Hello Everyone:

Would love to get some opinions here. Just made Marriott platinum for the year. I am staying in a Residence Inn for a 6 month project in a small town. I've been here since Jan 1 and have some rollover.

I'm wondering if I should go to the Staybridge and try to get platinum at IHG too or keep on keeping on at Marriott. Anyone else been in this situation?

All going to depend upon your goal. Does Marriott offer all the perks you think you need? If so, stay where you are at and enjoy it. However, if you feel a need/desire to collect status in different programs, by all means, hop around and maximize your collection. Just remember you will probably drop down to nooby while earning status in the next program (unless you can get them to status match).

I had top tier is four different programs. But for me it was mostly due to availability. I was travelling around the country and would pick the best place based upon price and location. I knew I would make status in several and went for it. Now, I'm focusing in on fewer programs and about to hit lifetime Platinum in two. I'm going for the perks!

Beware of lodging taxes -- you might have been avoiding those by being in a long-term stay without checking out.

+1 You would want to stay with Marriott if you're shooting for PP and/or lifetime status.... but you would have more options for redemption by being Plat in both IHG and Marriott.

If you want to be Plat in IHG and are from the US -- get the IHG Chase MC now with a 70,000 points sign up that confers Platinum status just for having the card.

If you wish to diversify, at the very least, you will get a points multiplier when paying with that card at the SS and after 1 year you will get an electronic certificate for use at any IHG brand property, including Intercontinental hotels -- no restrictions -- so it would be a no-brainer if you wish to diversify your portfolio.

I value Marriott points far more than IHG points.

And as the previous post mentions--you can get IHG platinum status just by getting their CC.

But at the end of the day--it depends on where you want to go and how you want to stay.

I prefer using my points for aspirational properties that would otherwise be very expensive. Marriott has more of these, including in JW Marriotts, Ritz Carltons and the new Edition brand.

But if you are fine vacationing in a regular Holiday Inn--IHG may be more valuable to you.

I appreciate the responses. Marriott does have a lot of the aspirational properties I want, so I prob should just stay and collect the points.

I am a many-year Plat at both Marriott and IHG. Marriott is my favoured program but living in Europe, the more utilitarian Holiday Inn/Express are everywhere!

Benefits

Marriott - Guaranteed lounge access, guaranteed breakfast 7 days/wk, likely room upgrades, fast wifi, arrival points/amenity, 10pts/$ + 5pts Plat bonus, megabonus adds 75k-150k pa depending upon activity. Lifetime program.

IHG - No lounge access, no breakfast any days, likely room upgrades, fast wifi, arrival points/amenity, 10pts/$ + 5pts Plat bonus, combi-promos adds 50k-250k pa depending upon activity. No lifetime program.

I've recently booked a 1-month blow-out USA/Canada Roadtrip with wife and our 4 teens, blowing my 600k Marriott and 400k IHG balances. I redeemed my IHG points for 20 room-nights at a value of 0.9UScents/pt and my Marriott balance on 39 room-nights at 1.4UScents/pt. These are pretty representative of the values I've redeemed at over the years. It is almost impossible to redeem IHG points at Marriott values.

I use IHG as my second program because it's everywhere, and because in the past I could score Plat in 10-nights. Now I get Plat via the UK credit card. It's a decent second program but between its run-down Holiday Inns and below-Marriott benefits-and-earn/burn ratio, it's second-program only material...

It depends - if you are running IHG's promo, then it might be a good idea to move over and score some points and status. E.g. Mr. is running for set your sight promo - all he needs is a total of 5 nights, 2 hotels have to be outside Sweden (piece of cake as there are no IHG hotels in Sweden), 2 CP, 2 HIX, and 1 night on HI. After 5 nights he will score a total of 50k IHG points. Marriott's megabonus - well I have to stay 15 nights to get 25k points - what can you book for 25k points in Hong Kong/Berlin/London/Vegas? 1 hotel in the middle of somewhere of nowhere.

That 50k points = 10 nights PB stay!

I found IHG upgrade ratio being higher than Marriott (both Plat). IHG points in general are not as good as Marriott points - but with a few exceptions in Hong Kong/Germany:

IC Hong Kong - 35k IHG points/ JW HK Cat 9 (45k?)
CP Kowloon East - 20k/night with free Plat Brekkie/CY Sha Tin - going to be cat 4 which requires the same number of points - worse location
HI Berlin West - 15k points - try to redeem any Marriott hotel in Berlin, you'll know what I mean

Another killer for IHG - Point breaks. I don't use it all the time, but when I do they are super value for money - 5k points/night ($35) is unbeatable.

Are there other Marriotts you can hop around to? You'll get the checkin bonus. Residence Inn only earns 5 pts/dollar, I try to avoid them unless I've got no other choice (other than a CY). Don't forget to make sure you've got the best Megabonus.

Racking up IHG Rewards Points has two positive aspects two things, in my opinion: (1) booking nights at Intercontinentals; (2) being able to find hotels in more areas. In the U.S., IHG has a ton of properties. I've found many areas IHG has hotels, but Marriot doesn't.

With that said, I want to note a downside to IHG's program not previously noted: you can only book a standard room with reward points. If you want to reserve a suite, you're out of luck. For me, that is a serious downside. I generally use rewards nights when traveling with my wife and our two kids, aged 2 and 4. Staying in a standard room is terrible; the kids generally go to bed around 7:30-8:00, and my wife and I have to tiptoe around the room to avoid waking them. Being able to book a suite solves this issue, since we can put them down in the bedroom and unwind in the living area. I really wish IHG would get with the times and allow people to book suites with points.

Also, as others have said, you can get Platinum status automatically by getting the IHG credit card. There's no need to stay at IHG properties to earn status. The annual free night status more than makes up for the annual fee, assuming you use it wisely. I've used mine for stays at Intercontinentals, which often go for $250+.

IHG has developed beyond Intercontinental hotels and will soon explode into the consciousness of many IHG Rewards members who desire upscale accommodations when Kimpton hotels is incorporated into the IHG Rewards program, hopefully by year end.

Not only will IHG have credible city core locations in many US cities for the first time -- and some in quite an abundance in certain cities such as DC and San Francisco -- but also redemption of one's points in nice places will correspondingly increase, as well.

In addition, many Indigo hotels are great places to redeem points -- if one does not hold the additional status and payment for InterContinental's own Ambassador program -- which will hopefully insure that you get a good room at that historic Intercontinental hotel, instead of a miniscule room -- the Platinum status at the Indigo -- which is the highest status one can achieve for that property brand -- is the way to go.

Avoid RI stays unless that hotel layout > points accumulation.

I avoid Residence Inn even as a Marriott fan because it only pays 5 MR points/dollar, not 10 like most other brands in the portfolio. Though I guess if I were on a months-long project like you are I might value the kitchenette in an RI room highly enough to overcome being shorted on points.

When you're logging 100+ nights a year it's definitely worth considering how to achieve top tier status in 2 or more programs. Having 2 gives you more options for finding hotels on subsequent paid trips as well more options for redeeming points. IHG is a good program for both lower end hotel availability as well as some aspirational properties. But as others have pointed out, it's not worth actually staying in one 50 nights to get Platinum status when you can get it right away (in the US) just by carrying their co-branded Chase credit card. If I were you I'd grab that card and try staying in the local Staybridge for, say, a week. If you like it better than the Residence Inn, stay. If not, switch back.

Also look at other brands in the area. For example, is there a Hyatt Place? Hyatt can be a good chain to have points and status in.

RI and TPS is a place to burn points. I don't think it's a norm for Marriott that you can book a suite on points - the hotels I booked on points, once they ran out of the lowest category rooms then you can't book award stays.

I stayed at 2 Staybridge in CA and they are actually very good - I would say that they are better than some RIs I stayed at. As IHG Plat I got upgraded to a 2 bedroom/ 1 bedroom (if they don't have the 2BRs) during PB. I love their free laundry (it's a shame that you don't get free detergent anymore but still it's awesome), it's particularly useful when you are travelling with kids for a long trip.

It of course depends on your expected stay plans for the rest of this year and next.

If your stays are likely to be mostly at extended stay properties like RI and Staybridge, then I wouldn't focus on status. And that's from experience: I'm currently top tier with Marriott, IHG and Hyatt, but I'm mostly staying at lower/mid tier and extended stay hotels, where the status means little. When every room is a suite, and everyone gets free breakfast and internet, all status gets you is a few extra bonus points.

(But if you do decide tochase another status, don't bother with IHG, you can get Plat there just by holding the $49/yr credit card. Put your status-chasing stays at a different brand).

For me, this year, I decided I would be better served chasing the promos, and earning more redeemable points and free nights, rather than just sticking to a single brand to re-qualify.