Have some 30k points left to redeem and can't find anything decent. Even for points + cash, the outlay is still pretty high.

Sorry, I missed your question. I very much liked the stay, the location of hotel is really good, the rooms are very spacious (to local standards).
I got a bottle of wine as F&B benefit.

It's up to the hotel.
I have gotten some snacks, a bottle of wine and once we got a complete 3-course meal for 2 persons. (excluding drinks)

Stay at The Marker SFO
 

Had a quick 2 night stay at The Marker in San Francisco as a Titanium.

Booked a cash rate and was upgraded to a 1 bedroom suite. Was also given 2 breakfast vouchers for their restaraunt.

Check in gifts were a bottle of wine, a medium bag of artisan local popcorn, a small package of artisan local chocolates and 2 San Pellegrinos.

If I got this at any other chain I would be satisfied with my status recognition.

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You could use it for 2 nights in Singapore's Wyndham. That is quite decent one.

Recently stayed as iPrefer Titanium at Hotel Diplomat in Stockholm. No welcome amenity nor FnB voucher. Asked for the voucher and the staff most looked puzzled and never heard of it. Great stay anyhow.

Is there an easy/cheap way to extend point expiration? I have some expiring at the end of the month but I don't have an upcoming booking to extend

In Tokyo I can get the New Otani Main or the Royal Iconic Shidome for almost the same price. I am hoping to be matched to Titanium from Hilton Diamond or Marriot LT Platinum.
We usually stay at Conrad which is in the Shidome area so are familiar with the area. have not stayed in the area of the New Otani since I stayed there 45 years ago!

Has anyone stayed at both and can recommend one or the other. Does one have better Titanium recognition?

Key access offers
 

I’ve found the Key Access offers to be solid. You access them at the bottom of the “redeem” page by clicking the “unlock your secret rates” button.

They are cash + a small amount of points (like 500 per night). I have found that the pricing is sometimes better than they indicate on the site when you look at the available properties so it’s worth trying them to see what the final pricing looks like.

One note is that they don’t earn points. Not a big deal though, I was able to book some nice properties at a substantial discount.

is the Key Access redemption working at the moment? It’s been working fine for the past few months, but I can’t get to the calendar page yesterday/ today. When I clicked the ‘view rate’ button, it doesn’t do anything. Tried it on my partners phone and still can’t get through. Thanks

Seems to be working for me! Just tried it. The site is a little slow so sometimes I find things take a while to display.

For some reasons, pop ups are blocked on my phone. It’s working for me now. Thanks.

Late reply, here, but I'm having the same sort of dilemma. On paper, this is a great program to transfer Citi points to with the 4:1 ratio. But when you look at the physical number of properties available to book with points, it does sort of suck. On a good day, it's a phenomenal value. I have a stay booked at a Cancun all inclusive this year that will be a great use of points. But I struggle to justify keeping points in this program when there are so so few properties to find.

Why would you "keep" points in this program. If you find a hotel that is a good deal, transfer from Citi and burn them ALL. You should never have more than a few hundred points in your account unless you have paid stays.

Status Match
 

Is status match still live?

If so, can someone provide a link?

TIA