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Can we count how many Hilton cards in the market? AmEx has about 4-5? AmEx single handed destroyed Hilton Honor program. The point value is like 0.3-0.4 cpp. I feel it is like peso vs US dollar.
Now AmEx is doing the same with Marriott. And Marriott seems not to care much.
This is the reason that I've started to transfer Marriott points to United Airline miles. We had the 20% (or 25%) transfer bonus in September or October. I'm preparing for the devaluation all along. Maybe some day.
To me, Hilton Honor program is dead.
@BronzeTrader wrote:Can we count how many Hilton cards in the market? AmEx has about 4-5? AmEx single handed destroyed Hilton Honor program. The point value is like 0.3-0.4 cpp. I feel it is like peso vs US dollar.
Now AmEx is doing the same with Marriott. And Marriott seems not to care much.
This is the reason that I've started to transfer Marriott points to United Airline miles. We had the 20% (or 25%) transfer bonus in September or October. I'm preparing for the devaluation all along. Maybe some day.
To me, Hilton Honor program is dead.
To their credit, Marriott cared enough not to let them hand out Titanium/Ambassador status via card.
UA's not exactly innocent either. They've done two rounds of heavy devaluation of their points and have placed major restrictions on how open-jaw/intra-zone hopping awards could be redeemed. RTW J used to cost me ~150k per seat RT, but my last redemption earlier this year was 175k/seat just to Europe.
@iced wrote:
@BronzeTrader wrote:Can we count how many Hilton cards in the market? AmEx has about 4-5? AmEx single handed destroyed Hilton Honor program. The point value is like 0.3-0.4 cpp. I feel it is like peso vs US dollar.
Now AmEx is doing the same with Marriott. And Marriott seems not to care much.
This is the reason that I've started to transfer Marriott points to United Airline miles. We had the 20% (or 25%) transfer bonus in September or October. I'm preparing for the devaluation all along. Maybe some day.
To me, Hilton Honor program is dead.
To their credit, Marriott cared enough not to let them hand out Titanium/Ambassador status via card.
UA's not exactly innocent either. They've done two rounds of heavy devaluation of their points and have placed major restrictions on how open-jaw/intra-zone hopping awards could be redeemed. RTW J used to cost me ~150k per seat RT, but my last redemption earlier this year was 175k/seat just to Europe.
What the difference of Marriott Platinum vs Titanium?
As to UA miles. At least I can use them and I need them. Not the Million of Marriott points I piled over the years. I do not hold UA CCs. This is a good way to get UA miles.
@BronzeTrader wrote:
@iced wrote:
@BronzeTrader wrote:Can we count how many Hilton cards in the market? AmEx has about 4-5? AmEx single handed destroyed Hilton Honor program. The point value is like 0.3-0.4 cpp. I feel it is like peso vs US dollar.
Now AmEx is doing the same with Marriott. And Marriott seems not to care much.
This is the reason that I've started to transfer Marriott points to United Airline miles. We had the 20% (or 25%) transfer bonus in September or October. I'm preparing for the devaluation all along. Maybe some day.
To me, Hilton Honor program is dead.
To their credit, Marriott cared enough not to let them hand out Titanium/Ambassador status via card.
UA's not exactly innocent either. They've done two rounds of heavy devaluation of their points and have placed major restrictions on how open-jaw/intra-zone hopping awards could be redeemed. RTW J used to cost me ~150k per seat RT, but my last redemption earlier this year was 175k/seat just to Europe.
What the difference of Marriott Platinum vs Titanium?
As to UA miles. At least I can use them and I need them. Not the Million of Marriott points I piled over the years. I do not hold UA CCs. This is a good way to get UA miles.
Reservation guarantees. If they can't fit you in or oversell rooms, they'll buy you an equal or better room somewhere else. You can book a room at a sold-out property and they'll make a room available for you.
@iced wrote:
@BronzeTrader wrote:
@iced wrote:
@BronzeTrader wrote:Can we count how many Hilton cards in the market? AmEx has about 4-5? AmEx single handed destroyed Hilton Honor program. The point value is like 0.3-0.4 cpp. I feel it is like peso vs US dollar.
Now AmEx is doing the same with Marriott. And Marriott seems not to care much.
This is the reason that I've started to transfer Marriott points to United Airline miles. We had the 20% (or 25%) transfer bonus in September or October. I'm preparing for the devaluation all along. Maybe some day.
To me, Hilton Honor program is dead.
To their credit, Marriott cared enough not to let them hand out Titanium/Ambassador status via card.
UA's not exactly innocent either. They've done two rounds of heavy devaluation of their points and have placed major restrictions on how open-jaw/intra-zone hopping awards could be redeemed. RTW J used to cost me ~150k per seat RT, but my last redemption earlier this year was 175k/seat just to Europe.
What the difference of Marriott Platinum vs Titanium?
As to UA miles. At least I can use them and I need them. Not the Million of Marriott points I piled over the years. I do not hold UA CCs. This is a good way to get UA miles.
Reservation guarantees. If they can't fit you in or oversell rooms, they'll buy you an equal or better room somewhere else. You can book a room at a sold-out property and they'll make a room available for you.
Not really. The only difference to me is the United Silver status. If that is any valuable to anyone.
Reservation guarantee is never a benefit to me. If the hotel is fully booked, I'm not going to open my wallet to pay the official rate.
@BronzeTrader wrote:Not really. The only difference to me is the United Silver status. If that is any valuable to anyone.
Reservation guarantee is never a benefit to me. If the hotel is fully booked, I'm not going to open my wallet to pay the official rate.
And that's fine.
That benefit is valuable to many members however, in particular those who travel frequently on business and if every schmuck with a credit card had it, it would become a problematic guarantee for Marriott to maintain (likely leading to a devaluation). There's a reason You24 was made available only to Ambassador once Marriott merged in Starwood's program, and there's a reason they don't want to hand out the guarantee to hundreds of thousands of people, either.
I agree the fee is a bit high, but there is value.
My credits for restaurants show up in a matter of days.
I have no issues using my free night and getting upgraded.
Thank god they didn't give away Titanium for a few hundred dollars!
EARN IT.
I have stayed 80+ paid nights this year.
@tussking wrote:I agree the fee is a bit high, but there is value.
My credits for restaurants show up in a matter of days.
I have no issues using my free night and getting upgraded.
Thank god they didn't give away Titanium for a few hundred dollars!
EARN IT.
I have stayed 80+ paid nights this year.
Because they know cardmembers won't pay anything for the Bonvoy Titanium. There is no real difference other than the United Silver.
The Chase Ritz Carlton is a much better card.
Agreed, it's just not worth it with dynamic pricing for rewards (read: expensive), the $25 monthly credit (that's not enough for a place in my wallet), the general terrible state of all hotel chains, Marriott included. 9 times out of 10 not offering the daily $ credit for F&B, my folio consistently wrong the past year, etc.....
I get triggered just thinking about Marriott nowadays vs 10+ years ago.
In addition to the above differences between Platinum and Titanium, Titanium also has an additional choice benefit* (I usually pick the free night certificate, which isn't available as a 50 night choice), a 48-hour guarantee (if I book by 3 PM today, I'm guaranteed a room the day after tomorrow), and a 75% bonus instead of 50% bonus on room charges. (*Choice benefits for status are only available when you actually reach 50 or 75 elite nights each year; status from CCs or spend on CCs alone does not unlock them, although the Brilliant card next year does have additoinal choices when you reach $60k spend.) The reservation guarantee discussed above is not a distinction between them - both Platinum and Titanium include that.
I'm very glad they're still not offering Titanium status by simply paying an annual fee. As alluded to above, when everyone has status no one has status. There have certainly been some undesirable changes to the program and it's far from where it was during the days immediately before the SPG merger was finalized, but I don't really see anyone with a better program that comes anywhere close to Marriott's footprint. For those of us who actually stay at Marriott properties, it's still pretty difficult to beat this card. The free night certificate more than covers the annual fee as it is, and while I'll certainly miss the easy $300 statement credit I have been getting for my first stay after each renewal, it's not too difficult to remember to use the card once a month to reload $25 to my Dunkin balance in the app.