I'm spending a lot of time in the Northern VA area, and will be for some time. I'll easily make Platinum. Here's my dilemma, after Platinum, what next? Do I stick with Marriottt and continue to stay at the Dulles Airport Marriott (nor a horrible property, but far from the best I've ever stayed at), or do I switch hotels/chains and earn status someplace else? There are a boatload of hotels around, so I've my choice of numerous Hilton properties (HHONORS), Hyatt's (Hyatt Gold Passport), Westins & Sheratons (Starwood), and even a Crowne Plaza (Priority Club).

If the answer is to switch and earn status someplace else after making Platinum at Marriott, which program/chain would you recommend? I tend to prefer staying at FS Marriotts, when possible (as opposed to FI, CY, Ri, etc.)

I do use Marriott Rewards points for travel, but I save them for GOOD travel. As opposed to the Harrisburg Fairfield Inn, I'm more likely to redeem MR points for stays at the Tokyo Ritz Carlton or the Phuket JW (actually, I got a good rate there, so I just went ahead and paid for my stay), or the Koh Samui Renaissance. I like to go to different, and relatively far-away places when I go on vacation. One drawback to MR is that there aren't really any TRULY exotic destinations (for example, no Marriott property in Chaing Mai, Laos, or Siem Reap, nothing I can find in Africa that's safari-related, etc.)

So, given my travel patterns and how I spend MR points, if the consensus is to switch chains after Platinum, where to?

Thanks!

Sounds like that is your choice.

I personally dont understand why people earn status and then dont use it

You could consider a Hyatt Fast Track and do their FFN promo and get lots of free nites

The answer to your question is "it depends".

If you stay with Marriott, you will be able to accumulate more points in one program. And depending on your number of nights, Marriott does have a quasi-higher elite level, Plat Premier. Not that you will get a whole lot out of that level, but it could mean something for those "big" vacations you mention. Also, Marriott has a lifetime status, so more nights and points gets you closer to that achievement. One of Marriott's best awards is their TP awards (hotel + airline miles). Another is their RC awards. Staying more at the IAD Marriott may allow you to order one or more of those awards. So if any of these thoughts are appealing then maybe staying at the Marriott is better.

The flip side though is maybe right now you are traveling to the IAD area where there is a Marriott. But what if you travel somewhere where there isn't a good Marriott alternative? What if you want to use your awards at a location where Marriott doesn't have any options (or goods ones at least?) What if all the Marriotts are full where and when you want to travel? Then what? Having status and points in a secondary program can give you more options than just one program. But to make this work, you need to be able to stay enough to get and maintain a decent elite level with another program. Also, you need to make sure you can earn enough points in both programs to order the awards you desire. Otherwise, you just dilute your point base and don't get those "special" awards.

The OP is right, there are many hotels here, I live here! If he can, I would switch to the Westfields Marriott, but that's expensive. Otherwise, I would see how many nights he is staying after he reaches platinum. I might switch to the Crowne Plaza, because Priority Club has many good promos, see the board and Intercontinentals are nice and you can use points there. But, with the Hyatt program where you can get Diamond really quickly is good, the Hyatt Regency Reston is fantastic by the way. Don't mess with Hilton. The Westin Reston is a good hotel, but how many points are you going to get and what status? So, it is stay with Marriott, earn many points with Crowne Plaza, get status with Hyatt, and get a very nice hotel at Westin. Decisions, decisions.

Hi jan_az,

For many, it's good to have some spread of status, as some of us never know where we'll be from one year to the next. So for example I'm Diamond at HHonors now; my next step is to get comped status at Starwood or Marriott, and then earn enough for that tier so I can keep the status, and then do the same with either Starwood or Marriott after that. That way, next year, if I find myself in a location without, say, a Starwood property (and there are many, unfortunately - the big one for me is Johannesburg), I have a backup with Marriott and Hilton. Once I have status at all 3, then I'll stick with whichever one I like the most for the remainder of 2010, and then next year I'll repeat what I'm doing this year. I care less about points (although I do love them! ) than I do about the status.

Will

Once you've met quota for renewing status you might try staying with whomever offers the best points. I've done that in the past 2 quarters, putting in a few nights each with various programs to capture lucrative bonuses.

ETA: I'm not sure who's got the best bonuses for someone choosing now. Many of the offers are ending right about now.

Also, don't forget about rollover nights. Anything over 75 will get rolled over to next year and allow you to make Plat next year that much easier (I'm assuming they continued this program).

I do think there is merit in having a backup program. I've been plat at marriott for four years, but was forced to stay at a Hilton for 3 months for various reasons. They allowed me to "race" to diamond and get that status after like 20 nights.

This year, I've been mostly at Marriotts (~40 nights so far), but I also have 13 hilton nights/stays, as I went on a big mattress run to max out their Q1 promo. Their Q2 promo is not that good, but I will stay there enough to at least earn gold for next year (which is only 16 stays). It is nice having that status when I do stay at Hiltons, as I'm about 50/50 on upgrades this year.

IMHO, Marriott is the best at offering incentives to keep staying once you hit the highest tier out of any of the other programs. All of these have been mentioned above:

(1) Possibility to hit Plat Prem
(2) Accumulation to lifetime status
(3) Rollover nights

Personally, I hit Plat (again) in Feb and am still pushing all my stays to Marriott. I am still Diamond HH and Plat SPG but will drop those after this year. JMHO.

I would seriously consider Hyatt right now. They have a fantastic promotion going on right now where you can earn free nights after every two stays. Much like Marriott, they have pretty good coverage in the DC area, so you can switch hotels to maximize your freebies. Also, they have an "instant" Platinum promo - with a fast track to Diamond (equivalent to Marriott Platinum) opportunity, as well.

Hyatt has added/re-branded a lot of properties in the last few years, giving them much wider coverage than they had previously. I have been a Marriott Platinum for five years, but Hyatt is definitely going to steal some business from them this year.

DawgmanOH, how'd you make plat. at Marriott this year in Feb.? I thought that one needed 75 nights. Oooooh, I think I get it, rollover nights, huh? I'm beginning to like the idea of rollover nights...

DH has PP at Marriott , Diamond at Hilton and Diamond at Hyatt all earned. ( He spends way too many nights in hotels ). However, he gets to use them all. That was the point of my post.

I get why people have backup programs, but I stick with Marriott even after hitting platinum. They are almost everywhere in US which is where I primarily travel for business and then concentrate on where they have hotels for vacations. This does mean occasionally I have places where I would like to go, but redemption precludes that.

Another big reason is that when they changed the platinum bonus from 30% to 50% a while back, it is a very good incentive. And I redeem how the OP redeems, week long vacations in nice places. If I had a secondary program, I just think it would take too long to get that many points. All comes down to personal preference I guess.

Cheers.

Once hitting Plat last year, I thought about switching to another chain to get status in that program too; I'm already SPG Gold due to my AmEx and thought about switching to them or Hyatt/Hilton/IHG. I've been working away from home 4 nights/week since Feb '09 (and will be for the forseeable future ), so I'd eventually make top-tier in any program I'd join.

... then I did the math. Since I pay out-of-pocket, it's 90% about value for me, and I might as well get something out of it other than a bed every night (which rules out going to the cheapest non-chain hotel I can find, and last-year's Marriott stays are paying the hotel bill for my Ren Vendome Paris stay this fall).

Not only did Marriott properties have the cheapest prices in the two "away" locations I've been staying this last year, IMO I'll have better opportunities to use my Plat status and/or points with a Marriott property, so I have a compelling reason to retain my loyalty in MR.

For example, I got a targeted(?) offer from Hyatt (or Hilton, I forget) for 50K points if I stay 4 nights before 4/30, IIRC. I almost thought about it, then I realized that I haven't stayed in [whichever chain that was] in years, wouldn't switch after the promo was over to take advantage of the points bump at the prices they charge, and I still wouldn't be even lowest-tier status, so I'd pay $240 more for that week for points I really wouldn't use.

Of course, were I traveling on OPM, I'd have top-tier in every program that had a bed for sale by now

Thanks everyone for all the great responses. I still have a little ways before I have to make a final decision. I'm rather leaning towards SPG or Hyatt. SPG, through Le Meridien does have some more "off the track" properties. I may end up being lazy and just sticking with Marriott.

WRT hotels in the area - If I were here for myself, I'd try places like Westfields. Since I'm here for work, I frankly want to stay at the place thats easiest to get to the office from, which basically means the airport or the suites. I do plan on trying Westfields at some point, just for a change.

Stay at the Marriott Suites it's nicer and near many restaurants and more things to do there if you have free time.