Hi,

I got wind that I will be getting a travel heavy schedule soon for work. I want to maximize my use of miles and points and wanted to seek some advice from the boards. Please feel free to move if it's in the wrong forum.

1) Which Hotel Chain should I go with? (I personally signed up with Marriott for their CC and might have a wedding in September so I wouldn't mind racking up points with them or at least using the Plat Challenge for this year)- However I have always heard good things about SPG and believe they are a good choice.
- I think I want to challenge Marriott for Plat and use SPG as a backup (Hyatt and Hilton are also in my sights)
- I have heard multiple complaints about benefits for Marriott, and personally haven't had any issues except at the Cosmo, but who hasn't? If I can achieve Diamond/Plat with Hyatt, Hilton or SPG I believe there are more benefits as well...I think I'm just partial because it's the first rewards program I've joined.

2) Is there a legacy airline that is preferred? (I signed up for the AA cards so I have quite a number of points plus the new card benefits are pretty good)

Or should I also be flying with United? (My fear is that with all the bonuses this year everyone flying AA is going to be Exec Plat next year and that means hard to get upgrades)

I received a Companion pass this year with WN, but don't know if I should start flying them for business (I'd like A-list to go with my CP?)

3) My company offers an upgrade of the Corp. Amex to Plat or I can upgrade it to get Amex MR points, should I opt in for the full plat upgrade? ( I believe I should if I'm traveling for more than 3 months for lounge access alone)

4) I guess the last part of this puzzle is that I also have a Chase Sapphire Preferred, which allows me to transfer points to programs so that might be something that's important if I want to use points for awards travel later.

Thanks for any advice!

It would help a lot to give a better idea of your situation, so please add:

Travel base and usual destinations
How many BIS (butt-in-seat) miles you expect to fly per year
How many hotel nights you expect to have
Total expected spend on credit cards, perhaps split between personal and business
What your objectives are for the points and benefits you earn

I once had a "heavy" travel schedule of Birmingham (AL) to St. Louis every week, but that's quite different than twice-a-month TATL or TPAC trips.

Is the corporpate upgrade to Amex plat free? I've been very happy with that card, although the corporate benefits might be different.

For your hotel chain I'd recommend looking at Starwood. SPG points are much easier to use (and much more valuable) than Marriott in my experience. You can do a platinum challenge with them to get platinum status after 18 nights in 3 months. If you'd rather stick with Marriott, do their platinum challenge. Hyatt has a great program too, but they don't have as many properties so it depends where you go as to whether that's a good option.

You should fly the airline that has direct flights to where you want to go. The less you fly, the happier you'll be probably. But if airlines are equal in this category.

You should accrue the miles you value the highest. That will depend on where you want your awards to go to and in which class. I would recommend AA miles if you want to go to South America, United miles if you want to go to Europe, and Delta miles if you want to go nowhere.

Your hotel program may even be dictated by your destination. In my experience Marriotts and Hilton have more properties and more often than not end up being in more convenient locations as well as better priced. In the end it's probably best to choose what's most convenient (along with amenities offered) since you'll be happier.

What is your employer's travel policy? Is there a required or preferred airline or hotel chain? How much choice and flexibility do you have?

This is easy. As long as your employer is picking up the tab, then do the following:

- Pick the airline that has the most flights to your home airport:
ATL/MSP/etc ..... pick Delta,
ORD/DEN/etc ..... pick United;
DFW/MIA/etc ..... pick American;
Others ..... Pick the airline that has the most checkin positions at your airport.
Stay with that airline whenever possible.

- Pick either Hilton, Marriott or Holiday Inn. No matter where you go, each will have a hotel nearby. Stay with that hotel chain whenever possible.

- Pick either Hertz, Avis or National/Alamo. No matter where you go, each will be available nearby.

I'm not sure where I'm traveling yet, but I expect it to be a Monday to Friday sort of schedule. I believe at least halfway out from California to Chicago.
Mileage is about 2000 RT? 48k miles or so? (BIS)

All spend will be on corporate.

I want to get points for international travel since I already have a CP good until 2013.

No Corporate upgrade to Plat is discounted but not free, but the upgrade to MR points I believe is a lot cheaper.

Generally selecting a reasonable flight, but I see AA and UA fares that fall into the reasonable area quite often. We have global agreements with most of the chains I think, but I know for sure with Marriott. Last time I checked in at a Hilton I was upgraded to the concierge level so I don't know if that was because of our corporate program or I got lucky... apparently I was the only one upgraded out of the other people that were staying there. (I never asked for an upgrade, but I did get in extremely early and asked to check in early so I could grab some sleep since I flew in on a red-eye.)

Thanks, what does everyone mean more valuable for SPG? Does this mean the redemption nights are cheaper or just more hotels to choose from and better upgrades?

I value SPG points at $.03 based on past redemptions, while Marriott are worth $.01 and Hilton $0.0085, so if you have a card that earns 1 SPG pt/$ on everyday spend, such as the SPG Amex, you are getting 3 % back on your spend.

Hilton points-- $0.85 * 1/100

Good catch. Thanks, I fixed my post.

I have found great value in hilton points especially with the promotions they run, right now current quarter with double points and points and points redemption you can get 25 pts per dollar for stays, yes i know it can take upto 50k pts for a free night but at 25 pts per dollar per stay it adds up real fast, also they have two types of credti cards one by amex that can help you achieve gold/diamond and one by citi that can be churned over and over