I was a SPG platinum for many years and switched to HH almost exclusively, all of the reward programs have devalued their points, but compared to SPG, HH has so many more moderately priced hotel to choose from, I don't see myself ever going back to SPG. And the quarterly promotions have been great.

not spg....hyatt & hilton made cat changes but this year spg did not....

only in the US....

i agree....the promos have really picked up....

Promos and 1 particularly great Hilton have kept me as another Diamond, 7 years running.

Hyatt has seen the majority of my business this year, then Hilton, then SPG and the occassional Marriott...

Can't wait for Q4 promos to come out.....

My company dumped Hyatt for Hilton. I'm satisfied and really like the free breakfasts in the properties that include that.

I think we are getting a good value for the money.

I think the highlights of 2010 so far have been:

1- The great promos
2- The Free Internet for Gold and Diamond members.

Honestly, those two are enough to keep me where I am :) .

I am not a heavy traveler like most of you are. I can maintain a gold but thats about it. This year I might have a chance for Diamond.

^^

Haha, you mean you just sleep with Hilton now when you can get something for it, but you don't have your heart in the relationship anymore? :)

I know the feeling. :)

That's it, you understand.

I re-qualified for Diamond early in the year then received a status match to SPG Platinum. Hilton will not lose all my business since Starwood is weak in many smaller markets I travel to however all my high revenue stays will go SPG from now on.

From the devaluation announcement to present I've had five redemptions on HHonors compared to a single revenue stay. The one revenue stay was a requirement of the location where I was speaking in April. Given my travel patterns even the Hilton promo wasn't able to keep me from Hyatt (and "free" nights at Park Hyatts). In addition to earned Hyatt Diamond and ChoicePrivileges Gold I've even upped my status in PriorityClub to Platinum while explicitly avoiding Hilton this year.

I'm not a high-value customer to any hotel chain (it's a different story with an airline) but I can indeed be a very frequent customer.

^^

hilarious....:D

The free internet has been a nice addition, especially if you are flying on a personal trip where you won't get reimbursed and stay at full service hiltons a lot.

The biggest plus I find is the double dipping. I don't know of any US hotel chain that will give you both miles and points. Most of my stays are one or two nights and with 1/2 credit on southwest per stay (and a full credit with the Q3 promo), those have come in really nice. While I won't fly WN on a paid trip (Flying out of DTW it is foolish with all the direct non-stops on DL), I have gotten a couple flights out of just HHhonors stays and have companion pass status on just hotel stays and credit card points.

And not to mention in cities like Chicago and NYC the property choices are great (if that was only the case in the area of LA I like to stay at I would be really happy).

With my travel patterns, even with the DEVAL hilton is still the best choice for me by far.

I just don't know at this point - the strong promos kept me going this year to the point where I renewed Diamond but going forward the other chains are offering a stronger value proposition. Q4 is definitely looking weaker for promos - not that Hilton's investor trust masters would have let the gravy train continue. Next year may finally see me drop Hilton.

Updating my post from March. 0 Hilton stays so far this year.

Did a stint through Marriott, on the 5000 Delta miles per stay promo (netting over 50k miles) and earned Platinum on a challenge. Did two nights at a Best Western (stay 2, get 1 free). The rest went to IHG.

Sticking with my commitment to avoid Hilton. I'll be letting Gold status expire. Will actually have 4 nights this month - the combination of double miles and Delta MQMs in September is good enough to get me to visit an HGI. But I suspect that will be it for the year.

Still not "mad" at Hilton but there's just much less value for me. Marriott's promotion was worth a minimum of $50/stay. Best Western was about $30. IHG is typically around that. And all of them treat me fine.

(And I'm even getting good upgrades. The Best Western put me in a double sized jacuzzi room. A Fairfield had one larger room due to the layout of the building and they went as far as to pre-block me a week in advance to make sure I got it. Booked directly into a very nice, big two room penthouse suite at a Holiday Inn on points... etc.)

Good to hear you are finding value in BW's program. I got diamond through a status match and hasn't done much for me other than a couple promos this summer. The one where you got a free night for 2 stays was nice if I ever get the voucher. I also liked the 5K points for buying a $100 gift card and using it and the 5 free southwest credits for buying 5 $100 gift cards but that was it. I only stay at one BW in the US and asked if my chances of getting an upgrade were any better being a diamond now and the clerk told me that as much as I stay there doesn't matter if I am diamond or blue, I would get upgraded as long as they had rooms. Best Western doesn't let you double dip either and their point bonus for dimaonds is only 30% and you don't have the diamond force if a property is sold out.

If I stayed at a BW as a diamond for one night and paid $200 I would get either one-half credit on WN OR 2600 points. If I spend $200 at a hilton with the current promo this quarter I would get 3000 points PLUS one credit on WN or 4000 points and a half credit on WN and if I didn't double dip even more miles and even more poitns if I didn't double dip. Plus the bonus 1,000 points if I chose that for my way. I just see no comparasion between BW and HHonors for their loyalty programs