There are a number of reasons why we choose hotel chains.

One factor is the free nights / stays ratio, and I have done a bit of arithmetic on what I might get from a typical spending pattern.

My starting assumption was 30 x 3 night stays at an average of £180 per night (I stay in London a lot), and with top tier bonuses added in, assuming redemptions in top category hotels, that would give me:-

9 nights in a Hilton family hotel
10 nights in a Marriott
3 nights in a Starwood property
8 nights in an Intercontinental
15 nights in a Carlson property


For me, that is just one factor. Finding nice hotels in where you are staying is important, along with the way you are treated when you're there.

To be honest: nothing. I compared these programs, I was SPG Gold spending nice amount of money there, struggling to retain Gold and miserable rewards (earnings pts is much slower for rewards in SPG). Problem with these programs is their stupid logic. Apparently for chains it is better to give Gold to someone who spend 25x $100 staying 1 night only than for someone who is spending $2500 in 2 stays for example.

That's why I like HHonors, I spend $10k / year at least and don't have to bother if it was just 1 stay in Maldives, because as long as this amount is spent I get the highest status. OP provided very good example on how to maximize earnings. With often promos, 2x (sometimes 4x) it is really easy to earn rewards at cat 7 hotels.

The only thing to consider or that can be better about other programs are their hotels. Hyatt for example have higher quality hotels than Hilton. They have less hotels obviously but they are classier. They have interesting loyalty program (though with this stupid logic mentioned above) and if you are Diamond for 10 years or so you get lifetime Diamond which is nice reward.