Which frequent stay program points appear to be the most valuable? I am Gold on SPG and Plat on Hyatt but just by default for stays associated with work (mostly). For leisure I always stayed at higher-end properties that do not offer points... and im starting to reconsider the way I look at my leisure stays, hence my question. For example, my strategy is to use FF miles to buy F/J long-haul international for my leisure trips, which saves me real money. So, to me SPG points seem to have the best "value" given their transferability and associated transfer bonus... or arent they?

Having searched before posting, Im aware of this thread (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=569911) but its specific to a few properties and not broadly based, and didnt want to hijack the thread by posting it there...
Mod, feel free to move it wherever you see fit.

marriott seems to have the most locations

hilton has a very nice program, especially if you stay enough to earn diamond status

SPG is said to be a good program if you care about upgrades

hyatt rocks if you are staying somewhere that has a grand hyatt

super 8 and motel 6, well they just plain suck don't they

The most valuable hotel program is the ones that give you the rewards you want. Since this is probably not the same one that gives me the rewards I want, there is really no way to answer your question.

sounds like your hotel strategy is to still stay in properties that don't have points programs. in that case, then I'd agree that *wood is the best option, as you can convert the miles at a 1.25/1 ratio to miles and most airlines (assuming you transfer 20K miles at a time).

personally, I'd consider using points for hotel stays. At the best available rate, I saved well over $1200 by using *wood points at the Westin in Rome over Christmas. Considering that I was upgraded to a suite, the value of the award stay was even higher.

If you were to do that, then I agree with the previous poster that *wood is best for upgrades, but that Mariott/ Hilton are probably better for locations (although *wood probably has properties in most of the high-hit tourist locations).

I agree. There is no one answer to this question. What works for me might not work for you--and my tastes are not necessarily the same as yours.

I defintely agree and understand both you and mahasamatman, but perhaps what works for you COULD work for me... that is why i started this thread...

3timesalady you've certainly proven your point w/ your experience @ the Westin in Rome... I recently booked a 4 night stay at the Western Cape in CPT and the CSR on the phone said to me while he was looking for differences in fares/prices (i.e. was thinking about using corporate acct etc) "Sir, you have a lot of points, how about using some?" He went on to say that the same room that I am reserving for circa USD $500/night could be mine for USD $60 and 4000 points/night... I declined but hanged up perplexed about my strategy. But then again, the two tix LAX-CDG-JNB r/t on AF in O (biz class) which price out @ USD $8000+ p/p for 120k miles (NW miles) each reminded me about my strategy....

I agree, from the point of view of my own personal experience. Nonetheless, if you look at the Starwood posts on FT, you will see that a lot of people are very bitter over lack of success with upgrades at Starwood, and even more people are even more bitter over the so-called targeted promotions because they systematically discriminate against Starwood's own elite members.

For me, I find Hilton as my preferred program of choice... I am very price sensitive... so Hilton gives me many options... and many different types of properties... from Hampton Inns to Embassy Suites.

I very rarely stay at high end properties... and I have become a Priceline devotee... so I do not get a lot of stays... but Hilton has always had an option when I need to pay... or use points.

William

Not sure I'm tracking . . .

Given a choice between $500 per night or $60 plus 4000 Starpoints, using the Starpoints option has each point saving you 11 cents! Pretty good deal.

The tickets (if I understand you correctly) cost 120K NW miles to save $8000, which would make each mile worth about 6.67 cents. I presume you think that's a good deal or you wouldn't have taken it (and I agree), yet you're turning down a deal where you'd save nearly twice that. Not sure why.

Oh, and if you're paying $500 per night at the Western Cape, that's got to be at or near Rack Rate. Starwood has a "50% off" offer (SPG50) that allows you to pay only 50% of rack rate for up to 5 nights for a total of only 1000 Starpoints. If the "SPG50" rate is offered, for four nights you'd save about $1000 for 1000 points, or a saving of $1 per Starpoint. Now *that* is a savings! (And the nights on SPG50 count for stay and nights credit with SPG as well.)

I use only the Hilton and Starwood programs. I spend a lot of time on business travel at mid-range hotels which sometimes limits my Starwood stays. Hilton has a good range of hotels throughout every price range and they're in a lot more locations than Starwood. They also have some good high-end hotels (mostly international though) to spend points on. The other good thing about Hilton is that your points (and free nights due to recent promos) build up very quickly and if you're a diamond member, you can usually get a reward reservation pretty easily.

I like the Starwood properties a lot and it's easy to redeem points, but the points build up a lot more slowly than the Hilton points. Additionally, I almost never get targeted for Starwood promotions. That also limits my stays there.

[I]Not sure I'm tracking . . .

Given a choice between $500 per night or $60 plus 4000 Starpoints, using the Starpoints option has each point saving you 11 cents! Pretty good deal.

It is a very good deal, and that is why I am starting to re-think my strategy of using points/miles exclusively for award F/J flying. But rather, stay at the Prince the Galles vs. the George V to accumulate points and used them for a room should the ppp/ppm make sense.

The tickets (if I understand you correctly) cost 120K NW miles to save $8000, which would make each mile worth about 6.67 cents. I presume you think that's a good deal or you wouldn't have taken it (and I agree), yet you're turning down a deal where you'd save nearly twice that. Not sure
why.
Sorry if it was not clear enough. The tickets price out @ $8200+ each. I used 240,000 NW miles for two tickets. 6.8ppm.

Oh, and if you're paying $500 per night at the Western Cape, that's got to be at or near Rack Rate. Starwood has a "50% off" offer (SPG50) that allows you to pay only 50% of rack rate for up to 5 nights for a total of only 1000 Starpoints. If the "SPG50" rate is offered, for four nights you'd save about $1000 for 1000 points, or a saving of $1 per Starpoint. Now *that* is a savings! (And the nights on SPG50 count for stay and nights credit with SPG as well.)[/QUOTE]

Thanks for this ^ , i called and both the Western Cape and the Arabella in CPT (Staying at both properties) are not part of the group of hotels attached to this promo...

I agree that SPG points are the best. I love the flexibility of using 20K for 25K miles on most airlines and now with Le Meridian hotels there are more hotels to stay at for free.
I have to say that I have tried for over 2 year (maybe 10 different times total) to use the SPG50 offer and the rate is always higher than the best rate at the time. It seems that the 'rack' rate is so inflated that it is never worthwhile to use the coupon. I just throw them out now.

Actually, I'm pretty sure both hotels still do offer rooms under the SPG50 promotion sometimes. I stayed at the Cape Town Arabella Grand Hotel a couple years back on this rate and saved quite a bit. However, it depends on the demand -- if you're staying during a peak period (e.g., November for Hermanus - when the whales come through), the hotel will usually have few or even no rooms available at that rate.

Sometimes this is true, particularly in the United States (although I've had luck with SPG50s in the United States as well). Outside the US, where the number of promotions seems fewer, the SPG50s seem to be more useful. If you go to the Starwood forum here on FlyerTalk and do a search, you'll find lots of threads commenting on the good deals they found.

So, if you're going to "throw them out," you can throw them in my direction. Or maybe better yet, offer them on Coupon Connection for those folks who find them to be useful.

i double checked and they dont participate...

Isnt that the very essence of a "targeted promotion"? To systematically discriminate? Whats the use of a marketing dept if they just mass mail the promos to everyone?

Ken in Phx