Hi,

Which is the best hotel loyalty program for free stays?

I'm Marriott Platinum and primarily travel for business in the US, but am heading to Singapore for one month mid-Jan to mid-Feb, so thought it might be good to branch out into another hotel program.

I'm looking for recommendations on which hotel loyalty program(s) offer good point accumulation that I can use for free stays.

I googled and saw an article recommending Hilton. Is it very good?

What about Hyatt or SPG(Sheraton)?

Is the Fairmont Presidents Scheme good?

Should I try and stick with Marriott now I get more bonus points with my Platinum status?

Any advice much appreciated!

Many thanks, Sheepsational

Welcome to FlyerTalk!

There are MANY threads for all of the hotel loyalty programs under Miles & Points/Hotel Programs. Starting to read the main ones may assist you in making your decision.

If you are going to be somewhere for a month and don't mind switching back and forth between hotels it would be a great opportunity for you to get a good jumpstart on the programs you want for their top tier. For example, Starwood requires 25 STAYS for Platinum (their top tier) and Hyatt requires 25 STAYS for Diamond. If you have 30 nights for the month in SIN you can easily have 15 stays for each program if you go back and forth between two properties during your stay. Just a suggestion.

I would recommend you visit the Hotel forums to help make your decision.

The answer (as is always the case with these questions) is it depends. Do you plan to use points for the top end properties or low end Hamptons and Fairfield Inns? I would recommend u check the LoyaltyTraveler blog, I think the author recently addressed this question in a very comprehensive manner. Also keep Gleff's recent observation in mind - SPG is a good program except for the very top high end hotels which require absurd # of points.

dude
to put it simply
all of them just watch out the forums here to see which chain has the best promos.

That way I have been loyal to Marriott, Hyatt, and SPG and have status on all of them one way or another, and have tons of free nights.
Q1 for me will be Marriott with Bye 2 get 1 night free.

I'll try to be a bit more specific. Starwood is, to me, exceptional in terms of points needed for free nights. They have a program called Cash and Points that can dramatically expand the number of nights you can get with your points along with a reasonable cash payment. The Points portion is 40% of the normal fee so your points can go much further.

I love being Hyatt Diamond but in terms of yield, hard to beat Starwood.

Also depends on where you like to stay most often. + Have highest status.

Loyalty Traveler just had a post comparing hotel loyalty programs:
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/loyaltytraveler/

I think you also have to consider prevalence of promos and quality of them. Free nights promos IMO are the best. Hyatt this past year was the clear winner in offering promos. SPG was 2nd, etc........

It certainly may not be the best, but I've earned a LOT of points (including Platinum Status) with Priority Club with barely any actual hotel stays.

I have recently been staying at Hampton Inns (I'm Hilton Silver) and have found them to be of excellent value, with a good room, free internet and a free hot breakfast. Are there any special benefits that I'm unaware of, that Hamptons offer?

I'm also an SPG and a Marriott member. What equivalents, or better,


Viscountdo SPG or Marriotts offer?

I also like the flexibility of Starwood where you can pay all points or points & cash.

I agree, and I have found it relatively easy to find free rooms. A drawback, as previously mentioned is the high number of points required at top properties. Another drawback is that as a Gold, you get virtually no recognition at Starwood hotels.

How did you get LOTS of points with PC without actual stays? Lots of CC spending?

OP said barely any stays, which with PC can get a newcomer to the program a whole lot of points after only a few stays.

very loyal to SPG and Hyatt here, but this year IC and Shangrila is looking good to me.