Hilton or Mariott
 

okay, i'm posting this question in both areas.

I'm starting to travel more and more for my job and i currently have about 90K points on Hilton and Gold but nothing on Mariott.

Which one do most of you perfer? I can use all my 90K points next month on a vacation and start fresh on Mariott.

which one gets points quicker? how about redemption? How many points on Mariott for a free night?

should i just keep my HH and continue building it?

Where are you traveling? How many total nights per year? What are your reward goals? Are you in the U.S. or outside the U.S.?

Marriott and Hilton have a lot of similarities but a few key differences. I'm active with both, but Marriott gets my revenue hotel stays for the most part. Hilton gets some credit card activity and I direct some AA miles there when I need more HH points.

HH strengths:

- At the lower end of the spectrum (rural and suburban brands), it's stronger than Marriott.
- Elites are treated fairly at resorts. (At Marriott, they aren't.)
- HH Gold, for being a giveaway status with the new credit card, is still a pretty good status right out of the box.
- The primary HH award - 175k for 6 nights - is within reach for most moderate business travelers. You reach this "sweet spot" award faster at Hilton than at other programs.
- Good transfer-in option from AA miles without loss of value (by most reasonable measures)

MR strengths:
- More consistent product at the full-service brands. Very few "bad" Marriott and Renaissance hotels.
- Great Travel Package awards...one of my favorite awards in any program. It's a good transfer-out option at great value that indirectly (via AA) can yield Hilton nights if you choose. Longer haul to get to this level for most travelers though.
- Good non-points-related promos once you hit mid-tier (Elite Exclusive Offers, etc.)
- Many more extended-stay offerings than HH (two different true suite brands plus a division dedicated to furnished apartments in many cities)

[QUOTE=pinniped;11552060]- Elites are treated fairly at resorts. (At Marriott, they aren't.)


DH is currently at a Marriot resort. He has been given free golf ( cart fees only) both days he played and coupons for Starbucks. though no lounge or anything - that more than works.

The other thing to look at is you can make top tier in Hilton with only 28 single nite stays.

It takes 75 nites at Marriot.

you must note that the consistency level part is true.. the bad news is they are holding the line on the minimal level of consistency.. you will not be pleasantly surprised

HH will let a husband and wife link their accounts so that points from stays by either person go into one account. Marriott will not let spouses link their accounts.

HH will let you get points AND miles. Marriott is either or.

My opinion is that there aren't radical differences between the two loyalty programs. And one thing to keep in mind... the programs change all the time.

Last summer I switched from Hilton to Marriott for all my travel after a very careful analysis, and lo and behold Marriott changed their program a few months later.

Same with switching airlines from US Air to Delta. Shortly after I switched, US Air reinstated all the benefits that they had taken away -- which was the reason I switched to begin with.

So I am now making my decisions based on this: Which hotel chain and airline offers me the most convenience.

I've decided to stick with Marriott because they have more properties to choose from in the cities where I tend to travel. And I'm sticking with Delta because they offer more flights to those cities and more direct flights.

If you make your decision based on quantity and quality of options, you'll be happier in the long run because the competitive nature of the marketplace tends to even out loyalty programs over time.

And the results of the OPs post will be...

folks on this board generally perfer Marriott.

Folks on the Hilton board generally perfer Hilton.

I think a lot of it depends on which you start with. It's hard to change LOL!

While Marriott doesn't "link" spouse accounts, Marriott will allow not only spouses, but points from virtually any two accounts to be used for ordering awards. ^

Hilton no longer offers mutual accounts. That option went away long ago - except for those that are grandfathered

:)

More on Marriott vs Hilton at: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...t-rewards.html

Kohoutek

Both Hilton and Marriott programs are really not traveler friendly. If OP wants comfortable stays and points faster that can be used for complimentary nights I would look into SPG, Hyatt, or IC RA programs.

Free golf...that's pretty sweet! Was it part of a promotion or is it part of that property's policy for Gold or Platinum guests?

The ability to qualify on stays is definitely important to some: Starwood and HHonors have it; Marriott does not.

The Marriott Rewards Visa available in the US was updated about two years ago to include 15 elite-qualifying nights instead of the previous comp Silver. This brings Gold down to 35 "real" nights and Plat down to 60. That said, I don't know how many markets have that option: I still see the "old" Marriott Visa marketed in Europe.

Yeah, consistency is a double-edged sword. On one hand, I know I can book a Marriott sight unseen and have a good idea what I'm going to get. It is very rare that I walk into a Marriott and think "Wow, this place is really hip, edgy, and full of character." (Hold your laughs... :p) It's more like "OK, this Marriott feels a lot like the one in Minneapolis, the one in Tulsa, the ones in Chicago, the ones in Dallas, etc." I feel this way even when I'm walking into one of their Category 8 properties in London. I'm confident that as a Plat they won't screw up my reservation or room, but I'm not going to be inspired.

Marriott spins the Renaissance brand as their edgier brand, and there are some cool Renaissances out there. (The one in London is very good.) But there are also a bunch that look and feel like, well, Marriotts...

All of this said, my problem with Hilton in the consistency department is that they allow some rather shabby hotels to wear the mainline Hilton and Doubletree brands. I'm much less likely to book a Hilton sight unseen. I feel the need to research it more and find out if people actually like the hotel.

^

BTW, OP, it's Marriott. Two r's.

Kohoutek

Clearly on the Marriott board I prefer them, but as one who also did some research before banking in. Getting a 50% point bonus as a Plat means a lot more to me than the HH option. The "miles or points" doesn't appeal to me b/c the points aren't as good as a 50% bonus and I fly enough DL to earn plenty of miles on them on my own.

Also, for similar properties, Marriott points go a LOT farther. Hilton often charges 35K for a Hampton Inn. Marriott's similar property, the Courtyard, goes for 10K a night. Both programs are 10 points per dollar spent. So I can earn free nights a whole heck of a lot faster on MR than HH.

Like others have said - if you plan to primarily travel internationally on points, another program might be better. MR and HH still predominantly have higher end hotels in major intl cities only. Priority Club has the "lower end", Holiday Inn available in many intl cities saving points for nights when you don't need swank digs.

All said, I stay 10 nights at Hilton per year to keep some status, even though only silver. I stay enough nights (usually with a promo) to keep Gold at SPG, Plat with Priority and Plat with Marriott (yeah, I know, I'm never home!). So I share 'em around but tend to prefer Marriott for rewards redemption in major intl cities.

To be fair, that's an extreme example. More Hamptons aren't 35k HH and most Courtyards are 15k-20k per night.

The types of markets likely to have a Cat 2 Courtyard at 10k per night would be likely candidates to have a Cat 1 Hampton also at 10k per night. (HH also has "Opportunity" hotels for 7500 per night, but these are few and far between.)

Most typical suburban areas where these brands are popular are likely to have a Cat 3 CY and some sort of Cat 2 HH property. (Again, those are basically the same category because Hilton throws in this "Opportunity" level which is on par with a Marriott Cat 1.)

Across the levels, I generally find that I get similar reward value per dollar spent at HH and MR. I factor my value on GLONP2's vs. Marriott 087's but it still seems to hold roughly true on the smaller awards. So it really isn't the rewards bang-for-buck that makes the decision for me. Both are competitive.

The difference maker for me was the shabby mainline Hiltons/Doubletrees and the fact that when I badly need HH points, I can get 'em elsewhere.