The inevitable consequence of 160,000 points sales for $800 and welcome bonuses for several credit cards totaling over 300,000 points as well as double points on stays and generous points on everyday spend.

I did an analysis of my travel patterns and needs a few years ago and also considered going to a hotels.com model of hotel booking. At the end of the day, however, I decided to stay with Hilton as my primary hotel loyalty program. My decision was based on the observation that in either program, it takes approximately 10 nights worth of stays to redeem a free night at an equivalent hotel property. (That is, 10 nights worth of points generated by staying at a Hampton Inn generally is sufficient to redeem for one night at another Hampton Inn hotel.) Even with the recent increase in points required to book a room, I find the ratio (10 paid nights to 1 free night) still holds because I have been able to earn more points per stay, considering quarterly promos, Hilton credit card, etc. I realize that not everyone can leverage the earning power of the Hilton AMEX, but for me personally, the combination of the credit card and Hilton promos allows me to extract an adequate amount of value from the Honors program. Add in Diamond benefits that would not be extended to a hotels.com or Priceline booking (free breakfast, very nice room upgrades), and it makes the most sense for me to continue booking direct with Hilton.