kklems

How can you achieve status with spg with a credit card? Or are you referring to paltry 2 stay/5 night credit you get each year with spg.

MD/DC Flyer

You can get Gold SPG by holding Amex Platinum, or spending $30K on Amex SPG card.

kklems

Ah thank you missed that benefit.

Need

Marriott gives status away too. You just need a credit card to get Gold and spend $75 a year to get Plat. More than the $40K for Hilton Diamond, but not too bad.

SkiAdcock

I think you meant $75K, not $75 I'm assuming you're referring to the Ritz Carlton card.

Cheers.

Need

haha yeah.

BrightlyBob

OP: Marriott worst program or is it me?

Yeah, it's you! Forming an opinion on an entire program based upon one offered redemption is downright silly!

All of these programs can return frighteningly bad values, and astonishingly good ones. This can even happen at the same hotel, literally during the same weekend. I kid you not! Last year I stayed a weekend at the Marriott Marquis NYC. The Saturday night was $550, the Sunday $190. I redeemed 45,000 points for the Saturday night returning a very creditable 1.2cpp. I paid cash for the Sunday, had I redeemed it would have cost the same 45,000 points returning a dismal 0.4cpp.

I've seen values as low as 0.1cpp and 10cpp bandied around here!

I find IHG generally requires slightly more points for like-for-like redemptions, but elite bonuses are higher. Hilton generally requires considerably more points
for like-for-like redemptions but with the extra 5 basis points and near permanent promos those points accrue faster than anyone else. SPG awards the least number of points per $ spent, but it's redemptions are about half the like-for-like Marriott costs.

Last year I did a monthlong road trip visiting Toronto, Montreal, Adirondacks, NYC, DC, Niagara and small-town Pennyslvania and Ontario. Comparing earn and burn for all the big 4 schemes produced a return of 24% at Marriott, 22% at IHG, 21% at SPG and 18% at Hilton, suggesting Marriott had the edge and Hilton fell last, but it's important to realise I ignored credit cards as we can't get the great credit cards in the UK that you can in the US, and hence I know nothing about what's on offer, but I think both SPGs and HHs performance may be very much improved by their cards...

In short... All will produce great redemption bargains and dreadful redemption howlers. But Marriott is not the worst.

sdsearch

When was the last time? The past year or two, Hilton seem to be doing an endless series of double points promos, which obviously give more bonus points the higher your room rate.

sdsearch

Even with that admission you've still got more facts wrong. The RC card only gives Gold one year:

https://creditcards.chase.com/credit...arlton-rewards
after that it needs substantial spend.

On top of that, it's got a quite high annual fee of $395.

By contrast, the Hilton Amex Surpass card gives you HH Gold for $75 a year, every year you hold it, and the Hilton Citi Reserve card gives you HH Gold for $95 a year, every year you hold it.

So I don't see how a $395 annual fee + $10000 spend requirement a year (after the first year) is "giving status away".

kaaria

I am able to redeem Cat 2 and Cat 3 that normally are $150+ per night on a regular basis. I think it depends on where you look.

bhrubin

How valuable points are and which hotel loyalty program is worst is entirely dependent on (1) how you earn points and (2) what types of hotels you want to use points.

If you earn points by staying at the hotels, they all are more or less the same, to be honest. You earn more points for your spend at Hilton and Marriott compared with Starwood and Hyatt, but Starwood and Hyatt require fewer points for their hotel awards.

If you earn points by credit card spend, the Hilton and Marriott awards are ridiculously harder to achieve than the Starwood and Hyatt awards--because the typical 1 point per $1 spend has more value with Starwood and Hyatt because their awards cost less. Marriott and Hilton have top award levels of up to 45,000 or 50,000--but cost up to 70,000 for top tier Ritz Carlton and up to 80,000 for Waldorf Astoria. Compare that to top tier Hyatt and Starwood hotels (including Park Hyatt and St Regis) being 30,000-35,000. If you spend $50,000 on a credit card (with no bonus categories) and get 50,000 points, those points go a LOT farther with Hyatt and Starwood then Marriott or Hilton.

The irony is that Marriott makes it MUCH harder to accumulate the points for awards at its top tier properties than Starwood or Hyatt...even though Starwood and Hyatt both have far more and/or far nicer top tier properties.

If you want awards at the more aspirational higher tier/category hotels, then Hyatt and Starwood clearly are the winners. Hilton and Marriott cost way more...even though Hyatt and Starwood have more aspirational options. Marriott has Ritz Carlton but they cost a lot more than Starwood's St Regis or LuxCollection or W or Park Hyatt/Grand Hyatt/Andaz. Hilton has Waldorf Astoria but there aren't that many of those.

If you want awards at lower tier/category properties, on the other hand, your points might go farther with Marriott or Hilton--since you can accumulate them as fast or faster and they don't cost much more than Hyatt or Starwood. But mid-tier properties still cost a significant amount more for Marriott and Hilton than they do for Starwood and Hyatt.

I agree that Marriott is a bit better than Hilton...but not much better.

Starwood and Hyatt points are far better for anyone wanting awards at more upscale/full service hotels. They are clearly better for anyone wanting awards at the high end of hotels. Of course, Marriott and Hilton have far more properties in far more locations. But for higher end hotels, most of these chains have upscale properties in most major urban centers and the most popular holiday destinations.

Of course, Marriott absorbing Starwood means that only Hyatt offers a real deal. It also means Marriott will have the most aspirational properties by far after its merger.

sdsearch

Of course, Starwood (will have been) the hotel program with the second-worst "footprint" of the majors, and Hyatt is (and will remain) the worst "footprint" of the majors.

And that poorer "footprint" is one of the major reasons why Hyatt (and SPG up until the near future) can afford to have a program that way bigger hotel families don't feel they can. They need something to attract people to make up for that poorer "footprint".

bhrubin

It's true that Marriott and Hilton have much larger "footprints" because they have many more properties overall.

However, that can be a false narrative for anyone looking mostly in major cities (where even Starwood's 2500+ properties or coming properties can compete)...or in the major holiday destinations around the world (where Starwood is as well situated as the bigger chains)...or, in particular, in the luxury segment (where Starwood's St Regis, Lixury Collection, and W properties total 255+ and exceed in absolute number whatever Marriott and Hilton offer and far exceed Marriott or Hilton for properties considered aspirational by those who regularly stay at luxury hotels.

Consider that over 3/4 of Marriott's portfolio has been less than upscale...while almost 90% of Starwood's portfolio is upscale or better. Hilton has an even greater proportion of less than upscale properties, and IHG is even greater. If you're looking for cheaper hotels, those chains serve you well...but not for nicer hotels. Marriott will remedy that with the addition of Starwood, of course...but that won't really make a difference until 2018 when the programs merge.

beachfan

You are choosing what I think is the absolute lowest period rate wise to check. Are rooms available in February? Do the math for that stay, bet you the value is double.

darthbimmer

It's a mistake to compare hotel cards on the basis of earning 1 point/dollar. Hilton points certainly are worth less apiece than SPG and Hyatt points, but Hilton makes its credit cards competitive by always paying MORE than 1 point/dollar. HH Surpass (Amex) pays 6 points/dollar on restaurants, gas, and grocery stores-- which together are a significant portion of my non-travel expenditure. I've made it my primary card for these categories.