Switching Hotel Program Advice
 

So, I've been with IHG for a few months, and made Platinum and have somewhere around 270K worth of points. Since then, I've learned what you all probably already knew -- it's easy to rack up points, but the properties are mediocre and the top tier benefits are non-existent. So, I'm looking to switch, and seeking thoughts/recommendations.

My spending habits:
My company reimburses all of my stays, which are typically two to three one-nighters per week. I've never been questioned about where I stay, but I've also stayed around the $120/night threshold -- which will continue to be my target. I don't particularly care about where I stay; I walk in, sleep, and walk out. I don't particularly care about breakfast -- I usually just have a yogurt and a banana, sometimes a hard boiled egg (I'm not a breakfast person :) ).

What I want:
I let my points rack up, then take a vacation at a top tier property. One of the problems with IHG is that there just aren't that many InterContinentals. The other problem is the whole PRC/Ambassador thing. Ideally, I'd like a loyalty program that gave me perks when I vacation -- room upgrade on my point redemption stay at the top tier property, and lounge access. Breakfast or a fitness center would be nice, but not nearly as important as the room upgrade.

I figure I have enough stays to qualify for any of the top tiers -- it's just figuring out which one is most likely to give me what I want (being treated well on vacation).

Thoughts/recommendations?

You may want to take a look at Marriott - lot of properties, can upgrade using points (many times). If u can put the Marriott room charges on a Marriott credit card, you can accrue points real fast. Marriott also has high end properties especially Ritz Carlton. Of course it all depends on weather a chain has properties where u do your business and want to vacation. Good luck!

Check out some of the bloggers most of us read. Many have done comparisons between programs. I like Hilton properties because it's pretty easy to reach GOLD status which gives you free wi-fi, breakfast & some upgrades. Hilton & Marriott both have a lot of properties to choose from.

I agree Hilton is also a good choice. Pls note that Hilton charges exorbitant number of points for confirmed upgrades. Marriott is usually 5-10 k points per night whenever available. YMMV!

On stays, you might as well do it through Marriott. Yes, Hilton is good for treating you on redemptions, but you can get much of that simply by signing up for the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve card which is $95/year (no first-year waive) but instantly makes you Gold (mid-level at Hilton). And then from another Citi card (that's actually chunrable) you can get 50k HHonors points each time.

Marriott status, OTOH, is not easy to get other than through stays. So that's where it makes sense putting your stays, as you don't need stays to get good HHonors status.

Then you can have Marriott status (you want at least Gold, which is 50 nights a year, or 35 nights if you get and hold the Marriott Premier credit card from Chase) plus HHonors status.

Then use up your IHG points when you go to smaller cities where there's no high-tier hotels anyway (smaller cities often have only Holiday Inn Express in IHG and Hampton Inn in HHonors and Fairfield Inn in Marriott Rewards, and all of those give everyone everything free anyway, so there's not a huge difference between having status and not having status at those properties usually).

I share your frustration as well, I have done exactly the same and stayed at numerous Crowne Plaza properties and gained racked up points but redeeming them at IC properties have been a difficulty since I'm not Ambassador and as a PC - Platinum, my only perks are (e.g. free internet).

I though of Marriott / Hilton, however in terms of properties and the value for points that you will receive, I would have to say the Starwood is your best bet. The range of properties and fantastic and additionally the redemption stays will be counted towards status.

So much depends on where your stays occur. SPG and Hyatt, in addition to having fewer properties with rates under $120, often have no options in smaller cities/towns. Hilton and Marriott will have the best coverage of the other programs.

There's no easy answers here. Different programs are better for different people.

for top luxury properties - starwood is the best, but marriott does have ritz carlton

If your desired vacation destinations are likely to be resort properties, go Hilton. Elite status perks with HH are all included at resorts, provided they aren't Waldorf-Astoria properties. They are not at Marriott.

If your vacations tend to be city properties, go Marriott. You'll net a little more total bang for your buck in terms of reward redemption, and city Marriotts around the world tend to be consistently good.

The pattern of one-night stays would instinctively lead some to consider Starwood, since you'd be Platinum in a hurry. Plat status there is better IMHO than either HH Diamond or MR Platinum, but without knowing your destinations I'd guess that consistently finding properties where you need them or finding them at $120/nt. might be a challenge. $120/nt. in the U.S. suggests a mix of smaller-town and/or rural stays, and Starwood is a lot weaker in those areas than HH, MR, or IHG.

Starwood has the most interesting upper-tier properties, IMHO. Marriott's consistency is a blessing and a curse...Starwood seems to have more varied styles and more hotels that retain at least a little bit of a boutique/luxury feel.

Interesting, and useful, info! Thanks all :)

Very good point about where I want to vacation -- but there isn't a definitive answer. Probably cities and resorts equally. Generally, wherever whomever I'm dating wants to go.

I've started a Marriott Platinum challenge (as well as a United gold), so we'll see what happens. As fast as PRC points accumulate, taking a few months off from them won't hurt me.

In this case, maybe play Marriott plus one backup, either HH or SPG. You have enough total hotel stays to do it, plus you could snag both of those credit cards and ramp at least one of the two programs up to a 5-night award level pretty quickly.

Starting from scratch and with the MR Plat Challenge already a given, I'd probably try to focus some of my future business stays on hitting SPG Plat. Even though we all agree that property coverage and price point might be a challenge, all you have to do is find 23 Starwood nights out of your 100+ business stays a year. (Or fewer in a condensed timeframe; they also have a challenge.)

I'd use the MR Visa at Marriotts and the SPG Amex for everything else.

I'd also snag the HH Visa. Instant Gold plus a fat signup bonus and certificates that more than pay for the annual fee. No-lose proposition. Holding HH Gold, which is honored at resorts, gives you a backup to your backup. Gold is a little weaker than it once was, but it's still the best status you can get from a straight CC signup.

With the largest stash of points, Marriott, look at the Travel Package awards and find some city hotels that interest you. The TP is fantastic award for anyone who does the volume of stays needed to rack up that many points.

You seem to be confusing two cards (as well as the features of one).

The HH 50k Visa gives you a big fat signup bonus (with no annual fee), but doesn't make you Gold.

The HH Reserve Visa gives Gold as long as you hold the card, has a $95/year annual fee (not waived), and gives you two certficates for free weekend nights the first year only, and no bonus points at all for singup. (Subsequent years on the Reserve you get nothing more than continued Gold status for the annual fee alone. Getting certificates in subsequent year requires very big spend, not just your annual fee. You might as well put that spend instead toward getting oodles more points churning the 50k card, while holding the Reserve just for the Gold status.)

I have a similar price target when it comes to business stays - not anything the company mandates, but just a personal preference. Despite their major points devaluation, I still prefer the Hilton chain as I try to book all my stays at HGI's - very consistent product across the country. Occasionally, price target permitting, I'll try out a new Hilton chain and the like, but I've found the product to vary drastically by property.

Regarding use of points - lots of nice properties situated across the world, specifically the Conrad and Millennium properties. Redeeming points next year at Conrad Koh Samui (pre-devaluation), Conrad Hong Kong, and a cheap paid stay at the Conrad Bangkok.

With that said, I'm also going to try out the SPG program for some award stays, since I'll have 30k points by end of next month with the new CC offer.

I should breeze through this Platinum challenge (9 stays in 3.5 months, 2 under my belt already) and then I'll probably take a shot at the Hilton :)

Thanks for the clarification...I guess the more accurate advice would be to grab both cards at a minimum, and then churn if you're in a position to do that.

Well, I had my mind made up for me... I didn't realize IHG/PRC points could be converted into UA points. As easy as PRC points are to amass, and much easier for me to get than UA points, I'll be going back to IHG after I finish this Marriott challenge.

I won't be able to do a Staples/ink double dip, but air miles are where the bulk of my spending is and int'l flights are my weakest link on earnings.

I think you'll find that most hotel points can be converted to FF miles. If that's your goal, SPG might be the route to go, as 20,000 SPG points = 25,000 UA miles. Most other hotel points will not get you 1:1 (or better) rates.

Most hotel points can be convert to FF miles somehow at some ratio, but not all the same way or at the same ratio.

In particular you're wrong about UA. SPG is awful for UA, because while SPG transfers 1:1 to most other ailrines, they transfer 2:1 to UA. So 20,000 SPG points = only 12500 UA miles!!!

The other thing is that the OP is talking about hotel stays, not credit card spend. And on hotel stays, you don't earn nearly as many SPG points per dollar as IHG/PRC points per dollar. Plus it's much harder to find "affordable" SPG hotels many places than "affordable" IHG/PRC hotels. So on hotel stays alone, I'm not sure whether converting from SPG to airlines (other than UA) is that much better than converting from other hotel programs to airlines. But again, if UA is the airline of issue, the "half as much" bite as SPG pretty takes SPG out of the picture for those interested in UA miles from their hotel program.

Wow i'm slightly amazed people are still recommending Hilton HHonors in 2013 after the massive devaluation. I'm actually curious what are you looking to get out of a rewards program? Because if its luxury/top tier hotels, 1) there aren't many top top ones 2) the prices are insane!

This :)

http://www.united.com/web/en-us/cont...fer/hotel.aspx

MRC and PRC both convert at 5:1, and indeed SPG has a better rate at 2:1. I have no idea how many points per night one earns at SPG, but I average about 8000 points per night at IHG (only 1200 points per night at Marriott).

I'd have to earn 3200 points per night at SPG to match PRC.

Can you please read this thread? The OP wants to use their hotel points to transfer to airline miles. The only program that's devalued that in recent years is Club Carlson, not Hilton HHonors.

The Hilton HHonors devaluation mostly affected luxury/top tier hotels. It didn't affect small town Hamptons and HGIs that much, and it didn't affect transfers to airline programs a single bit.

Not everyone uses a hotel program the same way. I'm slightly amazed people like you think everyone does!!!

I only use HHonors points where they're good value. I don't expect to be able to use them at any particular destination, but I'm happy when I can. Otherwise, I may use my Marriott points, my IHG points, my SPG points, my Club Carlson points, my Choice points, my Best Western points, or even my WyndhamRewards points. (And, if need be, I have "flexible" points that I could transfer to Hyatt if I ever needed those. Tho my Hyatt account seems deactivated due to about 10 years of no use, because of their small footprint.) Or I may just pay for an "indie" hotel that's not nearly as expensive as the big chain hotels.

And to me, HHonors points not being a good value in more than half the places I go to is nothing new. But as long as they're of value some of the places I go to, that's fine.

I'm a business traveler too, although I do longer week stays at places.

I started off with the Marriott Platinum challenge. Met that in a few months.
Used that status to start the Starwood Platinum challenge. Got that as well (and got Delta crossover rewards).
Matched my statuses with IHG and Choice to get instant Platinum status.
Just finished the Hyatt Diamond status and had that matched to MLife.
Marriott status also now has some United rewards as well, although it's not as nice as the Delta crossover rewards programs.

I'm thinking about matching my Club Carlson status to start earning points there, but I'm wondering if I'm diversifying too much. Marriott status is good to have because, although the point redemptions aren't great, they run a lot of "1 free night after 2 stays" promotion. If you're in there and out in a day, you'll benefit more than someone like me who stays in a hotel multiple days.

Keep in mind that matched status will only work for about a year, and you can only match once ever at most programs. Do you only hotels stays for one year??? :confused: Do you have plan for after that? (IHG Plat can be had outright with just a credit card, as can Hilton HHonors Gold. But I think those are the only two that give mid- or top-level just for holding a credit card.) You'll need 35 nights with the credit card (50 nights without) just for Marriott Gold (most but not all of the benefits of Marriott Plat). You'll need 25 (23) stays or 50 (45) nights at SPG to requalify for SPG Plat (numbers in parens are with the credit card).

So in light of that, combined with the relatively small footprint of Club Carlson, combined with the fact that you have to very top tier of Club Carlson just to get a free breakfast (while you can get the bottom tier with just a credit card, I don't know if you can status match to the very top tier), yes, I think that would be diversifying too much. In fact, it seems to me you're already diversified for what will be "too much" possible to requalify for. It may make sense to sample these programs, yes, but you'll presumably want to narrow the field down for future years.

Just to clarify I match so many statuses for various tie-ins. For instance I did the Starwood challenge so that I can get the Delta crossovers, and I did the Hyatt challenge so I could get M life platinum for my stay in Vegas. My goal starting next year is to get the Marriott Visa so that I can get extra nights towards platinum. Then to qualify for Starwood platinum. And then maybe Hyatt again.

A lot of the chains that I status match to I knew that I could get the status again if I got the credit card. So it away a lot of it was a trial to see if it was worthwhile to get the credit card.

In all fairness, it was about finding a better program in general -- the points conversion was just a new discovery that tipped the scale.

Agreed. I'll personally probably stay focused on two for myself. When my sampling of Marriott is done, I'll probably try Hilton.

When the dust settles, I'll know which credit card(s) to target :D

If you do a lot of single night stays, it's not really that hard to get top tier in a few programs. I had top tier with IHG for a number of years, and for international locations it was quite worthwhile.

I'd never convert most hotel points to airline miles unless there is a big bonus. Luckily earlier this year Club Carlson had such a promo, so I transferred out most of my hotel points, just before they devalued such transfers.

Hyatt has a nice Diamond challenge, that is pretty easy to get, 12 nights in 60 days. You also get 4 suite upgrades. Traveling as I do, in Asia most of the year, Hyatt Diamond is great to have. They do have some good US properties, if you're looking for some top tier redemptions.

Huh? Post #1, simply refers to wanting to have top hotel status at nice properties for vacations. No mention of converting to miles in that post at all, although some conversation in later posts.

I asked the previous person to "read the thread". Since when does a thread mean simply post #1??? :confused: The reference to transferring to airlines did indeed come in followup posts by the OP.

(Oh, I said "the OP wants", which shoud have made clear that I meant OP as "original poster", not OP as in "original post". Unfortunately, OP can mean one thing in one context and a different thing in another context. Sometimes, as here, it means the person, other times it's referring to post #1. Perhaps you didn't read my phrasing carefully and thought I was using the latter meaning?)

The rules at IHG have changed this year. Bonus points (often so easy to "stack" up on just a few stays for FTers at the start of each year) no longer count toward qualification. So you can no longer use a small number of stays to get IHG Platinum:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/inter...-platinum.html

It's far easier now (for those in the US at least) to simply get IHG Platinum from the credit card. Unfortunately, that's not available in most other countries, so for most places outside the US it has indeed gotten more difficult to get IHG Platinum compared to even just a year or two ago.

A few more random thoughts...I'll spare everyone a long multi-quote:

- Regarding HH and the devaluations of '09 and '13, totally agreed that they were painful, but there are some sweet spots within the program that didn't get impacted too much. Since HH has, in that same period, enhanced the credit card earnings, I think the program is still worth a look for a lot of people. No, it's not what it was 10 years ago (especially on the upgrade front), but if you do your business stays in an area where they are strong, there is still some good value there.

Reason HH could be relevant to the OP: the brands likely to be found in the $120 range - Hampton and HGI - are superior in most places to their Marriott counterparts. If I was on a $120/nt. target, HGI would probably be the first brand I'd look to. Also might look for Hyatt Place or Element (SPG), but there are far more HGI's in this world than those two.

The sweet spots that I've seen within HH are Asia, Middle East, and secondary European markets. Good properties that weren't hit hard by devaluation.

- The conversion to air miles came in later in the thread, but if I combine the OP's original desire to have good upper-tier redemptions *and* ability to convert to UA, this is a strong point for Marriott provided two conditions are met: (1) you do enough volume to reach the Travel Package levels where the points-to-miles rate effectively becomes 1:1 and (2) you can either avoid "resorts" or are okay staying in a resort without elite benefits.

- Starwood is a good conversion program if you want to do smaller conversions. I've never been a big fan of converting *all* SPG to airlines...I find the points worth a lot more as hotels stays. There are a variety of avenues to convert in to redeem United flights...you just need to do if via a different Star Alliance airline. (Several threads on the SPG board about this...a popular path in for some awards is SPG->ANA.)