Adelphos

I like earning 6x on Marriott spend (or 12-14x on Hilton spend, whatever the Chase Hyatt card gives you) given how high room rates, food and beverage, and other costs are. The question is does it make sense to pay an annual fee dolrly for that kind of earning ability. That is where the certs come in - the basically make the card free if you can use them. Where they are less useful now are the cases where people seemed to have multiple certs with the aim of stringing them together for a nice trip - that's hard to do. It is easy to just use it for one night at the Courtyard when you need a night.

flyerfirsts

When I look at the Hilton Aspire card I think man that's a great card, but then I look at the Hilton portfolio of Hotels and I think oh I never want to stay at any of these and it would just be using the perks to use them unfortunately.

mrmoo

Yep, it all comes down to whether or not you think you can gain value of the benefits. I personally wouldn't, but everyone's needs are different. While not an ideal use case, I've used certificates for one-two night getaways or staying at a hotel at the airport or something the night before a flight. I think this is an overlooked option since many airport hotels at popular airports (e.g. LAX or JFK) are $$$ but have a lower category for the certificate.

msp3

Despite people constantly shitting on Bonvoy for poor value and devaluations (almost at a Hilton pace), none of that means anything your actual stay behavior does. At the end of the day, the chain has the footprint and thereby the market power to charge what they charge. I seriously doubt people are switching (maybe at the margins, but I can't imagine anyone going to some scum-class OTA) in numbers and the elite thinning is working as intended. Anyone remember when an employee posted a list of the sheer number of elites properties get per night and how many there are at the high end?

SHLTP

So I have been very critical of Marriott (see above and my recent posts). I still remain extremely critical of Marriott CS and IT

I will say, however, on property they have been really really good to my family this year. I've had some serious challenges because of the Corona virus. Every single property pre-upgraded my direct family to a suite before arrival across continents. And they have given connecting rooms, other benefits for my extended family

During tough times, the staff and properties have really helped. I remain critical of lT and Marriott HQ (Hyatt is a better program) but on properties remain great except they don't have as much flexibility on upgrades and benefits as before unless senior staff get involved

Luckily they have gotten involved for me.

Hyatt has also BTW been awesome. I've gotten upgraded to a suite this year in every property except for one and the staff has been great as well