeem when and where you want.).

** The main plus with the Hilton system as a whole is they have hotels everywhere I want them, which Marriott doesn't, and the mid-market brand, Hilton Garden Inn, beats Courtyard to death head to head. But I'll take a full-boat Marriott over a full-boat Hilton eight times out of ten.

littlevoices

There are too many other posts around this, and I've posted my own comments before. Similar to you I decided to give Hilton a whirl around a year ago when Marriott degraded their scheme somewhat (I tend to get ~200nights/year in hotels, a similar number to yourself, and had been completely loyal to Marriott for 3 years since starting my current job). Didn't take much to get to Hilton diamond by checking in and out of hotels each night and having a diamond challenge.

Advantages of Hilton:
> "Diamond Force stays" mean you can get an award room on points even if the hotel is full - this was useful for me in Copenhagen during the climate change conference when all I wanted to do was stay at the airport for a night between flights for less than $500. Marriotts had availability in the end here, but in this case I got a revenue room for my points.
> It gives you a choice between Hiltons and Marriotts in towns, so if the Hilton or Marriott is pretty poor in a city the chances are the other one will be nicer or better placed according to your needs (at least in Europe where I travel) - this again also helps with reward stays (Munich beerfestival on the last weekend I spent 1 night in a Hilton and 1 in a Marriott at the airport, as it worked out better for me)
> Hilton's double dip (getting a few airmiles as well as hotel points) is a nice thing if you also collect airmiles
> Hilton promos are often based around stays so it takes little effort for big rewards (e.g. last quarter 75k points for 12 stays, current promo of 12 stays = 3 free nights), the rest of the time you can enjoy your Marriott delights and night based promos.

Negatives are that you have to choose an upgrade as an option prior to checking in otherwise you won't get an upgrade/lounge access for the most part (and this means you lose welcome points). Also Hilton's 48hr diamond benefit is useless as it is hugely overpriced (based on the rack rate and very expensive), whereas I find the Marriott platinum override invaluable when I need to travel at short notice or just can't be bothered booking my hotels weeks in advance

For me the big wins, apart from the Copenhagen airport and staying in central Tokyo (no Marriotts) have been the Hilton promos which seem to be more generous than the Marriott ones at the moment, best for me was getting nearly 100k bmi airmiles last year on a triple airmiles promo they were running (it costs 62.5k for a *A F ticket to the USA from Europe when combined with tax to put a value on this) - as well as lots of free points and stays.

However, Marriott remains my primary chain as I just think that it is a "nicer" company with better morals, treats its staff well (which I appreciate) and, importantly for me, makes me feel like a valued guest and treats me well, Hilton makes me feel less special and I'm always conscious that its owned by private equity and its staff probably make minimum wage with few additional benefits (may be wrong on the last part as I've never really probed).

Crazyhotelguy

I was with you until this statement.

I have been with both Marriott and Hilton. I absolutely prefer Hilton as I believe that they are more in tune with what Me, as a traverler would prefer. Their amenities- breakfast, drink coupons, etc... seem to be more what I seek. I have often been upgraded and also received my free internet.. I think it really depends on the property.

As far as the ownership and minimum wage comments... Marriott franchises its hotel too.... Staff is paid in both properties at market value.. The Marriott training program may be a bit tighter, but I also find that it makes the Marriott side a bit more fake.

Honestly, I find Marriot to be more geared toward the older crowd, whereas Hilton seems to be a bit more hip, though not as hip as Starwood. It really depends on what you prefer, but I have chosen to not support the Mormon based chain in my future travels.

bwiadca

Thank you very much for your answers. You helped me to decide to stay away from Hilton.

Thanks!

banksy

Thats a laugher.

bwiadca

Maybe for you it is. Also I just finished reading Why would you leave Hilton?.
Looks like 80% folks responding to the topic left or are leaving soon from Hilton program.
One person defends HH by saying that he will spend 5 nights with his wife at Paris property and few years ago they stayed at Hawaii property. He said that he joined HH about 9 years ago. Really? It takes 9 years to save up for 5 nights in Paris and few nights in Hawaii?

FS Marriott properties in Europe and Middle East will cost you only 25K per night. I've redeemed about 10 nights in Europe alone last year, and it took me less than a year to collect 300K in Marriott program.

Also, I've read that Hilton properties don't have lounges in Europe.
Just stay one night at Marriott Budapest and visit the lounge. Personally I haven't been to better lounge in my life.

Laugh all you want, but you'll be last person to turn off the light leaving from HH program.

Thanks God for Flyertalk and its members. I would probably make huge mistake by switching to HH.

Thanks Flyertalk community!

giggy

as long as you are reading other threads, try the status match one. with your amt of stays, you should be top tier in hyatt, spg and hilton too. why put all your eggs in one basket ?

MIKESILV

There is so much misinformation in this post I dont where to start it might be a fantastic idea to get a little bit more familar with Hilton than you apparently are before giving out or taking advice.

First off I would have thought anybody reading the "why would you leave Hilton" thread would be smart enough to understand the thread even by its very topic serves as a lightening rod for those disatisfied with the HH program.
The great majority of those of us who are still Ok with HH really cant be bothered to post there .. its pretty pointless trying to counteract the overreaction and almost silly rastionalization posted there.
Do you really think even based on that thread that 80% is leaving Hilton?

For the life of me I just cant figure where you go came up with the notion that there are no Hilton lounges in Europe
The example you give with regard to the Marriott in Budapest completely misses the point that HH has TWO properties in that city both with very good lounges and even the most avid Marriott groupie will admit the lounge at the Buda Castle Hilton is better than that of the Marriott.

Do a seach and read about the HH lounges in the following cites, to name a few that come readily to mind
Rome Cavalieri
Paris ADT
Hilton Evian le Bains
Hilton Strasbourg
Hilton Sorrento
Hilton Prague
Paddington Hilton
Hilton Berlin

Finally do a search and read that one can get HH Diamond (top teir) with spend on the Surpass Amex .. not possible with Marriott.

mike

cjd

I think you've probably read that most of the Hiltons in the UK don't have Exec lounges, which is true as a lot of them are ex-Stakis hotels and to be honest aren't up to Hilton standards. Several London Hiltons and most of the newer purpose built Hiltons in the UK such as Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool do have good Exec lounges. Europe (outside of the UK) is a different matter and most of the hotels have excellent lounges. You just have to read some of the threads on them to realise that.

Crazyhotelguy

The others here are right. You should spread out your loyalty as you could be top tier in a couple of programs through status match. The best loyalty program for one is not the best for everyone. I prefer HH, but other prefer MR and SPG. My issue with SPG is that their is not a viable product from them for smaller markets, such as a Hampton or a Fairfield. Hyatt is also limited in this area. I think you have to look at where you travel and determine what your options are.

I also think that getting the majority of the information from the thread of people who will leave HH is not a good idea. It is destined to be negative. There are so many positives to HH.

zaf

The reality is totally the opposite. Its not how many points you need to redeem to get the night, its how many $$ you had to spend to earn the points that are required for a night that costs $$.

For an example: If you spend $10,000 (excl tax) on marriott you will get 100,000 points right? Well thats not entirely true. Because there are hotels that earn 2 and 5 points per $ not the full 10 points / $$. So if you are distrobutiing your stays betweeen them all it is an above average estimate to say you have earned 75,000 points from that $10k (7.5 points / 1 $). So if you need 25,000 points to redeem on a 200 dollar room and you need 3 nights. Then your 10,000 USD spends got you a 600 USD reward meaning a 6% return.

In your case you said you needed 300,000 points to redeem for a 10 night stay. Using the previous example it means that without any promos you have spend 27,000 USD to get that 300,000 MR points (you are a top tier member in Marriott earning 50% bonus points).

In hilton hhonors, if you are a Gold VIP (Mid Tier level) and double dipping points and points the 27,000 USD will get you > 470,000 points. Which can get you >12 nights in Category 7 (top category if you exclude the WA). Now if you were a HH diamond (comparable to your status in Marriott) then the 27,000 USD spending will get you 540,000 points which is >14 night stays in category 7.

Add this to AmEx Surpass credit card and HHonors promos which are better/more generous than marriotts and you've got yourself an easier way to reach to your targeted points.

I hope this clears up a little of the confusion you've got.

mnredfox

Good point, I wonder how many other "I'm leaving SPG" or Marriot threads there are to equally the movement between programs. Though I'm guessing with the PC promo and Hiltons devaluation there are more defectors at this point in time (til someone else does something).

MacDaddie

Both programs have folks that swear by them and swear at them......

My preference is Hilton mainly due to Marriott not offering breakfast at resorts nor on weekends. For the number of nights your staying in hotels I'd sure as heck make Diamond at Hilton and rack up a few hundred thousand points just so that when you take your family on vacation that you have more options.......

bwiadca

Thanks for the comments coming in. I appriciate all the posts. My main reason why I even concider staying at other hotels is because of the locations.
Location like Madrid comes to mind. I can't believe that Marriott doesn't own any property there.
Anyway, going back to some comments. I spend on average $50K a year on hotels, including parking and internet. I get a lot of points and I don't save them like other people on this forum. I never have more than 200K points in my account. If I do it meants that its time for vacations.
When I go for vacations to resort destinations I don't stay at Marriott. Most of my vacation destinations don't even have Marriott properties.

For work I stay at every hotel type. Last year I've stayed about 4 months in Residence Inn, 3 months in full service Marriotts, 1 month in MR resorts and everything else was at Courtyard or Fairfield Inn.

Another thing is that I really don't care about breakfast. I don't care if I get breakfast or not. Even at Marriott resorts I'm always been given breakfast cupons for the lenght of the stay and free internet. I don't care about eather because my employer is paying for both.

Regarding the lounges. From the comments that I've read, my understanding was that there are no lounges in Hilton hotels in Europe. Thank you for correcting it. But still I think that its very hard to top lounge at Budapest Marriott in regards of location, quality of service and food/beverages. I'm in love with that place

Another thing is that I don't care if the lounge is open on weekends or not. When I stay at the hotel for 2 months, you won't be seeing me in the hotel.
I like to discover other cities in my geographical area.

Now I have to go to work. I really appriciate all the comments.