topic Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel? in Credit Cards

SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

SouthJamaica — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 22:09:52 GMT

I'd like to ask a very narrow question. How do the new SPG points

and Hilton points compare for a budget traveler in terms of

value per point?

I would like to exclude from the conversation which card to

get, what annual fees there are, what signup bonuses there are,

what 'top tier' properties one can get, how easy it is to get points, etc.

I.e. I already have cards from each program, I've got my

signup bonuses covered, I'm aware of the rate at which I can

earn points, and I have no interest in high end travel.

I'm just trying to figure how much the points are worth

relative to each other for use in modest hotel accommodations

or for transfer to non-luxurious airline transfer partners.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

NRB525 — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 23:21:55 GMT

In general, for all hotel programs, transferring hotel points to airline miles is a silly thing to do. Often you give up 10 hotel points for a single airline mile.

The Marriott points can be worth up to .9c if you get a good redemption / price ratio, Hilton points are generally .3c to .4c.

For budget travel, though you probably want to start with the category chart for each program and just see how the points in the category levels line up with what you would typically spend. For example you may have to use 45,000 Hilton points for a $225 per night room, but you may balk at even a $225 nightly cost. With SPG/Marriott, 25,000 points may be enough for some $200 rooms.

You have to also compare card earning rates. Hilton may give you 7 points for the same spend the basic SPG card gives you 2 points, so the outright earning rate needs to be considered.

Then there is business travel. If your employer is paying for the hotel, you are likely to earn points in that program much faster than your personal spend. Paid stays often can get promotional multipliers, so check regularly in the hotel program website to add these. In that case, card spend helps you round up to a reward level.

Then there is the CSR or Altitude Reserve type situation. These build points in a regular cash-equivalent, and you can then use the travel portal to book any budget hotel, or AirBNB, and not be disappointed that you put all that spend on a Hilton card when you now want to stay at a SPG or Super 8 motel.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

EAJuggalo — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 02:02:04 GMT

Take a look around and see what kind of points you need for your stay. I only have Hilton, but I generally find rooms for 20,000 points and usually at least one Hampton Inn around major cities for 10,000.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 02:09:56 GMT

Marriott points transfer to airline points a lot better than Hilton points do. Marriott has something like 45 airline transfer partners, and most transfer at a rate of 3:1 (or better... bonuses of 5,000 airline miles for every 15,000 Marriott points transferred, and there are hotel+air packages that can provide intriguing deals for some at least).

Marriott and Hilton points are both not worth a ton, but both can be worth a lot in specific cases. If I were you, I'd figure out a list of places you'd like to travel to, research hotels in the area, see where you'd most like to stay, and factor in which hotels offer you the cheapest/easiest way to finance it. Hilton cards can give you an annual night free at any Hilton (on weekends), and that can be worth a lot more points than the annual free night from Marriott (value depends on which card you have), but Marriott points are worth more individually (on average about a 30-50% more). Hilton has a card that can give you top-tier status, but it's a higher annual fee (plus lots of people have it and may have diluted the benefits). As a result, the best way to determine which points to collect is to determine which chain fits you and your travel goals better.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 02:14:25 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
I'd like to ask a very narrow question. How do the new SPG points
and Hilton points compare for a budget traveler in terms of
value per point?

I would like to exclude from the conversation which card to
get, what annual fees there are, what signup bonuses there are,
what 'top tier' properties one can get, how easy it is to get points, etc.

I.e. I already have cards from each program, I've got my
signup bonuses covered, I'm aware of the rate at which I can
earn points, and I have no interest in high end travel.

I'm just trying to figure how much the points are worth
relative to each other for use in modest hotel accommodations
or for transfer to non-luxurious airline transfer partners.

If you're looking for non-luxurious airlines, Marriott points get a bonus when being transferred to United (it's still below 1:1, but it's the best transfer ratio from Marriott points to airline miles). However, I hear that riding with them can be... bumpier... than one might like. But if that's an airline that interests you, it's you're best choice when it comes to transferring hotel points to airline miles.

If you already have a card from each program, there isn't a lot we can answer for you. We don't know, for example, are you a person looking to finance 5-star vacations every now and then or someone looking to cheaper hotels to fit a bunch of children without breaking the bank. That can have an impact on what's more valuable. Again, I'd recommend making a list of the places you'd most like to visit and then work from there.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

wasCB14 — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 03:22:39 GMT

@EAJuggalo wrote:
Take a look around and see what kind of points you need for your stay. I only have Hilton, but I generally find rooms for 20,000 points and usually at least one Hampton Inn around major cities for 10,000.

This. Look at hypothetical bookings for places that interest you. Keep in mind even basic hotels in popular areas can cost a lot of points.

"Budget" travel is a somewhat subjective term. Fairfield and Hilton Garden Inns aren't Four Seasons properties, but neither are they Rodeway Inns. You can be your own best judge of where you want to stay.

Marriott can be good if you need to transfer to a tricky airline program or top off your mileage balance for a trip. Apart from that, hotel-to-airline transfers don't make sense if you can otherwise redeem for a room at a fair value.

My personal valuations are around 0.8 cpp for Marriott and 0.3 cpp for Hilton.

It may be the case that the best hotel CC for you is a Venture for hotels.com or wherever it is it gives bonus points.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 03:32:50 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
@EAJuggalo wrote:
Take a look around and see what kind of points you need for your stay. I only have Hilton, but I generally find rooms for 20,000 points and usually at least one Hampton Inn around major cities for 10,000.
This. Look at hypothetical bookings for places that interest you. Keep in mind even basic hotels in popular areas can cost a lot of points.

"Budget" travel is a somewhat subjective term. Fairfield and Hilton Garden Inns aren't Four Seasons properties, but neither are they Rodeway Inns. You can be your own best judge of where you want to stay.

Marriott can be good if you need to transfer to a tricky airline program or top off your mileage balance for a trip. Apart from that, hotel-to-airline transfers don't make sense if you can otherwise redeem for a room at a fair value.

My personal valuations are around 0.8 cpp for Marriott and 0.3 cpp for Hilton.

It may be the case that the best hotel CC for you is a Venture for hotels.com or wherever it is it gives bonus points.

Good thread. I was wondering the same thing. While we tend to stay at Marriott properties, the Hilton has a higher earning potential and we're not opposed to staying there if needed. Being able to transfer to and from Delta would be ideal. I still have a lot of point research to do.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

jdbkiang — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 03:52:08 GMT

As others have stated, transferring hotel points to airlines is generally a poor use of those points and will result in very low redemption rates. As far as budget travel, I'm not sure if hotel loyalty programs are really the best, depending on your definition of budget. The Venture1 and Venture cards essentially give 20% back on hotels.com right now, so that might be as budget as can be right now. Otherwise, Hilton cards provide free breakfast, so that might help with budgeting as well. At the end of the day, if you know where you'll be traveling, it'll be much easier to answer your question. If you don't, hotels.com is relatively budget-friendly and is probably the best option.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

wasCB14 — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 04:06:46 GMT

@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
Good thread. I was wondering the same thing. While we tend to stay at Marriott properties, the Hilton has a higher earning potential and we're not opposed to staying there if needed. Being able to transfer to and from Delta would be ideal. I still have a lot of point research to do.

Airline miles are usually the end of the road. Hotel point to airline mile transfers are more common than airlines to hotels.

I see you're rebuilding and your current card options may be limited. For Delta miles, your best option for now is your Delta Amex. If you get some Amex MR-earning cards, those can also transfer to Delta.

Delta has earned the "SkyPesos" nickname, and some people prefer to book Delta using a partner's award chart like Flying Blue or Virgin Atlantic.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

Brian_Earl_Spilner — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 04:19:20 GMT

@wasCB14 wrote:
@Brian_Earl_Spilner wrote:
Good thread. I was wondering the same thing. While we tend to stay at Marriott properties, the Hilton has a higher earning potential and we're not opposed to staying there if needed. Being able to transfer to and from Delta would be ideal. I still have a lot of point research to do.
Airline miles are usually the end of the road. Hotel point to airline mile transfers are more common than airlines to hotels.

I see you're rebuilding and your current card options may be limited. For Delta miles, your best option for now is your Delta Amex. If you get some Amex MR-earning cards, those can also transfer to Delta.

Delta has earned the "SkyPesos" nickname, and some people prefer to book Delta using a partner's award chart like Flying Blue or Virgin Atlantic.

I'm just planning well in advance and doing my research now. Trying to see if I want to transition away from cash back, or just do some budget traveling like the OP. It seems like it's an all or nothing deal. If you want to earn points at a decent rate, you have to dedicate your spend to maximize it or it won't be worth it.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

NRB525 — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 04:33:43 GMT

Maximizing, maybe, but I am still quite scattered in the range of programs I have points in. And I also use two Cash+ cards and Discover. Points are great for specific redemptions but points only can be limiting in your choices of where to go I look at points as a nice SUB, and I may be able to cover a large part of the costs of a specific trip, but cash paid out, or using earmarked cash from other card earnings is nice too.

I have MR, UR, Marriott/SPG, Hilton, Delta, and American Airlines all with over 100,000 points each ( Hilton soon to be 500,000 good for one night somewhere ) and I pay too much in annual fees. But I value the perks, and will eventually get value from the points, so I find value as I see it. As SUB lumps start to draw down, I plan to get a bit more focused, but that is also because I am learning what works for my travel goals.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

redpat — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 05:50:17 GMT

Points are all relative here, the value of Hilton points maybe lower but the ease of accumulating Hilton points is easier on per dollar spent.

Since the SPG merger I switched from Marriott to Hilton and I have been pretty happy. I have Amex Plat and get gold status on both. For Hilton stays with my no AF Hilton card I get 25 points per $ on stays. In addition, I live in an area that has many Hilton dining program options and get 8 points per $ for free so if you tie that w/ Amex Gold w/ 4x and with MR point 20% bonus transfer you can get 17.60x per dollar spent on dining. That is of course you want to convert gold card into a Hilton card for that dining. Marriott doesn’t have a dining program.

We went to one of our favorite restaurants tonight spent $56 including tip and we will get 448 Hilton points. We go at least once or twice a week. We will avg about 6k of biz and personal dining for this program annually for 48k free Hilton points, way ahead of Marriott for no additional spend.

When I travel for business or vacation we always look at AA and Hilton dining program options in the area then pair that with yelp or trip advisor to see if we want to go. It’s hit or miss in some locations but we have gotten many miles and points over the years using these programs.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

jdbkiang — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 05:52:53 GMT

Hilton's ongoing 2x and 3x bonus right now is great too. I earned 11000 HH points for one night I paid $170 for. I have the HH Ascend so I have gold status and was upgraded to a deluxe suite with executive lounge access.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

SouthJamaica — Sat, 09 Feb 2019 16:48:10 GMT

Update 2/9/19

Well I've figured out what the points are worth to me. In my case the only real use of either chain's points is stays at modestly priced hotels, so the "high end" travel benefits aren't of major concern.

The Hilton points always wind up being worth around 4/10 cent, and the SPG points appear to be worth around 3/10 of a cent.

Since Hilton points are worth about 33 1/3% more to me, they're easier to pick up (even the lowest return on non-bonus spending is 3 points per dollar, and most of my spend gets 6 points per dollar), and Hilton seems to provide a free full breakfast to each guest.... Hilton points are the winner for me. In my case there's not much point in keeping my Amex SPG business card, since it would be preferable to concentrate on collecting Hilton points.

So my Amex SPG business card is now on the sock drawer/possible closure list.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

Credit-hoarder — Sat, 09 Feb 2019 21:19:17 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
Update 2/9/19

Well I've figured out what the points are worth to me. In my case the only real use of either chain's points is stays at modestly priced hotels, so the "high end" travel benefits aren't of major concern.

The Hilton points always wind up being worth around 4/10 cent, and the SPG points appear to be worth around 3/10 of a cent.

Since Hilton points are worth about 33 1/3% more to me, they're easier to pick up (even the lowest return on non-bonus spending is 3 points per dollar, and most of my spend gets 6 points per dollar), and Hilton seems to provide a free full breakfast to each guest.... Hilton points are the winner for me. In my case there's not much point in keeping my Amex SPG business card, since it would be preferable to concentrate on collecting Hilton points.

So my Amex SPG business card is now on the sock drawer/possible closure list.

Wish I would have read your summarization before I applies for SPG business AND completed the $5k--100k pt. SUB a couple of weeks ago. But I've earned them now and may as well use them--no turning back now! But wait a minute...there still the free night you get anually with the SPG--doesn't that account for something?

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

SouthJamaica — Sat, 09 Feb 2019 23:56:37 GMT

@Credit-hoarder wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
Update 2/9/19

Well I've figured out what the points are worth to me. In my case the only real use of either chain's points is stays at modestly priced hotels, so the "high end" travel benefits aren't of major concern.

The Hilton points always wind up being worth around 4/10 cent, and the SPG points appear to be worth around 3/10 of a cent.

Since Hilton points are worth about 33 1/3% more to me, they're easier to pick up (even the lowest return on non-bonus spending is 3 points per dollar, and most of my spend gets 6 points per dollar), and Hilton seems to provide a free full breakfast to each guest.... Hilton points are the winner for me. In my case there's not much point in keeping my Amex SPG business card, since it would be preferable to concentrate on collecting Hilton points.

So my Amex SPG business card is now on the sock drawer/possible closure list.
Wish I would have read your summarization before I applies for SPG business AND completed the $5k--100k pt. SUB a couple of weeks ago. But I've earned them now and may as well use them--no turning back now! But wait a minute...there still the free night you get anually with the SPG--doesn't that account for something?

Yes it does count for something. It would be worth around $112. Doesn't quite offset the $125 annual fee they are going to be charging. And the $112 stay doesn't include the free breakfasts Hilton would provide.

Re: SPG points vs Hilton points for budget travel?

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 01:23:06 GMT

@SouthJamaica wrote:
@Credit-hoarder wrote:
@SouthJamaica wrote:
Update 2/9/19
Wish I would have read your summarization before I applies for SPG business AND completed the $5k--100k pt. SUB a couple of weeks ago. But I've earned them now and may as well use them--no turning back now! But wait a minute...there still the free night you get anually with the SPG--doesn't that account for something?
Yes it does count for something. It would be worth around $112. Doesn't quite offset the $125 annual fee they are going to be charging. And the $112 stay doesn't include the free breakfasts Hilton would provide.

My recollection of the planned card changes only indicated the SPG business verision having an AF increase to $125 and the personal is to remain the same $95 with the first year waiver. Certainly subject to change for future years though.

The business version had a few changes but nothing significant to validate the increased fee in comparison to the personal in my opinion.