smilinganddialing

This is to a certain extent a rhetorical question - I'm really asking this as a gut check for my own needs. I realize some people value aspirational awards on SPG (e.g. St. Regis) but I don't understand why such a large segment, including many of the people I used to work with at a previous large employer, put all their spending on a SPG AMEX instead of focusing on something like Chase Sapphire Preferred or Chase MileagePlus Club?

I understand the allure of cash back cards as I did that for a while before getting married when I was too busy working all the time to take any real vacations that weren't VFR.

Now that I do have some more flexibility and more to my life than work, I can see the value of travel but I think of things this way:

1. Hotels - can always go to Priceline or Hotwire and get a great deal. I've stayed at Marriott properties for $35/night + tax, stayed at the Grand Hyatt NYC for $125/night + tax, and many more deals. We stayed at a nice Canadian PC property that is usually $200/night for $88/night and still got upgraded to the 2nd nicest room because of PC Plat status. Whenever I read about people claiming SPG points are worth $0.026/point, it doesn't jive with me because I never pay those crazy prices for hotel rooms anyway - you can get almost all of them at a discount.

At the end of the day, a hotel room is a hotel room. I've been able to get upgrades even without status by just being nice and lots of others do the same.

2. Airlines - I am not going to Priceline a flight. I have two airports (MDW and ORD) with massive numbers of daily, nonstop flights. When I'm traveling for work, I can't sacrifice 3 extra hours connecting somewhere or arriving too late to make meetings so Priceline doesn't work. Furthermore, when we travel for leisure purposes, as there is no control over how long connections might be.

I realize that in both 1 and 2, using Hotwire or Priceline means little to no flexibility. Hotwire Express membership does allow cancellations and changes for certain situations.

However, even Pricelining flights rarely saves anything substantial and the inconvenience of not knowing flight times and/or connections is painful. When staying in a hotel, a room is a room - check-out and check-in times are relatively constant with +/- 1 hour across most hotels so there's little to lose.

Am I wrong in thinking that Airline Rewards (for a guy like me who is willing to take a 4* or 5* hotel from Priceline/Hotwire and knows how to use betterbidding.com) are more valuable?

whackyjacky

I churn cards like a lot of FTers, but I always keep the SPG card. It's the only hotel card worth a d*mn IMO. The main advantage is the flexibility. I use the Starpoints for rooms using Cash & Points primarily and it's a great deal. I also transfer to airlines with the 25% bonus (sometimes you can get a lot more). SPG works with 30 carriers. What's Sapphire got, 5 maybe ? I only redeem airline miles for long-haul F & J. Flights that are so expensive, I would never pay for them. I've got the Sapphire and like it, but it just doesn't do what the SPG does. wj

Bttc

You don't get EQM or RDM for award flights, and it's much harder to get high status on airlines than it is on many hotel programs. And you often get status progress from reward stays in hotel rooms anyway. Plus, a frequent flier is probably going to have enough points from flying to cover any times where the cash price is abnormally high relative the miles cost.


SPG in particular is great because they are so flexible. You can use them for rooms, but you can also transfer to airlines for more than you would have gotten with the airline cost.

Thunderroad

OP, I can think of four reasons. wj touched on two of them and Bttc provides some useful additional info. I'll just expand a bit:

1. You can use your spg points to convert to airline miles on many major carriers at the rate of 20,000 points = 25,000 miles. (Note that UA is a significant exception to this rule, with a worse conversion rate.) So even if you're only interested in redeeming for flights, that's still better than airline-affiliated credit cards for most purchases.
2. Starwood is the best hotel program in terms of flexible ways of using your points for hotel stays, with the best value usually being the combination cash/points for rooms when that option is available. It also has many nice properties, especially overseas.
3. Using the Starwood card grants you the flexibility of deciding down the line between #1 and #2.
4. A minor factor that could affect a minority of people is if you spend enough per year (I believe $30K) on the card, that gets you SPG Gold status. Now, Gold is not anything really special for domestic stays, but in some overseas properties it can get you nice upgrades.

smilinganddialing

Thanks for all the responses everyone. To summarize, it sounds like SPG is great for:

1. Flexbility - I'm pretty happy with *A redemption for now (2x on Travel/Dining for Sapphire Preferred, 1.5x miles on everything else via United Club Card) so I'm not sure this would matter for me. For UA the conversion rate is pretty crappy due to the Chase - UA relationship.

2. Hotel Stays with Cash/Points - upon further research, it does seem like a good deal. I guess I still feel like the UR Rewards flexibility to take cash, use it for travel, convert it to UA miles, etc. wins out.

3. Status at Hotels - very good point. Had not thought of this before.

4. Aspirational hotel/air - as I pointed out before, this makes sense to me but not my flavor (yet)- maybe once I'm at your guys' level on mastering the whole FF thing

Thanks again.

Braindrain

It depends on your expectations. If you're happy with a regular room or a slight upgrade to whatever room, then no, you shouldn't care about hotel points. But, scoring that mega-sized 2 bedroom suite with butler service on a C&P rate of $90/night in a major international city does wonders for making your significant other very happy.


I'd never PL a flight. Ever. With airline status, I can get lounge entry, skip the Economy line-ups at check-in and boarding, and probably even upgrade to Business if I stick to my carrier or the alliance it's a part of. Why in the world would I even want to give that up? But, I understand the argument of saving a few $.

MoreMilesPlease

I can tolerate an 8 or 10 hour flight in coach but want to spend my two or three week vacation in a really nice room. I can use points to guarantee a nice room in a nice hotel that may cost $350 or more a night. With hotel status I will usually get a breakfast and lounge access. This saves me more money that I can spend on other things.

I do collect airline miles when I fly and have an airline associated card to get the perks it gives. But all my major spending and other credit cards are hotel related.

obscure2k

Please continue to follow this thread in the MilesBuzz Forum..
Thanks.
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

redtop43

I agree with the OP, and I have not stayed in a room I didn't get on Priceline (or occasionally Hotwire) in years, except when going to a convention where I need to be at a specific place. And a fancy hotel room has never done a great deal for me personally.

But reading other comments does make me see how people could certainly value hotel points over airline. And while SPG doesn't have category or threshold bonuses, it does have the 25% bonus on transfers. So you could still use it for both hotels and airlines - especially if you stay in hotels enough (I don't) to get status.

CFFrost

Before I got big into points / miles I used to like the hotel cards because for a fairly modest amount of spend you can get something for free. International airfare might be a huge number of miles for an ordinary spender, but hotels can range anywhere from 3,000 points and up. That makes hotel rewards much more accessible. Also, I always kind of figured it was the incidental costs of travel that added up the most - take the hotel out of that equation and all you need to cover is your meals and entertainment.

Of course, that was before I realized how much you could take advantage of bonuses, portals, promotions . . .

elabut

I do not value hotel points very highly. I believe I am in the minority on flyertalk. One reason is I have no option but to travel on a budget. I normally stay at budget to mid-range pensions when traveling internationally. These rooms are usually $25 or less in Latin Am or Asia/$40 in Europe. I LIKE pensions as they have a lot of character and you get to meet the local/owner who often lives at the pension. I have used hotel points for an upscale room night just before coming home from a busy trip and that can be very nice. Also I value the LOCATION of my accommodation much more than luxuries.
However SPG points quite valuable as cash & points. The only card I pay an annual fee on is Capital One Rewards, which gives 2% back on all purchases. The (2%) cash back can be only be applied to reimburse any travel cost including Priceline and of course the cheapest hostel/pension that accepts VISA.
(I am not a youngster if anyone is wondering: I am in late 40's)

mnscout

If you do play a CC game, I think this whole premise is faulty. Why does it have to be one or another? At some point, you run out of airline credit card sign-up bonuses (at least for a while), so why not load up on hotel points? Having said that, I will admit I don't care much about spending on a card anyway. I don't even have a chance to get to that too often, 'cause I'm always busy meeting the spend requirement. However, when I'm not, I personally prefer to spend on Amex Hilton. 6 points for a $ on many categories plus 3 for everything else. I absolutely love SPG and Amex sign-up bonus, but I canceled their cards a year ago, 'cause I wasn't getting anywhere with them. Same with the airline cards. 1 point on a $ - no, thanks.

Now, if you don't play a CC game, then it's a different story...

slawecki

i do not orphan miles mentioned. i have a lot of orphan miles. in the past, i have lost a lot of orphan miles. no such problem with either spg or chase. also with those, they transfer to airlines. spg at 1.2 for 1.

my main use of miles is personal travel in biz class tatl. can usually get saver tickets. for hotels, i think one can get a much better value and quality of hotel using venere.com, and staying at independent 4*'s

Ken in Phx

I guess I feel the opposite of the OP. I travel only a few times a yr. Which airline I fly on isnt important. However, where I stay is. Although I can understand a Pricelined hotel better in an Urban situation. I wouldnt priceline for a hotel because usually I have a specific place I want to stay.

metoo

I value airline miles more than Hotel points. Like one OP, when I travel solo, I stay in basic, clean and cheap hotels to meet other travelers. However, when I travel with my family, we stay in nicer hotels using points.

I have already applied for many airline cards for sign up bonus points and pretty much ran out of great offers to apply. This is when i started concentrating on Marriott and Hilton CCs.