SPG for sure. Plano and Frisco TX all have new Aloft's and Sheraton's. I've stayed at all of them, really nice and really cheap. Also lots of nearby amenities. Westin out there as well often has low rates and is a resort with golf etc. Even the Le Meridien by the Galleria surprised me with how nice it was and how cheap the AAA rate was most nights.

Bigshaker

WIth most hotel programs you earn a lot more points from bonuses than you do from regular stay earnings (well, at least if you're on a budget).

And, meanwhile, at most hotel programs there are gaps between the promo periods.

And many hotel programs "cap" how many night/stays you can earn a bonus on during a given promo period.

I found it very useful, then, to use multiple hotel programs, selecting one as my primary, but then having a "complementary" (in terms of bonuses) program to jump to when the "gap" in my primary emerges.

I also found that on vacations where I want to redeem, location specifics often matter, and when that is factored in, not all hotel programs work in all vacation locations. Just for one example, one program may be strong in the UK but horrible in Scanidnavia, another vice versa! And that's just an example, I keep finding this all over the world, until I search, I can't tell which of my several hotel programs will work best for awards in a given locale.

Besides availability of locations, there can in some locales be vast differences between redepmtion rates for one hotel program vs another, since for example some hotel programs have a flat rate all year and others have viariable point redemptions in different seasons.

(Of course, don't forget to account for programs like SPG which have points on a different value than the points at most other hotels, so you can't compare SPG hotel point costs to other programs without coming up with a "conversion factor".)

I agree with Bigshaker - SPG would be my first choice, and Hyatt my second, in this particular part of Dallas.

If you read through the hotel threads, there are a lot of comparisons made between different hotel chains and the benefits that you get with each one. Unless I travel with the family, I hotel hop. As a result I have 28 stays with SPG, 30 stays with Hyatt, 43 with Hilton and 22 with Marriott this year. Out of the 28 stays with SPG, I have not been given a suite at check-in 4 times, with the exception of the stays at Hyatt Place, I have been given suites at Hyatt 12 out of the 12 times plus full breakfast (some Hyatts will comp you breakfast even if it is room service). With the exception of a few Doubletrees, a stay at the Indianapolis Conrad, and 4 Embassy suites, all my Hilton stays have been in secondary and tertiary markets where the best hotel in town is either an HGI or a Hampton. Either way, I have always been treated well.

So, look at your travel pattern and what hotels are in the area and develop your own plan of what fits your pattern better. I have always been a Marriott fan, however once I came to the conclusion that I can be top tier in two programs (SPG and Hyatt - 25 stays=25 nights each) for the same amount of stays that I can get only Gold in Marriott (50 nights), I have not looked back. The final decision to walk away from Marriott was made about a month ago when I was looking to book some award stays in Rome for July for a family trip. Marriott had nothing available, while SPG and Hilton had multiple options.

I think Priority Club is at least worth a look - I'd say 50%+ of the points you earn are bonuses per stay, so lots of 1 night stays would rack up huge amounts of points. You should at least monitor their promotions because at times you can really earn a lot of points. When all the promotions are going you can go from nothing to top level status in 3 one night stays. The benefits are a little less than some places, but earning lots of points when conditions are favorable might be worth occasionally switching from a different program. One nice thing about ICHG is they have a good selection of properties internationally (whereas I find for example that it's tough to find Hyatt's in many places internationally). Could be good for vacations at least.

Hyatt could be good as well, but keep in mind that you have to call in to get credit for almost everything - They're dreadful at properly applying bonuses and promotions, although in fairness the customer service is very good about correcting things. But you still will need to call in for almost every stay.

Uhm, Superbowl XLV (February 6, 2011) is scheduled to take place in Cowboys Stadium. Jerry might not have a team there, but I'd still expect hordes of OTHER fans.

-B

Yes...roadtripping Chiefs fans. :D I'll have to book that hotel early...

GP and HH
 

I think if I were you, I'd strike for attaining Hyatt Diamond and Hilton Gold. As you can read on the Hyatt board, Hyatt's been very good to us, this last year. I don't see Hyatt's business picking up in 2010, or changes in attitude on the horizon. The points you earn earn freebies at Hyatt much more quickly than at Hilton -- ESPECIALLY since Hilton is about to significantly devalue their program. Usually, I think that Hilton has a huge advantage in number of locations, but the greater DFW area is crawling with Hyatt properties. And if you want to get out of town, there are two nice Hyatt resorts, and Hyatts in other Texas cities that are nice and normally pretty cheap weekends in the hot summer. Oh, and there's the leverage of Costco's Hyatt certificates.

As a second program, HH's double dipping (for Southwest RR credits) is a strong advantage for them above the other chains. And Gold is quite good enough for free breakfast and other advantages -- at least so far. And the Hamptons have the minimal hot breakfast for everyone.

To focus on the biggest downsides: Hyatt Places are all exactly the same, and breakfast is continental. At Hilton, it takes a lot more points per freebie.

Finally, holding both GP Diamond and HH Gold optimally positions you to stretch the status-matching game back and forth for as long as possible, if necessary.

(Looking over to the left here, you can either say that I'm biased, or that I walk the walk. :p)

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8703e/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

One other thing to consider: Hyatt gives its elites their elite benefits (but no stay credits or points) on Priceline stays. And if you were to decide to fly in and out of DFW rather than DAL, the Hyatt Regency at DFW is frequently available via a Priceline bid for $50-60/night.

And for retail Hyatt family stays, definitely consider stocking up on the Hyatt gift checks which Costco is selling for 20% off.

A bit of a bummer and a reversal from my earlier thoughts: I think I'm going to be doing AA for these trips. They'll be mostly down to Dallas on Fridays, back on Saturdays. I completely neglected to actually *look* at the WN schedule specifically at Saturdays: they don't operate that late DAL-MCI flight that they usually have on other days.

That leaves AA DFW-MCI at 6:50pm as my only viable option. I can live with that since I'm AA Gold already, but DFW is a slightly bigger pain in the arse than DAL. Ah well...

I'm booking Le Meridien Galleria for now: $79 AAA rates, switchable to $70 when I'm ready to prepay. But since Priority Club so generously tossed my 20,000 points and Gold status (whatever that entails), I might consider them. There's an Intercontinental with $98 weekend rates...a little towards the high end of what I was planning on spending but potentially justifiable if the bonuses are good enough. There are a bunch of Holiday Inn type hotels in the $70-ish range but I think I'd rather be in a Le Meridian at equal cost.

The only Indigo in Dallas is downtown, which is a bit out of my way and probably can't be relied upon for consistently cheap weekend rates like a suburban hotel can.