hhoope01

You can do that, but for some reason it only works when you are logged OUT. If you are logged into your Marriott account, it won't work.

RedPanda5

Farewell Marriott, i've burned all my points in the last 2 months, I'm betting that this will eventually go the way of Hilton where all the desirable hotels cost an astronomical amount of points so lucky to get all the bookings in now.

eponymous_coward

Hilton nets you 34x points on your hotel spend if you hold and pay with the Aspire Card, assuming there isn’t a promo (I’ve seen 44x and 54x in the last couple of years). So on 5k of hotel spend that’s 170,000-270,000 Hilton points. Standard rooms are still capped at a maximum (so that 5k spend will get you AT LEAST one night, possibly 2-3), and the FNCs are good at ANY hotel (contra Marriott where my upcoming 50k Brilliant annual cert barely suffices for a Residence Inn in London- most of the good hotels in Central London are out of range). Hilton is giving you “good throughout the chain” FNCs on their no annual fee card as a signup bonus right now.

Hilton’s burn rate is high but the earn rate is pretty high too (you can earn FNCs for credit card spend, can’t do that on a Marriott card). I wouldn’t say Diamond is as meaningful a status as Marriott Platinum or especially Hyatt Globalist, but it’s not nothing.

platbrownguy

I read this with an open mind because I genuinely don't understand why people choose Hilton (other than the massive footprint of hotels most of which I wouldn't want to stay in).

And I still don't. $5000 is a lot of spend. A globalist with Hyatt spending $5000 on the WOH card gets 52,500 Hyatt points. Which is enough for up to fifteen free nights at an Off-Peak Category 1.

gudugan

This is not the right way to value FNCs, they are fundamentally different. For Hilton the best value is to max it at the highest point property. For Marriott it’s mid tier so you should look at it in terms of points value, a Residence Inn in London is probably still good value in terms of £/points. Alternatively use the Marriott FNC in a location where 50,000 points buys you the marquee hotel in the area (which is in turn expensive in cash).

I’ve been Hilton Diamond for 3? years and I only use the free night certificates and the occasional random night (spend less than 5 nights per year at Hilton)

Most Hilton properties are completely forgettable and mediocre, and I see no reason to stay there over somewhere cheaper or somewhere more expensive and better. Diamond doesn’t even guarantee you late checkout, what’s the point?

I would almost rather spend the money on Hyatt, but there’s no way I can hit Globalist so I don’t really see the point there either. Independent is the way to go

Wingtipflyer1

RC Laguna Niguel up 30k?! Its a very nice property but not that nice. The room renos were lipstick on an oinker. Shower hardware some cheap-o plastic & tin fixtures w/ hallway moulding having massive gouges & 100 layers of paint.

Not seeing any straight point redemptions this summer and early fall. All are 150k & up for 5 nights Plus $1250 to $1500 in CASH- then add on parking and resort fees- looking at an additional $400+ per night.

Marriott BlahVoy is becoming quite the downer.

rrgg

I agree Marriott has more properties and more memorable ones (many from SPG). Hilton FNA have the advantage of simplicity though, since they work almost everywhere. If you like weekend stays, I found Marriott often has peak pricing on weekends putting FNA out of reach.

Bravada04

I am glad I was running through this thread. When I seen the snapshot above in regards to Account Activity, I decided to go through mine......I found back in October I used 90,000 points for a 3 night stay for a November reservation (Point Saver rate that was clearly listed) then there was another transaction on the same day that also debited 50,000 more points? For the life of me I couldn't figure out why/where because sometimes I do forget . I called MAR and they opened up a case.
I very rarely do any type of audit on my account/points!

eethan

Ah. I'll keep that in mind for the future. My technical side tells me that they are likely using different systems to serve up availability on the desktop and mobile sides. Wow

pazza2000

It’s the location, that little pocket of Orange County is more popular than ever and I only see it getting more so this year. They can command very high rates in the Summer and people pay them. Agree though the place is showing it’s age compared to the Montage and the WA.

eponymous_coward

Of note, I’m spending six weeks in Europe. I’ll spend some of my Hyatt points at their hotel in Helsi-oh, wait, no, sorry, won’t open until after my vacation. But I’m sure Leipz-oh, damn, sorry, nope. Marseille- well, you get my point by now.

Also… I used to stay at Hyatt Cat1s on points (Hyatt Place is my jam at the right price, even some of the converted Amerisuites ones). Guess what? They’re not Cat1s any more! Fancy that.

I’m sure Hyatt Globalist works for you. I think I even called it out in my post. Yes, I get it, umpteen zillion dollar rooms at a Park Hyatt and amazing SLH properties. The points are still pretty good even if I have experienced plenty of devaluation (I seem to pick them up staying at MGM properties lately). I would have problems making Globalist even if I tried… which I won’t, I’ll just have to settle for Hotels.com Gold and fake status via credit cards and MGM/Caesars tick-tock back and forth status matches.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gudugan

This is not the right way to value FNCs, they are fundamentally different. For Hilton the best value is to max it at the highest point property. For Marriott it’s mid tier so you should look at it in terms of points value, a Residence Inn in London is probably still good value in terms of £/points. Alternatively use the Marriott FNC in a location where 50,000 points buys you the marquee hotel in the area (which is in turn expensive in cash).

Is it good value? For the Brilliant I am essentially prepaying $150 for a one night per year in a mid tier hotel room in some markets, a better room in others. The same $450 annual fee cost with AMEX gets me a better value for the Hilton card, in my opinion, but I am probably one of those guys with all their taste in their mouth, given the general “ew” about Hilton. Which, I mean… OK.

gudugan

I have both cards. If the Brilliant had no FNC and just gave 15 free nights a year it would still be worth it. Obviously the Hilton FNC is better but you take what you get.
And if you say the Brilliant is $150, the Hilton is $200 (if you can use the airline credit)

Oxon Flyer

Folks, just a note to say that, as we approach the cutover date, this thread will have an increasing number of views from FT members who are looking for info on what’s happening and how it may affect them. Let’s keep things on-topic and not veer too far off into side-discussions that would be better hosted in other threads.


The mod team

stant

do you have home, medical, car or life insurance? i dont know about you, but Ive never been in the hospital, caused a crash, died, or have had the house burn down....

if someone qualified for ambassador level i'd say it's pretty likely they are going to run into at least a few of those times when they need to haul 47 people around town. And in this case it's damn near free. people are going to travel no matter what. loyalty programs or no.

username

I have not travelled for 2 years and am getting ready to return to society So, if I have the legacy credit card, essentially I am buying 25,000 points for $89 a year. Will that be a good deal under the new scheme?

The current $95 card is 35,000 points. I seem to remember I did not convert because the old card had better travel delay / baggage insurance but it seems now both the $95 and $0 card have the benefits now?

I am trying to book a Cat 4 but it is peak at 30,000 points. So, until the Top-Up is implemented, I can't use the certificate, right?

Thanks.