Are hotel points overrated? Which do you collect?

[lancemahn]

I got a Hyatt card and a Hilton card. I opened both for the free nights and free status. I don't care much for the points. I thought about the Hyatt diamond challenge, but I would have to stay in a less than ideal location and significantly overpay for a room, so I decided not to complete it. No regrets at all on failing the challenge on purpose.

That being said, I don't think hotel points, hotel loyalty programs and hotel rewards are a good value. In almost all places, I can handily beat the chains with airbnb or Priceline NYOP to get my ideal room in the $110/night range, which is a clean and comfortable studio with a stove for cooking in order to avoid eating out expenses, which can be very pricey when on a hotel reward stay. My best priceline NYOP was a 5 star timeshare on Maui over a 3 day holiday weekend for less than $200. Some of the chains have overpriced rooms like Park Hyatt Sydney. It's nice, but it's not $1k nice. Many 4 star hotels in Hong Kong or Tokyo are a lot better than the PHS.

For one night stays and late arrivals, I don't do airbnb due to the hassle. And in the few locations and times where everything is expensive, I'll gladly use the free nights and the points.

We too are exploring airbnb, not familiar with priceline, but, it appears you killed it in Maui! What if any pitfalls would you warn a noob re: priceline? Also, I did not get two family members the Hyatt card I got my wife and I as I was told the bonus rooms were not transferable. I am now seeing a workaround where the room is booked by the cardholder, and I am added as a guest. Anybody had success with that strategy?

 

[janetdoe]

As far as hotel loyalty, I opportunistically hop wherever I can get a status match to high-level status. Currently Hyatt diamond via a challenge, in 2016-17 I plan to be Marriott platinum via Ritz Carlton card, I was Hilton diamond before that.

Traveling in Europe and Asia, it is difficult to overstate the value of top status, where lounge access means breakfast, soft drinks and possibly wine and beer all day, afternoon tea, heavy appetizers and cocktails, followed by coffee and dessert. For two adults, that is easily $100 per day worth of F&B; we might not even need to pay for food outside the hotel. At most we will pay for one meal a day, or nibble street food for lunch, or splurge on an expensive restaurant that would normally be an entire day's food budget. But of course this only works if you travel a lot, we do at least 12 trips a year, even if it's only a 3-day weekend.

As for credit cards that it makes sense to pay an annual fee (whether it makes more sense to churn versus keep is a completely different question)
1. IHG - $49 annual fee easily offset by free night, plat status usually gets you a free bottle of water, so better than a slap in the face. Plus IHG has ludicrously profitable promos where you can stay twice at a candlewood suites for $50 and get a free night at an intercontinental, and most locations across the globe. This is a card and a program that would be on everyone's #2 slot and almost no one's #1 slot.
2. Hyatt card - $89 annual fee offset by free night up to cat 4, plat status is occasionally worth an upgrade. Best to apply when you have a trip to a ludicrously expensive location like Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, etc to use your 2 free nights. I'll keep it while I have Hyatt diamond status and then consider canceling for a churn. The two free nights are almost too irresistible to keep the card more than 24 months.
3. Club Carlson - I keep this for the BOGO feature because I took full advantage of the ridiculous promos (70k for one night stay, etcetera) a few years ago and I am spending down the balance. I rarely find that club Carlson is compelling value outside of Northern/Western Europe. $75 AF offset easily by 40k points if you can find somewhere to use them.
4. Marriott card has a free night that offsets the annual fee, but this is a churner for me. Marriott status is damn near impossible to earn through legit stays. Marriott has been nice for the occasional megabonus promo where you can stay a couple of cheap nights and get a free night, but it looks like that's waning.
5. Hilton Surpass/reserve - this card is a controversial one among the hard-core travelers. Personally, I think if you don't travel much, Hilton should be your number one slot, getting free gold status through this card or promos (which gives you reasonable upgrades and more importantly, free breakfast). Most of the FT crowd disparage Hilton, with recent devaluations it is hard to reliably get more than 0.5-0.6 cpp redemption value. However, there are some unique circumstances where Hilton points are easily the best value, and I have seen offers on trading boards to pay 0.4-0.5 cpp go unanswered, even though Hilton points can be easily MS'd at 0.2-0.25 cpp at grocery stores. I think this card would easily be worth spending $40k in MS per year (if you have the excess capacity) for the 200k points and the diamond status. Especially if you travel internationally (along with limited US domestic locations) the lounge access is really nice.

I am actually having trouble getting value out of SPG card these days, I used to put all my day-to-day spend on it for the 1.25 airline points per dollar, but now I do so little spend that isn't bonused somewhere else, I really am not even getting the annual fee value out of it. I also find SPG the worst major chain for needing tip-top status to get any status perks. You need to be plat to really get any benefit except a higher floor. Almost anytime I stay at an SPG property, I get a friend with plat status to book for me, they get a q-night and I get breakfast. Time to churn that one...

 

[Marshallonmoney]

Aaahh, Beaver Creek, that was where I thought we might use our Hyatt 2x2 nights for getting the card as they expire in March.Was hoping to have a buddy join me skiing, but, got a 'king size bed only' answer when I inquired on booking using award. We'd prefer two beds... ;-) Have you had any luck extending them? Also, if my math is right I could earn 15-20k pts/month with the 4x redbird infrastructure. If you can get a decent room for 8k this could be very helpful! Unless it's an award nite as in the two per card sign up, I am OK with clean and safe for average lodging. Thanks!

Park Hyatt is 30K points per night. They have Hyatt Places for 5K to 8K/nt. Never tried to extend expiration, so don't know the answer. However, I would go ahead and book room with King. Can always get rollaway bed brought in if there is no double room available when you get here. Hyatt is very guest oriented and I am sure will accommodate you and your buddy.

 

[Marshallonmoney]

As far as hotel loyalty, I opportunistically hop wherever I can get a status match to high-level status. Currently Hyatt diamond via a challenge, in 2016-17 I plan to be Marriott platinum via Ritz Carlton card, I was Hilton diamond before that.

Traveling in Europe and Asia, it is difficult to overstate the value of top status, where lounge access means breakfast, soft drinks and possibly wine and beer all day, afternoon tea, heavy appetizers and cocktails, followed by coffee and dessert. For two adults, that is easily $100 per day worth of F&B; we might not even need to pay for food outside the hotel. At most we will pay for one meal a day, or nibble street food for lunch, or splurge on an expensive restaurant that would normally be an entire day's food budget. But of course this only works if you travel a lot, we do at least 12 trips a year, even if it's only a 3-day weekend.

As for credit cards that it makes sense to pay an annual fee (whether it makes more sense to churn versus keep is a completely different question)
1. IHG - $49 annual fee easily offset by free night, plat status usually gets you a free bottle of water, so better than a slap in the face. Plus IHG has ludicrously profitable promos where you can stay twice at a candlewood suites for $50 and get a free night at an intercontinental, and most locations across the globe. This is a card and a program that would be on everyone's #2 slot and almost no one's #1 slot.
2. Hyatt card - $89 annual fee offset by free night up to cat 4, plat status is occasionally worth an upgrade. Best to apply when you have a trip to a ludicrously expensive location like Paris, Tokyo, Sydney, etc to use your 2 free nights. I'll keep it while I have Hyatt diamond status and then consider canceling for a churn. The two free nights are almost too irresistible to keep the card more than 24 months.
3. Club Carlson - I keep this for the BOGO feature because I took full advantage of the ridiculous promos (70k for one night stay, etcetera) a few years ago and I am spending down the balance. I rarely find that club Carlson is compelling value outside of Northern/Western Europe. $75 AF offset easily by 40k points if you can find somewhere to use them.
4. Marriott card has a free night that offsets the annual fee, but this is a churner for me. Marriott status is damn near impossible to earn through legit stays. Marriott has been nice for the occasional megabonus promo where you can stay a couple of cheap nights and get a free night, but it looks like that's waning.
5. Hilton Surpass/reserve - this card is a controversial one among the hard-core travelers. Personally, I think if you don't travel much, Hilton should be your number one slot, getting free gold status through this card or promos (which gives you reasonable upgrades and more importantly, free breakfast). Most of the FT crowd disparage Hilton, with recent devaluations it is hard to reliably get more than 0.5-0.6 cpp redemption value. However, there are some unique circumstances where Hilton points are easily the best value, and I have seen offers on trading boards to pay 0.4-0.5 cpp go unanswered, even though Hilton points can be easily MS'd at 0.2-0.25 cpp at grocery stores. I think this card would easily be worth spending $40k in MS per year (if you have the excess capacity) for the 200k points and the diamond status. Especially if you travel internationally (along with limited US domestic locations) the lounge access is really nice.

I am actually having trouble getting value out of SPG card these days, I used to put all my day-to-day spend on it for the 1.25 airline points per dollar, but now I do so little spend that isn't bonused somewhere else, I really am not even getting the annual fee value out of it. I also find SPG the worst major chain for needing tip-top status to get any status perks. You need to be plat to really get any benefit except a higher floor. Almost anytime I stay at an SPG property, I get a friend with plat status to book for me, they get a q-night and I get breakfast. Time to churn that one...

My experience too that status overseas means great lounge access with free food in AM & PM with free alcohol in evening. Stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Santiago for only 8K points/nt and it had the BEST lounge I have ever been in. Both breakfast and "cocktail hour" had such extensive spreads that we never paid for a meal or for drinks the while 10 days we were there.
Flew to Easter Island from Santiago. NO chains, all B&B's, and more like hostels than anything else. We stayed at the #1 rated B&B there. Owners were very nice and helpful. Room would have rented for MAYBE 25/nt in the states. However, EI was the highlight of our trip! Everyone should go there at least once.

 

[smittytabb]

Hyatt Diamond, Marriott Platinum, Hilton Gold are great. Got first two with challenges and the last with CC. Also have IHG Plat and Club Carlson Gold through CC, but there are no lounge or breakfast type benefits with those at all. Totally agree with the status equals great food and beverage value in Europe, Asia and South America. If you have only been in a club lounge in the US, you might not realize that you can potentially have most of your food and beverage expenses comped by the lounge access. So the credit cards that help you achieve that are worth it. Just as an example from the Hilton group, the Reserve card gives you Gold which equals club lounge access. I stayed at the Hilton near the Helsinki airport and the spread in the lounge was breakfast and dinner for me. If you have ever tried to buy a meal in Helsinki, you will understand how much value that is. And free wine The Renaissance at LHR in the Marriott chain in London, same thing. I am a foodie so eating at the lounge sounds ridiculous, but I am also not going to walk away from good value when I see it. Every year we stay at the Lisbon Marriott for my SOs work and we actually look forward to the evening's offerings - great Portuguese wine and clearly a dinner every night. Other experiences where I've done the breakfast/dinner/cocktails include Courtyard Marriott Seoul, Grand Hyatt Taipei, Paris Marriott Rive Gauche, Hyatt Regency Dusseldorf...too many to count. When I am traveling alone, the lounge is a particularly welcome attraction. Sometimes it is just the easiest thing.

 

[smittytabb]

My experience too that status overseas means great lounge access with free food in AM & PM with free alcohol in evening. Stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Santiago for only 8K points/nt and it had the BEST lounge I have ever been in. Both breakfast and "cocktail hour" had such extensive spreads that we never paid for a meal or for drinks the while 10 days we were there.
Flew to Easter Island from Santiago. NO chains, all B&B's, and more like hostels than anything else. We stayed at the #1 rated B&B there. Owners were very nice and helpful. Room would have rented for MAYBE 25/nt in the states. However, EI was the highlight of our trip! Everyone should go there at least once.

OK, that is the second time this week someone has raved on this forum about the Hyatt Regency Santiago. It is now on my radar. I really wish I had made a stay there as I used to go there regularly. I also loved Easter Island. I really wonder if the lodging situation will change with only very high end (1K a night, not chain) and small guest house accommodation?

 

[jmw]

I still say status/loyalty is overrated even in Europe and Asia. Many of the non-US hotel lounges are nice. But would you really eat free mediocre hotel snack food or eat the much better local food in Rome or Paris? Remember, you are in Rome and Paris!!! You flew halfway around the world to eat cheap snack food? We've been to Paris enough times where we'd rather stay away from tourist spots. Local food with no menus in English tend to be a lot better and cheaper. There are enough grocery stores to cook your own food too. I've never, ever been to a lounge where the free dimsum is so good that I'd avoid going outside. Even the leftovers from the 5-star hotel restaurant are often not great. Hotels also tend to be located in neighborhoods with overpriced pretend fine-dining restaurants catered to tourists who don't know any better and prefer to speak in English. Beyond the credit card signup free nights, I think they're a terrible value when the points can be used much more effectively while eating/drinking cheaply from an airbnb or PL stay.

 

[smittytabb]

I still say status/loyalty is overrated even in Europe and Asia. Many of the non-US hotel lounges are nice. But would you really eat free mediocre hotel snack food or eat the much better local food in Rome or Paris? Remember, you are in Rome and Paris!!! You flew halfway around the world to eat cheap snack food? We've been to Paris enough times where we'd rather stay away from tourist spots. Local food with no menus in English tend to be a lot better and cheaper. There are enough grocery stores to cook your own food too. I've never, ever been to a lounge where the free dimsum is so good that I'd avoid going outside. Even the leftovers from the 5-star hotel restaurant are often not great. Hotels also tend to be located in neighborhoods with overpriced pretend fine-dining restaurants catered to tourists who don't know any better and prefer to speak in English. Beyond the credit card signup free nights, I think they're a terrible value when the points can be used much more effectively while eating/drinking cheaply from an airbnb or PL stay.

Your post makes an assumption that anyone who would stay in a hotel and eat in the lounge has a certain lack of sophistication. You don't know me, but I am not one of those bubble persons who flies to a place and never leaves the hotel. I have been to Paris about a dozen times. Indeed I speak French and several other languages, and I am surely as culturally knowledgeable as you. I might even be more well traveled. I know how to find the local restaurants and order off the menu. I don't just stay in hotels with lounges, but when there is one, and the lounge offerings are good, and I am alone, I often enjoy that option. The food in the lounges is not cheap snack food. It is often good cheeses, nice salads, and a dinner offering. I am not having some wide-eyed "oh wow, I am in Europe" moment. It's familiar ground and I am going to enjoy the ease and frugality of it if that is my prerogative. I've stayed in every kind of accommodation imaginable including hostels, B&Bs, small family owned hotels, guest houses, boutique hotels, luxury resorts and chain offerings from all the chains. I have eaten in restaurants of every sort and description on six continents. I don't need to seek out the authentic at every turn. Indeed I think there is a certain snobbism in assuming there is nothing authentic to be found at a hotel lounge or restaurant. I have seen the opposite prove true many times.

 

[Lindyhopper]

Overall, I think that where you stay can have a greater impact on your vacation than your flight does.
Your choice of hotel vs AirBnB may also be affected by single versus married.

It is true that IDK if I would go out of my way to earn Hilton points just with a CC, but I would not call the ones I get from work stays "overrated." It is true that some of the true Hilton "reach" hotels got hammered in the deval, and that many US hotels are overpriced, but do not write Hilton off completely. There are some still some good Hilton bargains in the US.
We have had some great stays overseas, and there being Diamond is worth a lot. This year, we stayed in Prague, Vienna and Budapest for 20K or 30k/night, a bargain, and received 1 or 2 step upgrades, as well as free breakfast (which I know in 2 cases was superior to "local" choices.
They have also come in handy for weddings in the US. 30K points may not the same value for a Doubletree as it is for the Hilton Dubrovnik, but it beat the $229/night reduced Wedding rate (and the extended our free diamond breakfast to both kids).

 

[jmw]

The food in the lounges is not cheap snack food. It is often good cheeses, nice salads, and a dinner offering. I am not having some wide-eyed "oh wow, I am in Europe" moment. It's familiar ground and I am going to enjoy the ease and frugality of it if that is my prerogative.

I do the exact same thing when solo on business to collect the per diem as bonus pay. But it's not a good habit for you and me. I rather eat the local food if it's good and I have time. It's like choosing to go to McDonald's when home since it's quick, easy, and cheap. I'll do it if I have to, but I rather not.

There have been many occasions in Europe I've seen entire families pig out at the lounges like a soup kitchen, plates piled high, leave a big mess, and then try to steal wine bottles from places like Rome Cavalieri's imperial lounge (Waldorf/Astoria) back when you could get a free upgrade to the imperial suite. When someone says they had "lunch" or "dinner" and unlimited booze at the lounge to save $$$ on leisure reward travel, what am I supposed to think? And some of the snack food in European and Asian lounges is not that good or even terrible, especially since the 2008-2009 recession. So we are going to agree to disagree there.

 

[knick1959]

I'm a big supporter of Marriott. For me their customer service has been superb in trying to make their guests happy.

From a CC signup over a year ago we snagged 2 free nights at the Cardiff, Wales Marriot. Nice place, and as you say, excellent service.

However, since then we've tried to make use of our 86k remaining points and it doesn't seem to be getting us much value. Will keep trying.

We are using our 2 free-night certificates to stay in a mediocre+ Orlando hotel next week (my wife and I each have a card). With the 6 month window they give on these certs (another thing I don't like about their program), we had to use them in January or lose them. Given a year, I could have put them to better use. I do not believe we'll be keeping these cards next fee. I paid it this time, but the certs are not a good value for us.

We typically only spend one night in Orlando for a hobby-specific show/convention. This time we're spending 2, but only to burn the extra cert.

I much prefer Club Carlson overall. They aren't available everywhere, but we used them for 4 free nights in London last May, and have 4 free nights in Lima coming up. Ah! 2 nights free in Quito, too. The SA hotels don't seem to be as snotty as the ones in London, but we used less miles, too. I like the value from what we "spent".

I was negative towards SPG points before, but am turning around and seeing much value. Too bad they are a bit harder to MS with. We use IHG often for low-end stays, and have Hyatt and Hilton that worked in Europe from CC bonuses but we're still trying to find a long-term strategy.

 

[YoungBubbie]

If your Marriott certificate is close to expiring, give them a call and ask for an extension. Last year I couldn't use my mega bonus certificate and was able to convert to points.

 

[janetdoe]

I do the exact same thing when solo on business to collect the per diem as bonus pay. But it's not a good habit for you and me. I rather eat the local food if it's good and I have time. It's like choosing to go to McDonald's when home since it's quick, easy, and cheap. I'll do it if I have to, but I rather not.

I don't see why it makes sense to have to leave the Paris hotel and find a cafe and pay for the same croissant and coffee that you could get for free at the hotel lounge. It's not like the hotel sources the 'crappy tourist croissants'. And at the hotel lounge, they will also have omelets, smoked salmon, cheeses, etc, if you prefer protein for breakfast.

There have been many occasions in Europe I've seen entire families pig out at the lounges like a soup kitchen, plates piled high, leave a big mess, and then try to steal wine bottles from places like Rome Cavalieri's imperial lounge (Waldorf/Astoria) back when you could get a free upgrade to the imperial suite. When someone says they had "lunch" or "dinner" and unlimited booze at the lounge to save $$$ on leisure reward travel, what am I supposed to think?

How did you know that was me and @smittytabb at the Cavalieri?

We eat locally when we choose to, but if I spent the whole day hiking around a city or shopping at a crowded local flea market, sometimes I get back to the hotel, take a shower, and don't feel like going out and finding dinner when I can grab some veggies, canapes and a glass of wine at the lounge. I'm not saying that you should treat the lounge as an all-inclusive Carnival Cruise, but saving $10 on a glass of wine, $3 for a bottled water as you walk out of the hotel, 5 EUR for a cup of coffee and a small cookie, or $10-20 for breakfast adds up, even for a couple.

As for AirBNB or a condo, we usually go on 3-4 day long weekends, I don't want to spend time grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning. I may run into a grocery store or local market to grab some fleur de sel or local condiments/spices to take home, but I'm not going to spend one of my three days in Paris or Bangkok stocking a kitchen, cooking meals, and washing dishes to save some money; my time is worth more than that to me.

 

[Paul]

Overall, I think that where you stay can have a greater impact on your vacation than your flight does.
Your choice of hotel vs AirBnB may also be affected by single versus married.

It is true that IDK if I would go out of my way to earn Hilton points just with a CC, but I would not call the ones I get from work stays "overrated." It is true that some of the true Hilton "reach" hotels got hammered in the deval, and that many US hotels are overpriced, but do not write Hilton off completely. There are some still some good Hilton bargains in the US.
We have had some great stays overseas, and there being Diamond is worth a lot. This year, we stayed in Prague, Vienna and Budapest for 20K or 30k/night, a bargain, and received 1 or 2 step upgrades, as well as free breakfast (which I know in 2 cases was superior to "local" choices.
They have also come in handy for weddings in the US. 30K points may not the same value for a Doubletree as it is for the Hilton Dubrovnik, but it beat the $229/night reduced Wedding rate (and the extended our free diamond breakfast to both kids).

I definitely go out of my way to MS HH points as I don't have enough nights to get top tier status in any other program. With the Surpass, you can MS at 0.2cpp at grocery and guarantee you'll save at least 50% off any room as Hilton values HH at 0.4c minimum.

I also like that HH offers almost any room to be booked with points. The downside is it's difficult to find sweet spots as most rooms are priced at 0.4cpp - so the better the room, the higher the cost. Too often the better rooms' pricing at top tier properties seems parabolic vs the linear quality of the room and it's not something I am willing to do - and that's where getting easy Diamond via CC spend comes in handy. Had upgrades on almost all my standard room award nights so far.

 

[Dia]

+1 on it making a difference if you have a family. Free breakfast and club snacks for 4 adds up. I'm a Hyatt Diamond and it's worth every penny.

 

[quasi8]

Great info I have been considering getting a hotel card but not sure what direction is best for me yet. I usually end up going with local hotels when staying international its just me but when travelling in the states big name hotels definitely have most locations covered well.

 

[Marl]

Great info I have been considering getting a hotel card but not sure what direction is best for me yet. I usually end up going with local hotels when staying international its just me but when travelling in the states big name hotels definitely have most locations covered well.

Been looking at a few trips in the US coming up over the next year and really thinking Wyndham may be the way to go. 15K for all hotels and they along with Choice seem to be everywhere. I usually pick up some Choice points during Amex Daily Deals.

 

[lpaca]

We have the Wyndham, Club Carlson, Hyatt, IHG cards (canceled Marriott and might cancel Carlson soon). We have them since the annual free night benefit is nice on the IHG (any), Hyatt (cat1-4), and Wyndham (15k) cards - unfortunately it's not good on the Marriott (cat1-5) card as they've elevated almost any half decent property to cat 6. We don't really collect the points other than anniversary bonuses and spend 2-3 weeks in hotels each year for vacations. Loyalty benefits aren't worth much to us since we spend little time in the hotel and most of the time exploring.

Probably an unpopular opinion with hardcore travel hackers, but I've found hotel cards/points to be more useful than miles only because of convenience / usability. Nearly every time I've redeem miles (mostly AA or BA, several times each), it takes a ton of time to research, we have to book a sub-optimal flight time, etc., so now I just use Flexperks for flights.

 

[Ted Nguyen]

I am currently looking for a hotel card to apply to and would love if you guys can help me. I am looking at booking economy rooms so which points should I accumulate? IHG seems decent with a bunch of cheap options but I'd love to hear your thoughts!

 

[DanT]

Part of the question depends on where you plan on traveling. However that aside I find I like IHG and Hilton the best. They both have big footprints with a lot of cheaper hotels and some high end properties as well. You can get some status easily with IHG and Hilton through a credit card. The chase card gives you Platinum status which really isn't all that much but it has given me some upgrades over time plus the card gives a free night annually just for having the card and its not limited to certain categories like other hotel cards. The card is worthless for daily spend though. Its fairly easy to accumulate points via promos and stacking of bonuses. With Hilton you can get gold status with the Citi Reserve or Amex Hilton Surpass. Hilton really devalued their program about 3 years ago so a point is worth maybe 4/10 of a cent or even a little less. However lots of ways to accumulate points. Not a big fan of the Marriott loyalty program. I am sure there are people out there who will tell you they get good value out of the program. I may have to pay more attention to it now that they are buying Starwood. Hyatt is great and has some nice cheaper hotels with the Hyatt Place ones but their footprint is really small. Choice, Wyndham and Best Western all have lots of lower end hotels but I never really seem to be interested in their hotels so I never bothered to investigate their programs.

 

[italdesign]

I am currently looking for a hotel card to apply to and would love if you guys can help me. I am looking at booking economy rooms so which points should I accumulate? IHG seems decent with a bunch of cheap options but I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Marriott. Biggest footprint of all hotel programs (i.e. they're everywhere), and the credit card sign up bonus of 70k (1st yr annual fee waived) can land you 7-9 nights at {2.5-3*} properties in small towns, medium cities, and suburbs (big cities cost considerably more).

and IHG for their points break (5k/night).

 

[YoungBubbie]

I'm loyal to Marriott. No I've not drunk the Kool Aid, but over the years they have only done right by me.

Through the years I've opened 3 cards and my husband 1. We only have leisure stays no business so limited in earning points. But I have managed to earn enough to go 3 one week vacations, numerous long weekends, and a few stay cations.

My husband MS his way to gold and I was platinum due to a challenge. I have received an upgrade on every stay mostly to suites. Since I learned about their Look No Further guarrante, I have managed to get some great bargains. I have an upcoming stay at The Cosmopolitan for $75 for a room that normally goes for $200.

I was always against timeshares, and against my better judgement we bought one 5 years ago on the secondary market. Because it is a lock off, I have been able to take 2 vacations a year with my kids and grandkids.

Marriotts customer service is fantastic. They go above and beyond to exceed their guests needs. I have never had a bad stay at Marriott. I find them to be a top notch organization.

Now with this new merger, who knows what the future will bring.

 

[Beltway Explorers]

I agree with starting based on where you plan to go. That said, we have had great luck coupling a smaller chain with a larger chain to get the best of both worlds. For me, that's Starwood and Hilton. Starwood because my former boss preferred it when we traveled for business and Hilton because they are everywhere and the Gold status is fantastic.

I also have the Hyatt card, which I keep for the anniversary night (they have some nice resorts in Florida that qualify) and IHG for the even more generous anniversary night. Of course that means I can't churn them so I may rethink my strategy.

 

[Ted Nguyen]

Thanks for the inputs! I have interviews coming up in about 2 years and I don't really know where I want to end up so I'm just planning in advance. The Marriott card seems to only have the 50k rewards available now so I'm probably gonna wait till the offer is better. I may get the Amex Hilton in my next AoR for MSing.
What do you think of the SPG and Marriott merger? Should I get an SPG card now or am I better saving my Amex slot for a better card?

 

[italdesign]

The Marriott card seems to only have the 50k rewards available now so I'm probably gonna wait till the offer is better.

77.5k offer (1st yr AF waived) here - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase-ultimate-rewards/1271936-again-70k-80k-points-1-night-no-fee-1st-yr-marriott-premier-visa.html (see wiki in thread)

 

[GettingReady]

77.5k offer (1st yr AF waived) here - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/chase-ultimate-rewards/1271936-again-70k-80k-points-1-night-no-fee-1st-yr-marriott-premier-visa.html (see wiki in thread)

Thanks for sharing the link. Our mega vacation starts out at a family reunion next year that will be 3 nights at a Marriott cat 5 hotel. My next AoR is 12/17.