Then enlighten us with specifics with how transfering from a hotel program into an airline program into a hotel program make any sense. Conversions from one program to another tend to lessen the value of the points. Additional transfers devalue the original points further.

This was certainly me when I was working and traveling regularly. Now I am retired and all the miles I earned actually flying are gone. This is when you get resourceful. I now have far more miles than when I earned them by flying. Unfortunately I no longer have elite status, but this does not matter much as I use my miles for premium international travel once or twice a year. The best news is I now have time to use all those miles

Marriott Travel package: X points for 7 nights in a Marriott property, plus additional points to miles.

In my case, I paid an additional 120,000 points and got 120,000 AA miles. Because they were running a 20% bonus, I got 144,000 AA miles out of the deal. I had a few odd AA miles, and it totalled up to 150,000 AA miles.

They are transferred into Hilton @ 2 for 1, so 150,000 AA miles yields 300,000 Hilton Honors points.

@:-) Got it?

OMG! I could be clueless!

I qualify on your guidelines, but don't have mileage card. Spend $4000 - $6000 a month.

Am I clueless? (Be gentle!!!)
Should I be using a mileage card?

Yes. Putting that spending on the Starwood Amex woudl net you enough miles for a free business class to ticket every year for a $30 anual fee.

Well, maybe I don't get it, but for my travel patterns loyalty to a hotel chain does not make sense.

I have enough hotel nights every year to make a difference, but lets look at the costs. I am also a strong believer in Priceline (and hotwire).
My average cost for a 4 star PL room: $65
My average cost for a 3 star PL room: $40
(Until this month I also got 1125 to 1662 Asia Miles per PL night through EAP. Now down to 3% rebate to ebates.com)

I have a hard time believing one can negotiate points earning rates like these with the hotels.

I have SPG points (and had a few Priority Club Points) as a backup when PL does not work...but they are generally they are not needed.

This applies internationally as well. I will stay at the Renaissance Brussels for $60/night instead of 199 EUR/night (lowest price showing on their website).

Say I could somewhere/somehow half this rate. 100 Eur = aprox $140 = $80 more than I paid per night. So the points/status would be worth that?

i wish ^

I'm doing my best to work on my father. He flies at least two flights on United a year and never earns miles, even though he has a USAirways account with a number he doesn't know. I called US to get the number for him and they had his old office address on the account and they moved last century! He never signs up for hotel programs and is missing out on points and miles. He also writes me emails saying "I'm going to xxx next week, please get me the exit row".

..... I respect the results of your "research" too.

Hotel programs are far more lucrative, when done right, than most airline programs -- and this is especially true if you can sleep/work in coach. I got hooked to hotel programs when I discovered that spending sub-320 USD to get 600+ dollars of award hotel nights was too easy. (I was even thinking of hiring a homeless guy in DC to stay in hotels around the area for me as long as he gave me the award certificates. Unfortunately, a more trustworthy neighborhood homeless fellow could not be found that month.)

A very intelligent reply! Gives me another perspective. Proves what's been said here many times when a newbie asks what program is best...it varies with the individual!

Yes, for me I too would like to achieve the Holy Grail of Diamond Status. However, it's just not gonna happen! I'm not gonna make 20+ visits a year.

But no, I wouldn't waste my points on a stay at a Hampton Inn in Peoria. But then, *wood charges substantially more points for their resort in Port Douglas, Queensland, so no hot deals here!

I tried to work with *wood. Booked SIN at their internet rate, so I could get an upgrade. Sorry, "nothing available." Meanwhile, I was stuck in a hotel that was a bit off the beaten path....and no upgrade! Next time, I go for the location! Fool me once, shame on me....fool me twice, shame on me!!!

I agree with the 6-8 hours in a tube, although it is actually more like 15 hours in a tube to Australia. The 15 hours confined in a tube (about half are awake) are substantially more important than 4-6 awake hours in a hotel. And I can leave the hotel if I don't like the food or service. Can't do the same with the airplane.

With UA I get 6 SWU's a year, 8 CR-! Regional upgrades, and 4 500 mile upgrades for every 10K miles I fly. That, plus a few miles, just about guarantees that I'll never see the Economy cabin.

People have brought up some very good points in this thread...

As far as airline FF programs go, I've gotten FAR more out of elite status than I have a simple FF mile. I've redeemed a few miles for upgrades, but never an actual award. Just out of curiosity, am I the only elite without a FF mileage earning card? With my financial habits, I think that right now the card would actually cost me more than I would get in return. I don't pay my card off every month (my own business that I don't want to discuss here) and between a high APR and an annual fee, I don't see that the few miles I get are worth the real expense my card would cost. If I could charge enough to make it worth my while, I would, but I really don't. I would be surprised if I charged more than $5,000 in a year. I think if I really put my mind to it and was disciplined, I could, but I don't so I don't see that the APR/Fee is worth it.

As far as NW WP goes, it doesn't cost me anything to be a member, and I don't pay much of a premium to stay "loyal" to NW. Between NW, CO, and DL, I don't think I ever pay much more than $50 over the cheapest non-skyteam carrier. It's hard to say what elite status is worth, but the mere fact I can prereserve an exit row seat or bulkhead is definitely worth $50. Nonwithstanding the very real chance at F upgrades as well. I'm fairly particular about my flight times, and even though expedia might say that airline a is cheaper than airline b, by the time I narrow down the times, it actually is rare for it to be signficantly cheaper than my perferred THREE carriers.

As far as hotels go, I am a leisure traveler. I don't stay in hotels very often, and when I do I very rarely pay rack rate for a room. I am completely clueless as to hotel frequent stay programs, don't have a hotel CC (is it better than an airline cc if you goal is to earn free stays? that would be my goal with a hotel cc, I could care less about hotel status, even though I don't know what you get for it). Unless it's a very rare circumstance, I try to pay under $100 for a room. I just don't know how to do that with a top chain and will stay at a travelodge if I have to. Lately, however, I've taken to using hotwire to book my rooms, and I have absolutely no complaints about them. I understand the limitations, but it has not burned me. I just don't see that hotel loyalty programs are worth the premium over using hotwire. As far as hotel preferences go, I just don't need or expect much. When I travel, I'm typically "on the go" and am just looking for a place to sleep as much as most people look at flying as getting from piont a to point b.

Priceline is generally far cheaper than Hotwire. Use Hotwire to determine what your Priceline maximum bid should be.

Priceline is a valuable tool when you have to pay for your hotel out of your own pocket, or if your company is cheap on your travel expenses. My point above was that many business travellers who spend scores of nights each year at high-end hotels are clueless about hotel programs, even though they are paying high rates. These same people know a lot about airline programs. (But they are also clueless about PL!)

One of the perks of my job is to be able to stay at nice hotels when I travel extensively, and my company doesn't really care how much it costs. If they put a per diem limit on my hotel, I would find a new job, and they would be the losers.

It depends on where you travel, as well. I can tell you that Priceline is useless in expensive cities throughout Asia and Europe.

If you use PL extensively for your hotels, then the hotel programs are indeed of lesser value than they would otherwise be. But then I assume you are also using PL for your airline tickets, right? No??? Why not??

Priceline works well for the major European financial centers/airport hubs. And the same for a few Asian "hubs".

It's certainly worked out rather well enough for London, Paris, Zurich, Frankfurt, Rome, Amsterdam, Vienna, Tokyo, Bangkok, Hong Kong and more. And the Asia Miles were icing on the cake (when the going was good).

That said, your point is spot-on: most business travellers seem rather clueless about the hotel programs.

You paid? Anyway, let's simplify things. What was the amount of Marriott points you converted to AA miles?