topic Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott in Credit Cards

SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Duncanrr — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 03:23:48 GMT

Im going to be spending one or two days a week at a hotel (it will save on commuting time and cheaper than getting second home). So my question is which credit card and rewards program is the best? Amex SPG, Hilton Honors (citi or chase) or Marriott. Im leaning towards HH or SPG. Y'all's thoughts and recommendations?

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 03:57:32 GMT

I think you should get more than one card and use them for the sign up bonus offers.

First thing that comes to mind is the Ritz card. If the 140k point offer is still going around. You will get many Marriott stays out of it.

As far as just finding a way to offset commuting stress. Cheapest Priceline bidding hotel you can find. I haven't seen points worth more than the discount obtained that way. If you find a hotel you like that way. Get in touch with the manager and see if they can regularly hook you up with good rates.

Use the redemption nights when you are sick of the Priceline rooms and want to stay somewhere "nice".

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

red259 — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 04:09:47 GMT

@Duncanrr wrote:
Im going to be spending one or two days a week at a hotel (it will save on commuting time and cheaper than getting second home). So my question is which credit card and rewards program is the best? Amex SPG, Hilton Honors (citi or chase) or Marriott. Im leaning towards HH or SPG. Y'all's thoughts and recommendations?

It really depends on how many stays or nights you are talking about. How long will this go on for? Are you always going to be staying in the same area? If your always going to be staying in the same area I think what you need to do is look at the different properties and pick the one you like best for price/comfort etc. Then sign up for that rewards program and credit card. If you go with Hilton then sign up for the citi hilton reserve card to get the gold status (or actually you can easily complete the challenge of four stays in 90 days). If your going to put a lot of stays in with Starwoods then clearly the SPG would be a great card to pay for those stays with. With marriott there are decent promotions going on where you can get free stays at category 1-5 properties (think courtyard and lower). You can challenge for status with starwoods as well if your going to be putting up large numbers over the next 90 days (e.g., 18 nights). There are no marriott challenges at the moment and its the most demanding loyalty program where top level requires 75 nights a year. The hilton program was severely devalued but the lower level properties (hamptons etc) still have decent redemptions in the overall scheme of things. You could also look into IHG and club carlson properties if you really want to rack up lots of points.

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Duncanrr — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 04:16:54 GMT

It will be the same area for the stays and probably at least 6 months to year then ill reevaluate what im going to do.

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Walt_K — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 04:23:27 GMT

You need to think about what you are most interested in? Earning free nights with the least amount of spend? Getting suite upgrades? Which program aligns better with your goals?

Also, it sounds like you are saying you're going to be traveling to the same place for an extended period of time. I would think a huge deciding factor would be which hotel chain has a property closest to your office/meeting location, and which one is offering the most favorable rate. If this is all reimburseable and you have flexibility to choose a hotel that is slightly more expensive, maybe that isn't as big of a concern. But this could be a big difference if the Hilton property closest to your meeting location is one of their budget properties and the SPG property is a St. Regis.

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 04:23:49 GMT

What city?

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

red259 — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 04:30:52 GMT

Since its near the end of the year I don't think you will have time to make status with marriott. You can look into the starwoods/hilton challenges. Since its the same area your going to I would really base where you stay on the property you like most and get to know them there. It is possible to negotiate with some properties directly for better rates if you are there frequently.

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 04:46:25 GMT

Ritz card comes with Marriott status.

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 04:47:26 GMT

If you are staying in a hotel for an extended period of time, usually you can negotiate a much better rate with them.

So before you decide on what card you want to get, call each property and discuss about their rates for extended stays.

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Duncanrr — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 14:14:01 GMT

It will be the same couple days each work week with a few exceptions. I rather not leave New Orleans so ill be driving about 1.5 hours each day to get to new work location. Sometimes with bad traffic this drive can take almost 3 hours. I don't feel like making this drive twice a day for 4 work days (telecommute on Friday).

I thought about getting a place for mon, Tuesday, wed night but its just not worth the expense. I'm trying to figure out my best options.

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Open123 — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 14:56:25 GMT

@Duncanrr wrote:
Im going to be spending one or two days a week at a hotel (it will save on commuting time and cheaper than getting second home).

I've been in a similar situation.

Before I really knew about the SPG points + cash, I chose SPG since I knew that I would be staying "X" days every year and knew I would reach lifetime Gold/Platinum status. That perk, along with the SPG bonuses and fully utilizing cash + points makes it a better option than Hilton or Marriott, unless the area where you're staying is without adequate SPG properties.

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Duncanrr — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 14:59:29 GMT

What's cash + points?

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Open123 — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 15:07:14 GMT

@Duncanrr wrote:
What's cash + points?

When you redeem SPG points + cash, the value per point is higher; I'd estimate the value to be approximately 2.5 - 3.0 cents per point when redeemed this way. Moreover, unlike many other hotel programs, cash + points redemptions earn additional points on the spend with the stay qualifying towards Gold/Platinum status. Quite compelling when combined with the 25k & 30k sign-up bonuses.

Furthermore, you can have both personal and business cards, both of which counts towards the annual stay for elite status.

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Duncanrr — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 15:10:08 GMT

Gotcha. Thanks for the clear post on the topic. Ill have to research my options and see what is the best with available hotels. It also depends on how much I travel for new job (which maybe extensive).

Re: SPG vs Hilton Honors vs Marriott

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Oct 2013 15:37:42 GMT

I think it comes down to personal perference, I have the HH surpass Amex, i like the card b/c of the 12:1 for hilton stays and 6:1 for gas,food and shopping(So i let the missus use it mainly since thats her area of spending), hilton also lets you double dip so i receive my hilton points,bonus points for being gold (comes with the card for the first yr but if your staying in hotels you can get a diamond challenge, think its 18 days stay in 90 days or something like that) and i receive airline miles @ 1:1

hilton also allows you to pay in all points or cash and points like SPG...If your going international then the Citi reserve would be a better choice as it has no FTF