thetapop1

I've had status with all of them, I generally prefer Hilton for choice and Starwood for big city and service as well as their lifetime status, but far fewer hotels...

First elite level
Hilton (approx 4,000 hotels) 4 stays or 10 nights
Holiday Inn (4,600 hotels) 15 nights no stay option
Hyatt (550 hotels) 5 stays or 15 nights
Marriott (3700 hotels) 10 nights no stay option
Starwood (1100 hotels) 10 stays or 25 nights

Highest elite level
Hilton 30 stays or 60 nights
Holiday Inn 50 nights, no stay option
Hyatt 25 stays or 50 nights
Marriott 75 nights, no stay option
Starwood 25 Stays or 50 nights

hornedfrog

I really liked the brand new Hyatt Place Omaha/Downtown-Old Market. The Hyatt Place in Fort Worth was still very 1980s.

MSPeconomist

Be careful what you call top tier with SPG:

For the last several years, 50 nights means more benefits than 25 stays, aka PlatMinus. In addition to Plat50, there's Plat75, and Ambassador for those with 100 nights.

pinniped

The other modification I'd make: the first "real" elite level at the programs is often one or two higher than the first one they give a precious metal to.

First actual elite levels:
- MR Gold
- HH Gold
- SPG Plat
- HY Diamond (?...are HY Plat bennies worth writing home about? Breakfast? Suites?)
- IHG Nothing...except one of those paid RA levels

MR Silver/HH Silver/SPG Gold might theoretically reduce your chance of getting walked, but I'm not too sure about it.

factory81

Ohh my take. I am heavy business, and of course - leisure traveler.

Hyatt - way too few properties. Sometimes they exist, and sometimes they are way outside of your price range. Good reward program with strong point value, but for the life of me - I just hardly justify staying in a Hyatt, either for logistics, price or a better hotel in my program. Even though I would definitely go for a Hyatt before a Hilton brand if I had to pick.

SPG - all the way. The hotel point value is strong, the conversion to miles is pretty good (no southwest, lame). Between all of their promos, bonus points, "keep it green" nightly vouchers for turning down maid service, and upgrades - I really enjoy this brand. I've gotten multi-room suites, club access in Sheratons of course. I've had rooms bigger than my apartment with SPG.

IHG - My fave underdog. The IHG card has the platinum status which gets you 1 free night a year, plus you can hope for upgrades. I have had some amazing IHG experiences. We're talking $80-90/nt multi-rooom suites with couches, multiple bathrooms, multiple TV's, etc. You could easily have a party for 6 or 8 in some of the rooms. They exist everywhere unlike Hyatt and SPG. The free wifi, breakfast, etc at the HIX brand - and the standard that they set (I think they do quite well myself, if it is a hotel refreshed in the last 10 year and maintained well).


Marriott - their program offers a lot if you put all your stays with them. Otherwise, I think just like Hilton - you won't ever collect enough points to stay anywhere meaningful.

MrCharming

Is Club Carlson not considered to be a "major hotel chain" ?

Imo they have a good membership program.
It became slightly worse after they increased the point price of their category 6 hotels but still good.

pinniped

I think of them like I think of IHG. Weak in terms of mainline business hotels, but good redemption potential in Europe and elsewhere where properties that would be a low-ish end brand in the U.S. are pretty good. The inability to consider them as my primary business stay program keeps them from being "major" in my mind.

I've done those 1-night 50k Carlson stays in the U.S. (usually at a less-than-stellar hotel) and then redeemed at a solid 3-star type hotel in Europe.

Like the Radisson Blu brand enough...just aren't many of them.

Fletch

Hilton's model is to treat you great when there, then screw you when you go to redeem points.

No thanks. I'm staying all these nights because I want to take a nice vacation. It's all about points for me and Hilton is the worst. By far.

gilbertaue

Probably depends also in which part of the world. I travel extensively in Asia and to secondary cities. In countries like Indonesia or China, I'm grateful for Accor. But of course for the Nth American market, Accor is a "whats that?"

Sure, its a quirky program which for awhile was throwing out Plat status - but that has now stopped and the program over the past 12 months has actually become quite good.

CPRich

I agree with the above note about Hilton. I was Diamond for a couple of years way back when, but dropped it the first time they made significantly impactful changes. Keeping an eye on them through the years, I'm glad I did.

I chose Marriott for my "high availability" chain to compliment SPG for the same reasons as noted above.

I was fortunate (in FF terms, not in work/life terms) to be able to maintain PLT at both for 10 years, so that initial choice worked our very well for me. If I have <100 nights/year, I'd probably double up SPG PLT and MR Gold.

pinniped

HH has had two massive structural changes in the past 4 years. Bizarre to me...almost as if they haven't yet figured out how to run a frequent-stay program. Both restructures left members holding the bag and diminished the value of the program overall, although there still are a few decent sweet spots in the program here and there.

MR and SPG have generally stable programs that don't get overhauled too often. Category creep is always a risk but the program flat-out rewriting itself every couple years isn't. To be honest, the biggest variability in MR and SPG is the quality of the promotions, because the rewards from the promotions have at times been greater than all of the other benefits of the rewards program combined.

sdsearch

For people who want the most bang out of a few stays, Marriott has diminished greatly, since it just announced its second promo in a row where it doesn't have an option to earn free night certificates based on a few stays. All there is various ways to earn extra points. As a Marriott Plat chasing lifetime status there (which requires both lifetime nights and lifetime points), it doesn't affect me (I want the most lifetime points out of my promotion ), but a lot of people who don't stay as much are bummed out by the apparent disappearance of the free night certs as part of the promos.

mahasamatman

Wow, 11 responses to a first-time poster, and nobody has said it, so I will.

Welcome to FT, thetapop1!

pinniped

True, even as a mid-Gold type guest at Marriott, I miss the simple free night certs. I'll cross LT points well ahead of LT nights, so I wasn't too worried for that reason. I just found the free nights useful...albeit of decreasing utility as Category 4 is becoming thinner and thinner.

StephenW

My real challenge with SPG is the inability or senselessness with trying to redeem for aspirational properties due to either redemption not being allowed or a ridiculous amount of points being asked.

I don't mind spending < $250/night on a hotel room and can't fathom ever redeeming points for a room that's priced equal or lower. Unlike some, I don't value a "free stay" as much as a "I wish I could stay there but don't have the budget for it" property.

With that said, HH has been good to me. Conrad Koh Samui, Conrad Hong Kong, Conrad Tokyo (with suite upgrade), and an upcoming stay at the Conrad Maldives all on points. Yes, the devaluation was painful, but that's why it's important to earn and burn.