My wife is Hilton Diamond, but recently switched jobs. The people she will be doing about 1/2 of her travel with are all MR PLT, and they informed her that is where she will be staying on those trips.


I have done an extensive reading session, almost 2 hours, reading old threads on here, but I still have a couple of questions.

• Does MR offer similar awards to Hilton, such as the GLON or GLON2?
• Read somewhere about a 7 day Island Hopper Pass for Hawaii, but couldn't find any information about it on the MR website
• What is the concesus on Award Availabilty?

She is going to call tomorrow about a Challenge/Status Comp, we will see how that goes. She stayed right at 70 nights at Hiltons last year, and already has 15 nights booked at Marriotts.

This year will probably be a busy one for travel for her, and she will probably be able to maintain Hilton and MR status.

I'm gonna miss her, but heck, what can I do?

Well, I can warn you that you're going to get a lot of "Marriott sucks; tell her to stick with Hilton (or better yet switch to Starwood!)" replies, but honestly--why are these people trolling the Marriott board at all?

I've been Hilton diamond, and was universally disappointed in the service and recognition. IMO, Marriott treats ALL its guests as well as Hilton treats its elites. I don't know what kind of a status match Marriott will do for her, but if she travels that much then she'll be getting extra recognition pretty quickly in any event.

Marriott's 7-night Hawaii award lets you book 3 nights on one island and 4 nights on another.

MR does not have the GLON2 or GLONP2, but they do give a discount; the more award nights you book, the less per night each one costs. They also have 7 categories, as opposed to Hilton's 6.

Six nights at a top Hilton property (Cat 6) will cost you 240,000 points, or 175,000 points with a GLONP2. Seven nights at a Marriott Category 7 will cost you only 150,000 points.

MR also has a very nice award, room+miles: essentially, you pay for 7 nights in either a Cat 5, 6, or 7, and then you get miles for an additional 1 point/mile, in units of 50K, 70K,100K, or 120K. Since you are earning points at up to 16 points/dollar, this is a real bargoon. And until the end of this month, transfers into your BA account get a 50% bonus in miles. If you've got a lot of MR points, it's a really quick way to get up to 180,000 BA miles!

Availability can be a problem: MR does not have the equivalent of the Diamond Desk, where they can open up award inventory for you, even going so far as to actually buy the room. However, for the properties I'm interested in, I'm seeing availability as long as I look a few months out.

MR also offers the capability of getting an "anytime" award -- with this, you pay a 50% premium in points, but you get the room! I think this can be done on a single day basis, in case award availability doesn't quite fit your plans.

Welcome to Marriott rewards from a MR plat/HH diamond.

These people, like myself, probably troll all of the boards for which they are a member despite their preferences. Personally, I prefer Hilton vs. Marriott.

However, regardless of one's preference, it would be a waste of time because it seems that this gentleman's wife doesn't have much of a choice. So she should lobby for some level of comp status or pursue a challenge and max out earning MR points. I would think MR would comp Gold status if they consider all incremental business she will be bringing them in the future. Perhaps her Plat. business associates can place a good word referral?

Removed, due to being a TROLL.

In my experience (typically staying at non-full-service properties), there isn't a huge difference between the Marriott and Hilton recognition (I'm Marriot Platinum / Hilton Gold). However, IMHO, Marriott points go a lot further toward award stays than Hilton points do. Understanding, of course, that this can only be a subjective assessment.

I've stayed in Marriott rooms on award stays for 10,000 points that would have cost me $110; and I've stayed in Hilton rooms on award stays for 40,000 points that would have cost me $120. Hilton points are a little easier to accumulate with the higher status bonuses, double dipping for 50% more points, and 5 points/$ on the Hilton AMEX. But, I don't think that makes up for the larger number of points that Hilton requires for award stays.

That's an interesting comment. Although I'm Hilton Gold and enjoy the benefits that go with that, I've stuck with Marriott for years because of a similar feeling. If Marriott would give me free breakfast for 30 stays a year, I'd drop Hilton in a minute. Although there are certainly exceptions, I tend to have a better opinion of my Marriott experiences.

Interesting. Two days now, lots of good advice, and the OP doesn't even say "Thanks" one time....

Although I'm a "bottom feeder" (Fairfield Inns), I get free breakfast, free wireless, free local phone calls, free Bally access, and even free phone cards. And all from the first stay, even on Priceline. Not too shabby.

Of course, this has been discussed to death by now --- the higher-priced properties seem to nickel-and-dime you (more like $5 and $10 you), for internet access, phone calls, restricted breakfasts, etc. I guess they feel that, if you can afford the stay, you've probably got deep pockets and they might as well try to extract a bit more from you.

This seems pretty much true no matter which chain (or no chain at all) you're staying at.

I believe you get two 2-night certs and one 3-night, so you can split it among 3 properties if you'd like.

Yes, thanks, that's my fault for posting based on what I thought I knew versus doing some research. Apparently this award has changed a bit since I last looked into it. Thanks for clarifying!

I guess it's because I work a very demanding job, have 3 kids that I take care of while my wife travels of which 2 of them have been sick this past week.

You sir, while you gave good information, are a TROLL.


Thanks to everyone else for thier information.

If you've got the time to ask the question, you should have the time to acknowledge the replies.

Does it really matter if a person says thanks or not? I believe it does matter to give thanks but extenuating circumstances may delay this. There are times when I frequent the boards and times I don't even turn on the computer. I can understand cowtowner's situation:

I have to take the side of taking care of a family before offering thanks on an IBB. While grateful of the answers, there is time for thanks once a family is taken care of.

I absolutely aggree with you.

Yes, take care of the important things first. But then acknowedge; not even necessarily say thank you, but at least let us know you have read the post, that's all.