sdkramer

I am a leisure traveler traveling for marathons throughout the US and some globally. I've been a Diamond member for a couple of years, but I find it very inconsistent from property to property. Of the potential benefits most are of zero value to me I don't ever get breakfast because I'm usually gone by 4 or 5am, some properties will give me a bagged breakfast. Because I'm a leisure traveler I tend to book Hamptons so my added benefits seem to be a free water when the staff remembers to give me one (50 cent value) a closer parking space (hardly worth it for a marathoner) and "late checkout" so that I have time to come back to shower. I always have to beg for the late checkout and frequent am told no way. I guess technically I'm earning more points with my status for free stays, but they're confederate currency as near as I can tell. Should I just give up on HHonors and book whatever's cheapest? or AirBnB? am I missing something? I have 10 more stays to Diamond for next year and will easily make it if I book my hotels with Hilton, but I'm not sure it makes any sense.

eponymous_coward

With the newest loyalty scheme, I can’t imagine why you don’t just burn the points as soon as you have enough for a room. It’s pretty easy to get a half cent a point value per point at (insert name of random Hampton Inn). When combined with the right Amex and promos you can generate a lot of points.

That being said, sure, go with AirBnB if it’s cheaper. Or whatever’s cheap on hotels.com and get your free hotel room every ten stays... quite simple loyalty program that. You can probably combine that with cashback portals and discounted gift cards on card selling sites for some decent rebates.

wantan

if you're not fussy about accommodation then obviously whatever saves money is better.

the reason I go with major chains, is because they should have a certain standard to keep, at the minimum clean rooms, A/C, good shower and comfortable bed. And if there is a complaint, at least I know there is a hierarchy for it to get looked into.

In my years of travels, I've had things stolen, rooms unmade (or might as well been unmade), food poisoning from hotel food, wrong bills, walked from hotel etc etc ... not to say it dosen't happen at chains, but at a chain and one you have elite status with helps tremendously in getting these problems solved satisfactorily.

thbe

From my point of view the US is not the best place for benefits of hotel loyalty programs. Maybe because there are more domestic frequent travelers than in most of the other countries.

And I also think, that Hamptons are not the best places for Diamonds. My expectations at Hamptons for status benefits are zero and usually that‘s what I get there.

But HH can be a reasonable rebate program as well, if you maximize the points you get and the value you get when you redeem them. I think, the best places to redeem are usually very expensive and very cheap hotels. Maybe you get also a good value, if you book your award room for marathons, which are very big events with higher room rates.

Personally I don‘t believe in AirBnB or best price booking for frequent travelers. Can be fun for a few leisure bookings a year. But if you stay as often as you do, you maybe appreciate the reliability of a hotel group and its loyalty program more.

birdiedouble

I'm a leisure traveler who has Gold through Amex Surpass, mainly for the breakfast benefit but the point multiplier also is nice. I'm willing to stray to another brand if the location or rates dictate that. I'm trying to use points only on 5th night free or in situations like last night I booked 2 rooms in Orlando in Jan for a 3 night golf trip with some friends. Got the Doubletree near MCO using 120,000 points that cost me $600. I have gotten one really nice upgrade as a gold, but don't expect any.

pinniped

I travel for marathons too. Do you have the capacity to switch loyalty and go after another big program's elite level?

I've had best success with Starwood for two reasons:

- The don't "game" the system and hide awards, even for major marathons. I've redeemed points in prime start or finish locations for Chicago, Berlin, NYC, Twin Cities, and a couple other good-sized races where Marriott and Hilton had no awards available (even though they were selling rooms).
- They've honored the 4PM checkout on race days, no hassles. You only need Gold, not Plat, to get this benefit.

If you're running rural stuff where Hampton is your best option, maybe try IHG. You can obtain their Plat status with a simple credit card signup, and that includes late checkout. (I've never had an HIX fight me on a 2PM request.) I use HIX for three or four different rural trips a year and generally find them to be roughly as good as a Hampton. They tend to be new-ish, which is really the most important thing.

Marriott is incorporating the 4PM checkout for Gold/Plat, but it's a longer slog to get there from scratch, generally requiring 30+ nights in the hotels before you hit Gold (barring a lot of suboptimal MS on their credit card). Limited challenge options are available if you have a short burst of stays coming up...could get you there a little faster.

Whenever I travel for a race, I assume I'm on my own for breakfast. Occasionally for a major race, the hotel will open the lounge super early. But when I've stayed in a Hampton to run a small trail race 20 miles away, the hotel had no idea the race even existed. Really, the only elite benefit I care about (regardless of type of race or type of hotel) is the late checkout.

I'd never gamble on an Airbnb the night before a marathon, but that's just me. I'd tent camp before I'd do that (which I have done a couple times).

Super Mario

I dumped Hilton a while too as a similar profile to yours. I would mostly stay in Hamptons. Even if I didn't, I find their program to be lacking.

I think IHG is your best bet. They give a lot of a points, and you can have cheaper rooms.

pinniped

I forgot to mention that. If you go IHG, make sure you milk the bejeezus out of their promos. They have them all the time.

I'm pretty sure 80+% of all of the IHG points I've earned in my life have been some type of bonus/promo points.

I then redeem IHG at the two extremes: HIX's in the "pointstretcher" category or international IC's in the most expensive locations.

Only downside is that none of their elite statuses mean much (beyond a late checkout), except for that paid IC one which I wouldn't use enough to justify.

arlflyer

Highly agree with the above...IHG if you're really out in the sticks a lot and will be in HIXs. Then in big cities, especially internationally, you could do InterContinental stays. Otherwise, SPG is great. They have a standing challenge of 18 nights for top-tier. Since getting SPG Plat this summer I've really enjoyed the flexibility of matching to Marriott, and the fact that in a lot of cases there is a points arbitrage opportunity with the 1:3 transfer. The Marriott footprint is pretty big, so you should have the coverage you need. As a long time Hilton Diamond I've been really impressed by the recognition I've gotten as top-tier at SPG/Marriott (translation: I actually get recognition).

sdkramer

Thanks all for the input. I think I may finish out the year to make Diamond again and parlay that into a status match with Starwood based on your feedback. I received no upgrade at the Sydney Hilton one day and then an upgrade the next visit. The experience differed only in that I had a tiny bottle of wine instead of a bottle of water on my desk. I followed that up this week with a Hampton where I got not even my complimentary water, a toilet that backed up, and an alarm clock with sticky buttons. Hardly worth the trouble.

hugolover

Regarding the alarm clock, is that the one with or without the USB port? Without USB it’s absolute crap yes.

InkUnderNails

I travel for business, but usually industrial areas so a lot of Hampton Inn. I think OP may miss the point. This pattern is: Earn at Hampton, spend at beach.

I used to spend 100+ nights a year mostly at Hampton Inn. For this, I got approximately 2-3 weeks in a nice resort plus a weekend out of town or two.

The stay benefits are not the point. The building free travel is. The new redemption rates and capacity control really breaks this pattern big time, but it still sort of works.

bitterproffit

I can only maintain gold through a credit card. But I get lots of points. And lots of free stays. Sometimes in places I would never pay cash for. Like Conrad Hong Kong last year for 4 nights. Sometimes its an airport hotel with low points but high cash requirements.

I don't have the number of stays you have. And I no longer stay solely at Hilton properties. I stay in specialty properties, VBRO's, etc. But, if I am going to stay at a chain, its going to be Hiltons simply because that concentrates my points and what I earn from them.

It isn't the status recognition, its the points. And if status gets you point bonuses, then that adds to the value proposition for me.

s0ssos

If you stay in Hamptons you stay in junky places a lot, and try to redeem in nice places (I presume). Hilton doesn't seem to have much status benefits, as you noted. I'd dump them. Marriott/SPG is much better in this regard (Hyatt too but they don't have as big a footprint nor the low-end properties).

shorthauldad

This works to a degree if your regular stays are with OPM.

If you're spending your own money, however, it's probably better to stay at whichever good value properties you want to, and put the cash you save towards that beach holiday. No reason to get Hilton involved.