topic Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card in Credit Cards

Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

1LostArk — Tue, 03 May 2022 03:54:11 GMT

Favorite Int'l Airline: ANA

Domestic (US): Agnostic

Hotel: Agnostic

As far as points go, I use MR points to transfer to ANA, my favorite airline. So that leaves me with Chase points for hotels. Seems like World of Hyatt has the highest point valuation, and is the best for infrequent travelers / luxury vacations (< 30 nights per year). So is it as simple as that, get the Chase World of Hyatt? I was looking at the IHG card as well, but their properties generally don't look very interesting to me. The Hyatt program would also sort of give me incentive to lock into American Airlines for domestic flights.

Would I be able to get Discoverist status with Hyatt from the Chase card, link my Hyatt and AAdvantage accounts, and still book directly with my Platinum for 5x MR? If so, that seems like the ideal setup for me.

All that said, I'm open to being talked into Marriott or Hilton cards (Chase or Amex) by those in the know.

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

SouthJamaica — Tue, 03 May 2022 04:20:35 GMT

@1LostArk wrote:
Favorite Int'l Airline: ANA
Domestic (US): Agnostic
Hotel: Agnostic

As far as points go, I use MR points to transfer to ANA, my favorite airline. So that leaves me with Chase points for hotels. Seems like World of Hyatt has the highest point valuation, and is the best for infrequent travelers / luxury vacations (< 30 nights per year). So is it as simple as that, get the Chase World of Hyatt? I was looking at the IHG card as well, but their properties generally don't look very interesting to me. The Hyatt program would also sort of give me incentive to lock into American Airlines for domestic flights.

Would I be able to get Discoverist status with Hyatt from the Chase card, link my Hyatt and AAdvantage accounts, and still book directly with my Platinum for 5x MR? If so, that seems like the ideal setup for me.

All that said, I'm open to being talked into Marriott or Hilton cards (Chase or Amex) by those in the know.

I have a Hyatt card and a Hilton card. Although the Hyatt points are worth more, they're harder to earn, so IMHO it evens out in that department. For me, the Hilton gets the nod because (a) there appear to be a lot more Hiltons, and (b) Hiltons always give me a free breakfast.

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

redpat — Tue, 03 May 2022 07:56:35 GMT

At one time I went down that rabbit hole w/ Hyatt and found their footprint too small. Where ever there is a Marriott there is a Hilton, so use the plat gold status to your advantage and +1 w/ SJ comes w/ free breakfast.

Also, Amex does run transfer bonus for Hilton at times 3,000 Hilton points for 1,000 MR points.

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

NRB525 — Tue, 03 May 2022 08:47:52 GMT

OP you already have Gold status ( or should ) at Marriott and Hilton through your Platinum card. Getting the Hyatt card would add a level-up status there, but as noted, smaller footprint. If you are talking point redemption alone, then Hyatt has made sense. Be aware they are moving Hyatt closer to the dynamic redemption models, so no telling how much longer Hyatt will have outsized return on points.

Book the Hilton and Marriott properties with your CSP and get some points in those programs through the stay, and more flexible points on the CSP. Or consider getting an AMEX Green for the 3 MR Travel category, Hotels, Rental Car ( not the same insurance approach as CSP, admittedly ) and tolls.

Yes, booking the AA flights with your Platinum still gets you the 5 MR.

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

1LostArk — Tue, 03 May 2022 20:18:38 GMT

@redpat wrote:
At one time I went down that rabbit hole w/ Hyatt and found their footprint too small. Where ever there is a Marriott there is a Hilton, so use the plat gold status to your advantage and +1 w/ SJ comes w/ free breakfast.

Also, Amex does run transfer bonus for Hilton at times 3,000 Hilton points for 1,000 MR points.

Forgive me, what is SJ?

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

OmarGB9 — Tue, 03 May 2022 20:23:45 GMT

@1LostArk wrote:
@redpat wrote:
At one time I went down that rabbit hole w/ Hyatt and found their footprint too small. Where ever there is a Marriott there is a Hilton, so use the plat gold status to your advantage and +1 w/ SJ comes w/ free breakfast.

Also, Amex does run transfer bonus for Hilton at times 3,000 Hilton points for 1,000 MR points.
Forgive me, what is SJ?

I'm assuming @SouthJamaica.

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

1LostArk — Tue, 03 May 2022 20:49:23 GMT

@OmarGB9 wrote:
@1LostArk wrote:
@redpat wrote:
At one time I went down that rabbit hole w/ Hyatt and found their footprint too small. Where ever there is a Marriott there is a Hilton, so use the plat gold status to your advantage and +1 w/ SJ comes w/ free breakfast.

Also, Amex does run transfer bonus for Hilton at times 3,000 Hilton points for 1,000 MR points.
Forgive me, what is SJ?
I'm assuming @SouthJamaica.

D'oh, now it's very obvious. I thought it was an abbreviation for one of the Hilton cards

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

SouthJamaica — Tue, 03 May 2022 21:54:57 GMT

@1LostArk wrote:
@OmarGB9 wrote:
@1LostArk wrote:
@redpat wrote:
At one time I went down that rabbit hole w/ Hyatt and found their footprint too small. Where ever there is a Marriott there is a Hilton, so use the plat gold status to your advantage and +1 w/ SJ comes w/ free breakfast.

Also, Amex does run transfer bonus for Hilton at times 3,000 Hilton points for 1,000 MR points.
Forgive me, what is SJ?
I'm assuming @SouthJamaica.
D'oh, now it's very obvious. I thought it was an abbreviation for one of the Hilton cards

And here I thought it was an abbreviation for Space Jam

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

imaximous — Wed, 04 May 2022 01:18:50 GMT

Hyatt fan here so here's my 2 cents...

In terms of size, sure, Hyatt doesn't compete with Marriott or Hilton. But you should think about your travel patterns or favorite destinations and see how they align with hotel options. In the end, what's the point of having lots of properties in areas that you're never going to visit?

If you need a hotel for work, I can agree that Hyatt is not going to be in as many cities as the other chains. But, it's actually rare not to find a nice Hyatt property in most vacationing spots.

I also have the option of booking Hilton at family rate, so I always search on both sites to see my options. Sometimes, it does make sense to stay at a Hilton, so I'm not always loyal to Hyatt. I think it's always good to have multiple options.

The next thing is status. You can easily get top tier by just holding a Hilton Amex. With Hyatt, it takes more work to reach the top, but I get a ton of value from being Globalist, and I like the rewards program much better. It definitely helps if you have multiple UR earning cards.

Hyatt now has peak and off-peak pricing for award stays, but the cost is still predictable and there's a chart. So I wouldn't call this new pricing "dynamic" in the same way as the other chains.

Hyatt has acquired a good number of new properties that look very interesting. They also have lots of boutique hotels that are worth considering.

So again, before dismissing Hyatt, have a look at their properties where you're planning to go. Sometimes size doesn't matter

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

notmyrealname23 — Wed, 04 May 2022 03:27:41 GMT

If you're truly an infrequent hotel stayer who wants to do some aspirational vacations, Hyatt Globalist is pretty much out of reach unless you wish to drop serious coin on that Hyatt card (and get elite night credits for spend). I've been Explorist via an MGM/Hyatt ping-ping mutual status match for something like five years now, and Hyatt recognition is fine with the occasional room upgrade but let's just say don't expect suites. Hyatt is fine for that kind of aspirational stay stuff though, IMO, and you have a way to milk the Chase ecosystem for more points. Their tie up with Small Luxury Hotels of the World also helps. So if their card appeals, sure, get it. I don't have the WOH card because I am LOL/24 still, but it's on my list.

If you look at a map and Hyatt's footprint is too small, Marriott has a much larger luxury footprint than Hilton (though Hilton is expanding in that space). That being said the Hilton Aspire gives you an UNcapped weekend night good anywhere in the system, the Marriott cards are all capped AND their new topoff feature only lets you add 15k, so most of the ultra-premium hotels are out of reach. Real life example: I have a 50k cert and I can't use that 15k boost to book Edition London, W London, London Marriott Town Hall, Westin London City... well, you get the idea. That being said I did book the Montcalm East in Shoreditch, and I dig the East End, so it's not like I was forced to a beat up old Sheraton out by Heathrow.

I prefer the Aspire (Hilton) to the Brilliant (Marriott) as a casually attached, fairly agnostic (by year's end I'll be a Hotels.com Gold) credit card schemer because it's easier to eke more value. If I was primarily oriented to Marriott I would probably feel the other way though, as others here do. There's also a decent case to put spend on a Hilton Surpass ($95 AF) for a free night if a $450 annual fee is too rich for your blood (I think it's a slam dunk for me to get more than $450 but horses for courses).

The new up and comer is IHG; they revamped their cards and program and their Kimpton/Regent/Six Senses/Mr. and Mrs. Smith purchases gives them some interesting stuff at the high end. They have new Chase cards you might want to check out. Their point boost on top of certificates is UNcapped, BTW.

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

1LostArk — Wed, 04 May 2022 04:38:15 GMT

@notmyrealname23 wrote:
If you're truly an infrequent hotel stayer who wants to do some aspirational vacations, Hyatt Globalist is pretty much out of reach unless you wish to drop serious coin on that Hyatt card (and get elite night credits for spend). I've been Explorist via an MGM/Hyatt ping-ping mutual status match for something like five years now, and Hyatt recognition is fine with the occasional room upgrade but let's just say don't expect suites. Hyatt is fine for that kind of aspirational stay stuff though, IMO, and you have a way to milk the Chase ecosystem for more points. Their tie up with Small Luxury Hotels of the World also helps. So if their card appeals, sure, get it. I don't have the WOH card because I am LOL/24 still, but it's on my list.

If you look at a map and Hyatt's footprint is too small, Marriott has a much larger luxury footprint than Hilton (though Hilton is expanding in that space). That being said the Hilton Aspire gives you an UNcapped weekend night good anywhere in the system, the Marriott cards are all capped AND their new topoff feature only lets you add 15k, so most of the ultra-premium hotels are out of reach. Real life example: I have a 50k cert and I can't use that 15k boost to book Edition London, W London, London Marriott Town Hall, Westin London City... well, you get the idea. That being said I did book the Montcalm East in Shoreditch, and I dig the East End, so it's not like I was forced to a beat up old Sheraton out by Heathrow.

I prefer the Aspire (Hilton) to the Brilliant (Marriott) as a casually attached, fairly agnostic (by year's end I'll be a Hotels.com Gold) credit card schemer because it's easier to eke more value. If I was primarily oriented to Marriott I would probably feel the other way though, as others here do. There's also a decent case to put spend on a Hilton Surpass ($95 AF) for a free night if a $450 annual fee is too rich for your blood (I think it's a slam dunk for me to get more than $450 but horses for courses).

The new up and comer is IHG; they revamped their cards and program and their Kimpton/Regent/Six Senses/Mr. and Mrs. Smith purchases gives them some interesting stuff at the high end. They have new Chase cards you might want to check out. Their point boost on top of certificates is UNcapped, BTW.

Interesting points. I like the Hyatt because it gives me status at a chain that I don't already have through the Platinum, has a low AF with a free night, and is easy to earn points with. Like I mentioned, I tend to just pay cash for hotels and stay wherever I want, and it seems like the Hyatt slots into my approach the easiest (e.g. stay wherever, pay with CSP, redeem for Hyatt later) with the lowest overhead, no faffing about with offsetting a big AF. I do see the value of the Hilton Aspire (especially for the status), but for a $450 AF I think I'd prefer the Chase Ritz Carlton as a "keeper," as Marriott is also a transfer partner with Chase so it gives me the same earning / redemption freedom as Hyatt would, although the Marriott status is redundant w/ my Platinum so that reduces the value relative to the Aspire somewhat. Decisions, decisions.

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

DONZI — Wed, 04 May 2022 09:42:21 GMT

I have been pondering hotel and airline cards for a while.. Similar to you I'm not loyal to any one hotel (and in my case, or airline) since I have never bothered with loyalty status prior to 2021 when I got my amex platinum. The gratis Hilton and Marriott status got me started.

My travel is spontaneous sometimes and sometimes planned. Sometimes I care about the quality, sometimes not so much. Frankly I don't know if I could ever earn status based on loyalty programs. I have got more perks probably via FHR & HC with amex travel than I'd ever get with loyalty status and it's offset of the AF is from significant to actually profiting me this year I think. (note that FHR and IIRC HC will earn status for hotel loyalty programs if you make sure to enter your corresponding member numbers)

I too wanted to fill the gap with Hyatt status but don't have possibility for Chase cards for a while unless I can 'buy' them via JPM Chase relationship(s). However, I did learn of the MGM status match between Hyatt. If you can take a spin out one of their MGM Rewards honoring properties and are a USA veteran they'll bump the MGM status up for free which can then be used to bump up the Hyatt to Discoverist FWIW.

I'm still making the odd loyalty program account(s) .. just in case the spend/points can be of any use later or status match. It's getting to be more a PITA than it may be worth though with my erratic travel and spending patterns.

One issue is that I have a fair bit of Hyatt (and other) points but in order to use them it seems I have to skip getting the 5x MR which I kinda like because of their flexibility and failsafe schwab cashout. However my Synovus travel rewards card will perhaps solve that issue. I've yet to really use that card for travel.

The big question might be, do you really need a hotel card other than your amex and CSP?

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

1LostArk — Wed, 04 May 2022 15:47:16 GMT

@DONZI wrote:
I have been pondering hotel and airline cards for a while.. Similar to you I'm not loyal to any one hotel (and in my case, or airline) since I have never bothered with loyalty status prior to 2021 when I got my amex platinum. The gratis Hilton and Marriott status got me started.

My travel is spontaneous sometimes and sometimes planned. Sometimes I care about the quality, sometimes not so much. Frankly I don't know if I could ever earn status based on loyalty programs. I have got more perks probably via FHR & HC with amex travel than I'd ever get with loyalty status and it's offset of the AF is from significant to actually profiting me this year I think. (note that FHR and IIRC HC will earn status for hotel loyalty programs if you make sure to enter your corresponding member numbers)

I too wanted to fill the gap with Hyatt status but don't have possibility for Chase cards for a while unless I can 'buy' them via JPM Chase relationship(s). However, I did learn of the MGM status match between Hyatt. If you can take a spin out one of their MGM Rewards honoring properties and are a USA veteran they'll bump the MGM status up for free which can then be used to bump up the Hyatt to Discoverist FWIW.

I'm still making the odd loyalty program account(s) .. just in case the spend/points can be of any use later or status match. It's getting to be more a PITA than it may be worth though with my erratic travel and spending patterns.

One issue is that I have a fair bit of Hyatt (and other) points but in order to use them it seems I have to skip getting the 5x MR which I kinda like because of their flexibility and failsafe schwab cashout. However my Synovus travel rewards card will perhaps solve that issue. I've yet to really use that card for travel.

The big question might be, do you really need a hotel card other than your amex and CSP?

Like you said, skipping 5x MR is a bit of an issue, though if you have an AAdvantage account and Chase WOH card, you earn 1x Hyatt and 5x MR on flights booked directly with AA, which seems like free Hyatt points if you're airline agnostic. Though, it's a minimal amount of Hyatt points in the grand scheme so maybe an inconsequential consideration.

Hotels chains also constantly changing their reward terms and devaluing points, so I'm nervous about investing in any one of them. Chase Ritz Carlton looks nice just for the airline credits / free night / perks. It has no fee for adding AU's, so I'd be able to get my SO a priority pass without paying $175 for a Platinum AU. Basically in that case the points earnings would just be a bonus that I could take or leave as I see fit, instead of feeling compelled to find a Marriott. The Chase WOH also feels like it functions similarly.

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

1LostArk — Wed, 04 May 2022 17:15:41 GMT

Ended up picking up the Chase Boundless. Hopefully I can still PC to the Ritz a year from now, if not c'est la vie and I'll rethink things then. Thank you all for the thoughtful input.

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

SouthJamaica — Wed, 04 May 2022 18:54:11 GMT

@1LostArk wrote:
Ended up picking up the Chase Boundless. Hopefully I can still PC to the Ritz a year from now, if not c'est la vie and I'll rethink things then. Thank you all for the thoughtful input.

Enjoy it

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

RobertK — Wed, 04 May 2022 18:58:21 GMT

american ex hilton

Re: Help me pick a hotel loyalty card

FinStar — Wed, 04 May 2022 20:10:56 GMT

As the OP provided an update on their approval, this thread is now locked and closed to new messages.