Complimentary Secondary Hotel Program?
 

All,
I am currently Platinum at Marriott, and it's far and away my number one choice of programs. I travel extensively for work and I value consistency and availability over all else (I never know if I'll be in L.A. or Cedar Rapids, for example) While I will continue to steer all my work travel, and significant personal travel into Marriott, I do like the idea of aspirational redemptions to places like Thailand, French Polyneisa, Europe, etc. In that regard, and since I've hit Platinum already, I'm thinking of steering some stays towards another chain - accompanied by getting that branded credit card as well. I'm leaning towards Hilton or Starwoods, but Hyatt's two free weekend night signup bonus is tempting.

Without starting a flame war, can anyone who is a similar situation give me some pros and cons from their experience? Thanks in advance.

Hi there! If you do a search (upper right corner of this forum), you'll find a # of comparsions between Marriott & the other chains.

I have Hilton as my secondary, although now that I'm Lifetime Plat w/ Marriott I'm pretty much giving all of my business to Marriott. What I like about Hilton (and Marriott) is that they have multiple brands within the chain ranging from Hampton Inn (or Fairfield Inn) up to full-service properties, which means it covers a range of budgets. The other thing I like is that there's pretty much a Hilton (or Marriott) property (brand) wherever I go. The other chains don't have as many brands, nor are they everywhere.

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Having more than qualified for Plat (90 nights so far this year) and seeing the negative reviews about PP I have been thinking about this as well.

I also have Hilton Gold Status, it's always easy to get, and you get treated reasonably. The value in Hilton, like Marriott comes with the higher point redemption's, so it probably takes a few years to build up enough points.

However Starwood has some nice properties in Europe which would be good options to have. I don't see myself staying at their properties in the US much. One option would be to get the SPG credit card and put some of my Marriott stays on that. Spending $30K on the SPG card gets you gold status, for what it's worth.

Hyatt doesn't have enough properties to factor in, though I do actually like them a lot.

When I saw the topic name ("Complimentary Secondary Hotel Program?"), I thought, aren't all major hotel loyalty programs complimentary? I didn't think any of then charge a membership fee.

Reading the post, I realized the OP is looking for a complementary program -- one that complements Marriott Rewards.

I like Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG). Although Starwood has a far smaller portfolio of properties than Marriott, I like how some of their full-service properties (Sheratons) can be booked for as little as 3,000 or 4,000 points per night. With the SPG American Express Card, it's easy to turn credit card purchases into free rooms at nice places.

I had top tier status with both Hyatt and SPG, but unfortunately I'm just PlatMinus this year. Until February, I would have enthusiastically suggested SPG, but the changes have all been negative for me. I've been treated very well by Hyatt, but the disadvantage is their small footprint, much smaller than Starwood it seems (especially if you don't consider Hyatt Place or Four Points) to me but YMMV depending on the locations and hotel categories that interest you.

If you want to join the Ambassador program with ICH, there is a fee.

Actually, Priority Club (the non-Ambassador part of the ICH program) might be an alternative as well. They actually have better hotel coverage in a lot of places than either Marriott or Hilton and getting Plat status with them is very easy. Note that elite benefits are probably the weakest of all the major hotel chains, but they tend to have a large number of bonus promos and opportunities. So it can be very easy to earn a lot of points with only a few stays.

A strong Q4 promo would help me make my decision, I have at least 25 nights to book. There doesn't seem to be a Q4 Hilton promo worth mentioning, the Starwood promo is OK, the Hyatt one is weak.

Mid-year I was in your shoes as well...after about 90 nights with Marriott up to May I decided to take the SPG-challenge and so far like what I receive after I made Plat there. Upgrades are consistently better than Marriott's, and the hotels in general (in my geographic region, which is Germany) value my business a lot. Also I made a lot of points with the SPG BRG: 2000 points as a premium (on top of 3x points during the last promo and the 500 points amenity) add up quickly, so I was able to book a five-night award at a Resort property (which will provide Lounge access and thus breakfast for me) after 22 nights.

That said the SPG-Promo for Q4 is problematic for me since all hotels in one destination I travel frequently (Munich) are not participating...so I'm currently back at Marriott - and have a Courtyard tonight that upgraded me on a dirt-cheap LNF-rate to their largest suite...someone must have heard my woes in regard to upgrades.

Greetings - Dirk

Free or parallel?

I had considered Priority Club instead of Hilton as my secondary & agree they have a large footprint & # of promos. The thing I didn't like is that you don't get elite bennies on award stays.

Cheers.

Why not do a status match with PC? They offer PC and I was able to match my MR Gold to their Plat.

The problem is that they only give you elite status until the end of the year, so you might consider apply for status match Jan 1.

Now I'm staying mostly at IHG hotels because of their BRG programme - I score a bunch of free nights and tomorrow I'll be staying free in a suite at IC Hamburg tomorrow. Their point break programme is awesome too - 5k point/night - I stayed at CP in Copenhagen and I got upgrade and lounge access - all for 5k.

Assuming this was directed at me, I was looking for free programs. I guess to be more specific, what I'm looking for is a program that offers "nicer" properties for vacations with my wife. I've been taken by some trip reports to various SPG properties, for example, so I could see using that as the backup program aimed at aspirational trips. I love Marriott and will continue to use it as my primary, especially for work, but if we take a trip to Vienna, for example, I get a sense the SPG hotels are nicer there for a rewards-type stay. When it comes to my every day stays, I value the footprint and consistency of Marriott over all else...

Thanks all for your tips.

I too like nicer properties and SPG is my other alternative, although only used once or twice a year and only have Gold status right now, but that's OK as I only use it in places there are not Marriotts, predominantly Europe, but also Maldives. I especially like their Westin, St. Regis and Luxury Collection brands.

Hilton would be third, but the Hiltons I have stayed at were not nice IMO. For me Radisson and Holiday Inn/PC just doesn't register and Hyatts are too few and far between. Other programs are more regional: Accor, Oberio, Shangri-La, etc.

I'm a big fan of the SPG aspirational properties (St Regis and Luxury Collection as mentioned, some other hotels in cool cities).

I agree with coverage but disagree with the "weakness" of the program.....PC/AMB is my secondary chain and they would be my primary chain if my company wasn't so tied to Marriott. The RA status has been very good to me over the years (automatic upgrade to suites, free minibar, free movies). Even before I was RA, I found that I never had to ask for any amenity due to me (upgrades, breakfast, internet, etc). And it's quite easy to achieve status and I find they are much easier to use points and the value of points is better. Over time, I've been elite with Hilton and Hyatt, and I'm still far happier with IC.

EDIT: As for aspirational properties, ICs in French Polynesia are amazing!!!