Best Hotel Program
 

I'm sure this question has been asked before, but I couldn't seem to find a thread. Between Hyatt, Starwood, Hilton, and Marriot, which program earns free nights faster. I travel widely for work, so don't really prefer one chain over the others. Thank you for your insight.

At this point, Hyatt would be your best program as they offer 1 free night for every 2 paid stays (not nights mind you) until August 31 at least. You may also be able to get in on the 50k promo with Hilton HHonors for 4 stays during a 90 day period.

Unfortunately, Hyatt is not always the best priced or lacks in locations and variety of places. Best to have a backup program like Hilton or Starwood. Can't comment too much on Marriott as I had always been disappointed with their program and found the rooms to be very boring. That being said, do the Hyatt promo for the free nights you can still use after August and do the other programs depending on your preferences- Hilton allows you to double dip with airline miles and Starwood offers great 500 points per online booking and has better conversion rates of points to miles although many of us have visted the Hilton Cleaners to laundry miles. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Starwood without a doubt. It's the only one that treats their points as cash. No blackouts whatsoever which trumps every other program.

I would agree with Starwood, but it would also depend upon your travel schedule. Yes, Starwood is great, but if your travelling takes you to places with no *woods it doesn't help much http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Travel Buzz?

No not travel buzz. "Program".

If you travel widely, give Hilton four stays and see if you like them. That will net you 54,000 HH points in bonuses alone, plus they will give you Gold Status. (Gold is not super-elite because they give it to anybody, but it gets you an occasional upgrade and free breakfasts in some places.)

HH can get you to 100,000 points quickly with a few stays, which translates into 6 nights in almost any property in the world. (I'm sure there are a few exceptions, but not many.) That's *probably* your fastest way to a big award. I have no input to give on availability of awards other than the fact that I got my desired Hawaii dates with a 9-month advance booking on a 100K award.

Marriott seems to me to be the slowest way to earn a big award. I have accumulated about 150,000 points through the years, and never redeemed once. That's because MR delivers a LOT less bang-for-the-point at low levels. At the 250-300K range, you get into some very nice rewards that include 100,000 FF miles. Bonuses are tighter and MR doesn't give their mid- and high-elite levels away for nothing. A hardcore business traveler probably likes Marriott more than I do for these reasons.

One upside to MR and HH is that they have a good range of properties, from roadside motels (for college football weekends, of course!) to five-star resorts.

I have little experience with Hyatt and Starwood because the don't have properties everywhere I go. I have heard good things about both chains, and stayed in a nice Hyatt and a nice Westin from time to time. I just don't use them enough to become active in their programs.

HH/SPG --> Hyatt --> Marriott --> Priority Club

i have no idea what this means.

You sing it to the tune of "The head bone's connected to the neck bone...(etc...)"

I like Hilton's, as they really are everywhere with Hilton / Embassy / Doubletree / Hampton - in all the price ranges and in big cities and in the hinterlands. You also get points and airline miles for each stay, giving you the most in my opinion. Being a gold and soon to be diamond I've gotten my fair share of upgrades, and especially like the free snack and bottled water that you get a gold level
at the Hamptons, and the breakfast coupons at Hiltons is a nice touch also.

Marriott also has a wide variety of properties, Marriott, Courtyards, Fairfield, also available in the larger cities and smaller towns, but they are not as free with bonus points as Hilton, and it seems like I constantly don't get points credited to my account. I find the upgraded rooms at large city Marriotts to be nicer than the rooms at Hilton.

So you can see I split my stays, putting me in the mid level elite program to get extra benefits wherever I stay. Between Hilton and Marriott I can always find a property where I am going.

Oops!!

1st Choice : HH/SPG
2nd Choice : Hyatt
3rd Choice : Marriott
....
...

Just a quick personal experience about what people mean about Starwood being flexible and easy to use award.

I arrived in Atlanta one night at 11:00, and didn't want to fly home to LA that night. From the airport I called main Sheraton number - and within 20 minutes I was in my completely free room at the airport Sheraton.

My first choice, SPG, second, HH, third, HI.

(1) SPG is the best program going, but in some markets they are poorly represented (if at all) and in others (primarily Europe) are typically too expensive.

(2) Hilton - a decent selection of properties, and decent treatment as a mid-tier elite.

(3) Holiday Inn - if (1) and (2) aren't available or too expensive, at least I can earn a few points. After 3 years, I have enough for a free night in Europe.

I am a member of (No particular order): RediCard(Red Roof), Priority Club(Holiday Inns), Gold Crowne Club(Best Western), Guest Privileges(Choice Hotels), Marriott, Radisson Gold rewards, Wingate U1, Hilton Honors. I work an alternate work schedule (4/10 hour days a week) about 75 miles from my home. I pay for three nights a week out of my own pocket. I am always looking for a better price with something free.

I recently signed up and stayed at Hampton Inn for 4 nights to earn the 50K promo. It cost me out of pocket, $40.00 additional over a rate I have at a Fairfield. I expect to earn six nights free. It depends on who has the best price and gives the most rewards. This year it was Hilton and their 50k promo. Last year it was Marriott and their stay 3/5k bonus.

I have changed my reservations to take advantage of a more fruitful promotion. IE-two motels about the same rate, one offers triple reward points/miles. In the last two days, I found a rate that was $10.00 less a night at a Red Roof Inn than the one I had at an Econo Lodge that offered 300 AA Miles. Plus I get enough points for about 1/10 of a night free. My 'Rewards' are about equal, the quality is about the same and I save over $10.00. I plan to use a Hilton card and get 3 points for each $ spent.

I am not what you would call a power traveler for miles, but I have received over 8 tickets w/AA in the last three years and over 20 nights free. For me, this is entertainment to try to get a better deal and get something for "nothing".

It is impossible to rank the hotel programs 1,2,3, etc. You'll have to review the hotel programs according to your travel preferences. Also take into account:
- Locations (do they have properties where you go?)
- How easy is it to redeem (are there capacity controls?)
- Promotions (hard to predict in advance, but you can take a look at past promotions to get an idea of the future)
- How many paid nights do you stay per year (so which level will you achieve with the hotel program of choice?)
- Elite availability when hotel is sold out?
- Prices of rooms
- Range of properties (from low end to high end)
- Types of awards you redeem (do you like to save for high point awards/ are you interested in maximizing nights/ are you interested in cruise or merchandise rewards/ are you interested in converting to airlines, etc.)
- Are your stays typically Short stays (1-2 nights), long stays (5 night or more), or a mix of? Elite qualification could be based on number of stays or on number of nights.

Answer these questions (or rate how much these things mean to you) and you'll get a better idea of which program is better for you.

[This message has been edited by PG (edited 08-06-2002).]

Starwood

- No blackout dates or capacity controls.
- Excellent Customer service.

Hilton-Diamond Level

no capacity controls or black out days
excellent customer service

Too bad non-top-tier HHonors members can't enjoy the same.

Thankfully, Starwood doesn't restrict award redemption to top-tier elites.

Between HH Diamond and SPG Plat, HH Diamond wins hands down. All the points you can have http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif with no capicity control to boot. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif

Definitely SPG for all the reasons already stated and for problem resolution through their coporate office with ANY of their hotels. Also, special treatment/recognition for their elite members, especially platinum.

I'd say Hilton. Good range of hotels (cheap to resorts). Plus they are everywhere, Promos are good (Marriott promos suck, in my experience).

STARWOOD:

--Excellent Customer Service
--Westin Heavenly Bed (the W bed is also a dream--and Sheraton is going to be upgrading all their beds)
--No blackouts on free nights
--Starwod Lurker (aka William) to bail us out when trouble arises


Only downside is limited number of hotels is smaller areas--needs to acquire some other chain to fill this niche.

I jumped from Marriott, where the program now takes more points to get less rewards..and the rooms--ugh!

---

Well said! And I agree!

Yet for me:

SPG > Hyatt > Marriott > Hilton

at this time! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

-Mark

On your more-expensive Hampton: was the HI nicer than the FF, or were the motels basically the same? Across the board, I tend to think that HH takes better care of their Hamptons and Embassies than Marriott does of their Fairfields and Courtyards. Yes, a little bit more $$$, but usually a nicer stay. (Obviously, there are exceptions to be found.)

All bonus points aside, this is probably the reason I look to book HH before MR. When I'm paying for my own stays, it's in a mid-range property. When I'm redeeming points, it's in a resort property, and both of 'em have resorts that are plenty nice for me.

just my $0.02, i love starwood for its treatment of platinums and their great hotels in Europe (primarily Italy).

but, the company does need to expand its portfolio of hotels a bit.

I really feel that # for $ the best program around is hotels by Priceline. I refuse to pay off the rack rate to keep track of meaningless point if I can get great deals
on Priceline.

Priceline ( for hotels ) junkies will agree with me.

I personally enjoy the Marriott quality and service at the hotels, particularily at the JW's. However, I have enjoyed the bonuses at the Hiltons, including both the Hilton AmEx card and the Hilton Visa. I just acheived the 50,000 bonus. I would love to switch to SPG, however, properties are limited where I travel. Unfortunately I travel to Detroit (I work for one of the big 3) and properties are limited for the Motor City. However, when i was staying at the Mexico City Sheraton while relocating to Mexico, I earned a lot of points, and all I can say is, Starwood is the easiest program for redeeming points. A couple of clicks and you are set. No expediting fees or anything of the sort.

As far as Hamptons go . . . I haven't found very many I feel comforatable in. Particularily the one in Warren Mi. You couldn't pay me to ever stay there again.

I guess as a seldom to medium traveler my preferences are:

Hilton, Marriott, SPG (only because of lack of properties in the US).

Don't forget about double dipping with HH. You earn points and miles.

Hi, welcome to FT.

You may have gathered that there are as many answers as there are programmes - it really depends on what style of property you like, the budget you have when travelling and your travel pattern.

You could get a copy of the Frequent Flyer guide, from the FT team, which has some handy comparison charts: http://www.flyerguide.com/

Personally, I would recommend both Starwood and Hilton - they cover all main countries and cities, offer a good mix of business hotels and luxury properties and both programmes are really good for their elite members - it's also a good idea to have two - provides more leverage and choices. The added benefit of Starwood is the Lurker (aka William), who really makes a difference for FTers.


[This message has been edited by Canista (edited 08-12-2002).]

most of the older salesman in my company loves Marriot, but for no reason. Others like Hilton.. I personally is SPG and Hyatt

You're not brand new... so thanks for digging up a 10 year (yes, a decade old) thread to add a comment without much substance. :confused:

He should have waited a month until it was exactly 10 years since the last post.

And now, we're perpetuating the zombie thread.