Hi folks. You'll probably see a repeat of this thread over in the SPG forum as well. I'm just seeking a little guidance and wisdom from those of you in the know regarding the Marriott Rewards program.

My grand mile collection scheme is for me to handle the airline miles and Ms. Astrojets to handle hotel point accumulation. We're both Hilton Silver members, but I'm game for a new program if the point structure and credit card deal is right. My question is.... what are your overall impressions regarding Marriott Rewards vs other programs you are familiar with. How do you like the program? How do elite benefits stack up? And any other information you think might be useful....

Thanks in advance for your insight.

Wow, that's a pretty open-ended question. I imagine you'll get a lot of SPG stalwarts telling you how great their program is and how badly Marriott treats its guests. Here you'll get the opposite story. I'm gold with both Hilton and Starwood (used to be diamond with Hilton), and have been platinum with Marriott for many years. For what it's worth, here's my opinion.

Marriott knocks the socks off the competition. Forgetting frequent guest programs for a moment, the entire Marriott chain provides far more consistent excellence in the quality of their properties and customer service than the others. They also have more locations in more diverse places than anyone else. When it comes to the rewards program, Marriott seems more generous than the others with the range of rewards available and the ease of attaining them.

As for elite status, Marriott alone actually seems to reward loyalty. I hear platinum Starwood folks talk about all the suites they get, but as a gold I get crap. Marriott ALWAYS puts me on the executive/concierge floor, and I get suites more often than I probably deserve given the rates I pay. The platinum benefits of a guaranteed room and an arrival gift are quite nice indeed.

So there's my biased opinion. Good luck in your quest to find something better than Hilton--to be honest, that shouldn't be too hard!

And what is your stay pattern? If you can only qualify for one, my suggestions are:

If you value suite upgrades above all else, you want Starwood.

If you want the most consistent product and the concierge floor treatment most every time, you want Marriott. Also, it you want travel to smaller two and two.five star hotel markets to count towards renewals, Marriott is your chain.

If you want to earn travel awards, at least as long as they continue Frequent Free Nights, then you want Hyatt. Also in my opinion a good possibility of a more upscale property in metro areas, but a risk of a tired property in less premium locations.

Thank you for your comments. I've been leaning towards Marriott but wanted to get a feel from some FT'ers. I've had a few stays at various Marriott properties lately and have found them to be consistent and pleasant.

In reality, while I could probably hit the basement level elite in 2 or 3 chains, I'd prefer to be more upper level in one chain....

Thanks again for your insights.

flyastrojets: There are lots of threads both here and in the Starwood Forum that compare the two chains.

I love Marriott for its consistency and ubiquity. I have rarely had a bad stay and I have had numerous fabulous ones. I also think they have great employees. One thing no one has mentioned yet in this thread is the high thresholds for attaining status. Marriott is the toughest to achieve. That's great if you stay enough to be platinum (less dilution of benefits). But, if you are traveling on your own dime as I do it's a struggle to make gold.

My vote is for Marriott for two reasons:

1) Number of locations. I travel to some obscure places (El Paso, TX and Greenville, SC just to name two) and if I was with Starwood I would be SOL.

2) The quality of Marriott's properties, although I wouldn't use the word consistant to describe it, is superior overall to Hilton and the Sheraton line of Starwood. I have stayed at some nice Hiltons and Sheratons but there are a lot of dumps out there. I'm not claiming every Marriott property is gorgeous but overall the level of quality is superior.

The clincher for me is I can use my MR points at RC. I stay with Marriott for business and use my reward points at RC and some of the new JWs.

Very true . . . of course, given that the Marriott properties in El Paso are not the greatest I have ever stayed in - one might consider quality over quantity. I�m not saying that I haven�t stayed at some really bad Starwood hotels either - mostly because I definitely have. But given that Starwood chooses to not have any properties in this city, this might be useful information to you. Just trying to present both sides of the coin. Sheratons are near the low end of the spectrum, in my opinion . . . probably comparable to a courtyard by Marriott.

Two other things to consider are where you would like to redeem your points, and who has the better credit card:

Marriott definitely has more properties in the U.S. including many very nice resorts. As mentioned above, the Ritz Carlton redemtion option is nice although costly points-wise.

On the other hand, Starwood has much more luxurious resorts and good locations worldwide. Their 75 luxury properties come close to the quality of a Ritz anyway.

As far as credit cards go, Starwood's Amex is one of the finest available and clearly beats out the Marriot Visa (although the free Cat. 4 night is nice).

Hope this helps,
J

As for Number of poperties and points Marriott is great.

As far as elite benefits it is very hit or miss.
Many a thread on this board about upgrades (or lack there of)
Suites are not part of Marriott Platinum benefits (specifically excluded)
but some properties still give them away.
Marriot has the highest hill to climb to get to top level also (75 nights)

I am platinum and rarely see any real upgrades.
48hr reservation Guarantee is only real elite benefit.

Also, Marriott has not won any FF awards in a long while.

That said, if you travel to many places, you will always find some kind Marriott property there. And many of the folks who complain about Marriott elite treatment complain about it every years, so for some reason we keep coming back for the punishment.

I believe Marriott would be a good number 2 program for anyone.

"Consistent and pleasant" is quite accurate IMO, flyastrojets. And the "ubiquitous" comment from another FTer is accurate, too. If nothing else, the sheer quantity of Marriott properties assures you of finding one reasonably close to you business or vacation destination. You might not hit the highest highs of the Hyatt, Hilton or SPG properties, but you're also unlikely to smack into the lows that are sometimes encountered there, either.

IMO, Marriott is the McDonald's of hotel chains. They're all over the place, and generally speaking, you know what you're going to get when you walk in the door. Uncle Bill Marriott keeps getting my money for those two reasons.

What about reward stay blackout dates and capacity controls for top tier programs.

I have boatloads of points in MR and HH.

The Hilton site tells me that as a diamond member it is never a problem to redeem points for award stays.

How difficult is it for MR Plats to redeem award stays?

For certain properties near impossible to book seven consecutive days for an award. And, of course, your plat status is irrelevant to obtaining a reward booking in the Marriott program.