Hi,

I've been reading this forum (mainly the Frequent Flyer forum) for quite a while now, but this is my first post, because I'm looking into getting a credit card for a hotel rewards program and have a couple questions.

First, with Marriott, is there a way to get upgraded status based solely on points earned and not nights stayed? I'm wondering because I saw that there is a Marriott card that offers 30k bonus points, a free room certificate once a year and 15 nights towards your Elite status for a $65 annual fee. While just the free room alone may possibly be worth the annual fee, I was wondering if I can get upgraded to the Gold or Platinum levels just by using this card? If so, what are the point levels required to move up to these levels? I've looked all over on the MarriottRewards pages, but can't find anything. I can see the requirements for number of nights, but nothing is mentioned about just point accrual. Is this possible? I noticed on the PriorityClub website, they have both number of nights and points required, but I can't seem to find this information anywhere on the Marriott site.

Second, is this (Marriott) a good choice for a program where I'll primarily be earning points by just using the credit card and not necessarily purchasing many nights (if any at all) at the actual hotels? If this is not a good program, could you point me towards one that may be the "best" for this type of point earning?

Lastly, (although I think I know the answer, I'm not positive), are points earned for stays only if they rooms are paid for? For example, if I were to use points to pay for a night at a Marriott, would I also earn points for that stay (including any promotions that may be going on)? I'm pretty sure the answer to this is "no", but I just want to make sure.

Thank you very much in advance for any help/information that you may be able to give!!

Marriott is definitley not the best program for you. Nothing but silver for credit card and no stay credit for reward stays.

The Hilton Amex might be a better choice for you - either the regular Hilton Amex (no fee) or the Hilton Amex Surpass Card. You're guaranteed Silver status just for having the card, and you earn Gold status for $20,000 spend in a calendar year. I'm not sure exactly what the offer for the Surpass Card is these days but I think you get Gold automatically for your first year and thereafter you keep Gold for $20,000 spend and can get Diamond for $40,000 spend. I'm also not sure what the current fee is but it's about $75 per year and they throw in the basic Priority Pass annual membership (free annual membership, worth $99, but you have to pay $25 per person per visit to an airline lounge).

You can accumulate points pretty quickly with the Amex Hilton, through credit card purchases, online shopping through its portal (click through to various internet retailers), Hilton dining, etc, plus good bonuses for using your Amex at Hiltons.

I have both the Marriott and Hilton Surpass Cards and find that the annual fees are worth it in exchange for the benefits. We've had some really nice, free hotel stays at luxury properties in the past year (e.g., 4 nights at Venice Hilton, 4 nights at Luxor Hilton in Egypt, 4 nights in Cairo Marriott, one night at Marriott Rome), plus some good value free stays at lower tier hotels.

Another thing to mention about Hilton vs Marriott status. If you mostly travel on weekends, Gold status with Marriott might not be as useful as Gold status with Hilton because a number of the Marriott Concierge lounges are only open on weekdays. By contrast, with Hilton, even if your Gold status doesn't get you a room on the Exec Floor with lounge access, you always get free breakfast at Hiltons. Overall, I think I've had somewhat better treatment as a Gold at Hilton than at Marriott.

The higher levels in Marriott are based on Nights, not Points. That's why there's a special "15 night credit" listed. There are double night offers sometimes, but you'd still need to stay a decent number of nights to get Gold or Platinum.

You do not get points from reward stays. No circularity, sigh.

I agree with the other posters; Marriott is not the choice for you. 1 Marriott point per dollar is not as good as other cards.
The Starwood American Express is pretty popular for two reasons. First, a Starwood point is worth more than a Marriott point, since redemption levels tend to be lower. Second, Starpoints transfer to a lot of airlines. There's no Starwood status, but there is a current offer to get Gold without the card.

That said, I agree with Kate_Canuck. Hilton sounds best for you. The Surpass offer is what she says, with a fee of $75, free Gold level for one year, then Gold for $20K annual spend and Diamond for $40K.

Thank you all for your responses, I really appreciate it!

I'll check into the Hilton Amex card and see what I find. I'll go and see what I can find out about the Hilton Gold & Diamond levels to see what types of benefits they offer.

Thanks again!

I'm also open to any other opinions/comments on this topic if anybody else is willing to contribute.

I think the answer for you also depends on what kinds of hotels you want to stay in. I know a lot of people are fans of Starwood and Hyatt, but I find they're often a little pricy for my budget when I'm paying for myself. Hilton and Marriott have a pretty good range of hotels (from moderate to luxury) with pretty good coverage in that range in a lot of the places I visit. So I can afford to pay for a mid-range hotel with my own $, and use points to splurge for something top of the line. In some markets, however, Starwood does offer a somewhat wider range of hotels (Paris and the Middle East come to mind), so it's worth a look, too.

While Starwood has lower point thresholds for rooms, I find it a lot harder to accumulate Starwood points than Hilton or Marriott points without hotel stays. That's because I can get Hilton and Marriott points by clicking through their portals to internet retailers, and I can get Hilton points for eating at certain restaurants, in addition to the points I get for expenditures on the card.

By the way, I have the Hilton and Starwood Amexes, and the Marriott Visa. All but two nights in our 2.5 week trip to Egypt this fall were paid for with points, and we stayed at great hotels in each of the three chains.

Hi,

This was basically my thinking too. I'm mostly interested in getting the best deals, not necessarily the most luxurious hotels. Mariott and Hilton are just fine for me and like you said, I don't mind paying for them and using my "status" for free upgrades or other benefits. Plus, I'd be able to keep the Hilton Gold status w/the $20k/year spending if I make that my "primary" card.

The Hilton program does seem appealing to me, and I'm contemplating getting the Marriott card too because of the 30k points and free room every year for only $65.

Right now, I'm only going to sign up for one of them because in the past month I've had a couple credit inquiries already (switched from one AMEX Gold to another & signed up for the BA Visa for the 100k miles) and don't want to overdo it with 2 more in case some other awesome deal comes up like the BA Visa. I'll pick one right now and then sign up for the other in a couple months or so.

Thanks again for the input, I truly appreciate it!