Which Hotel Status to go for?

[KingHuang]

Hey All,

Just thinking out loud here, I've been using a mixture of hotels across so many apps but it's getting a bit silly because I am literally not getting much out of it as a result of spreading out the stays across different chains.

My question would be - if there was 1 or 2 status's to attain, that serves plenty of benefits in the long run (and people have stuck to it in the past), what would that be?

This would include both domestic and international hotel stays for both work and holiday.

Sorry if this has been posted before, couldn't find a link!

 

[aikman]

I'd go with the chain that you have stayed the most in in the past. As the saying goes, past performance is indicative of future results.

 

[drron]

It really depends on which hotels you have liked In my case I found that things kept changing.
In my case I started off with Sheraton Club International and was a lifetime gold member in the 80’s. In the 90’s they shut it down.
Next joined Hilton and I was treated very well for 7 years as diamond. But then was denied lounge access 3 times in a row at hotels that previously had a good reputation on upgrades. Plus the Waldorf in NYC added several extra charges that took ages to resolve and a few other issues.

So then I status matched to SPG and decided whoever treated me better in the first 3 months would get my money. Well my first SPG stay was at the Westin Madrid and upgraded to the Royal suite. First Hilton stay that year was the Hilton Diagonal Barcelona where no upgrade at all.
So I ended up lifetime Platinum with SPG. Then Marriott took them over and I was not as happy.

So I switched to IHG and have mostly been really happy with my treatment.

So as I said at the beginning which hotels have you liked best. Everyone has their own opinions on which is best.

 

[SYD]

I'd go with the chain that you have stayed the most in in the past. As the saying goes, past performance is indicative of future results.

This is the sensible approach for status if you find yourself staying in the same place or chain over multiple trips.

But Hotels and points / status earning have evolved a lot over the last few decades. Years ago, many hotels would just award say QFF points (or other airline miles) for each stay. Then we started signing up to their own Hotel programs and earning the hotel points / status. But that can dilute the net result.

What‘s a good strategy, is sign up to all and any program. As above, focus on one maybe two for status and hotel points accumulation if you’re travelling a lot but switch the occasional stay hotel programs over to awarding airline miles. That way, your potentially get status and recognition at your primary chain, while earning some reasonable points for yourself to use on future stays. Plus, you’re not left with piddly small amounts of points with other chains that will probably expire before you get a chance to use them.

 

[jase05]

Everyone is different and there is no one size fits all approach so to speak. It depends on individual circumstances and availability of properties where you travel can have an influence on your choices. Accor suits our needs as we normally have plenty of stays in Australia and our overseas trips are predominantly to Asia the ME and Europe where Accor properties are everywhere and good quality (although I do feel Europe is a bit of a let down)
We also stay plenty of nights in Adelaide due to proximity of the Sofitel to Mrs Jase’s work. As such we have no problem retaining Diamond but if we ever decide to travel to the US it’s going to be pretty useless there.
I’ve been HH Diamond for a few years now and that is the one I’ve decided to let lapse as I’m only about halfway to retaining it and I’ve been a bit disappointed with the quality and perks here in Australia and in Europe so unless they do some sort of status retainer I’ll slip back through the ranks.
I‘m Titanium with GHA and I think they are an underrated program and are the easiest to get high status with and feel like I’ve always been treated well by them and get some good perks. I don’t use them a lot but they help fill the gap in the ME and Europe.
For our trip to Norway in March I found most of the hotel chains are useless in Scandinavia but I ended up going with the Radisson group who had properties where we are going and I’ve joined up to Radisson rewards. Looks like a pretty poor program but I’ll have enough nights/stays to get some kind of status and hopefully enough points to use on something.
Lastly I’m with Choice Privileges and their program is pretty poor but for work I’m often staying at regional towns in SA and they are the only options

 

[Cynicor]

If you are young and have a lot of travel ahead, consider lifetime status too. SPG, Hilton and Hyatt have this.

 

[KingHuang]

If you are young and have a lot of travel ahead, consider lifetime status too. SPG, Hilton and Hyatt have this.

Could I status match across these chains? Ya I think I’m young enough to do so

 

[PineappleSkip]

Which cities and countries do you stay in the most? I do the bulk of my preference selecting on Accor because they are pretty good at recognising status, although last I looked their points value wasn’t the greatest. They also have a good spread of locations in Australia, Asia and Europe.

 

[KingHuang]

Which cities and countries do you stay in the most? I do the bulk of my preference selecting on Accor because they are pretty good at recognising status, although last I looked their points value wasn’t the greatest. They also have a good spread of locations in Australia, Asia and Europe.

Yep those are the prime locations I go to

 

[FishFood]

I have been generally happy with IHG as my primary hotel chain, their geographic coverage and status recognition is satisfactory. As I won't re qualify for diamond, once they process the downgrades my strategy may change.

 

[elanshin]

For US, would you go for IHG or HH as the main option. Realistically not looking to splurge at this point of my travel/ work as I effectively work for myself so whilst it is company money, it is ultimately still me paying for it.

 

[Silvia]

Where internationally do you go? Your destinations would dictate that. Also what do you value as perks and your average expenditure.

 

[elanshin]

Where internationally do you go? Your destinations would dictate that. Also what do you value as perks and your average expenditure.

Dom AU triangle although SYD/MEL I generally don't need hotels, JP regularly, China (increasing) and SG are likely the main.

 

[Kremmen]

For me, it's IHG for chain hotels and Agoda for non-chain hotels. ("status" with Agoda can actually include some good discounts)

SPG used to be good, but after the Marriott takeover, it's just not worthwhile to me. There are too few hotels in most cities and most are poor value.

I was diamond with both HH and IHG last year but dropping down this year. I stayed 50 nights with IHG last year and 10 nights with Hilton. HH has decreased in value and room rates have risen sharply. Points required for awards have risen too. Hilton's F&B credit instead of free breakfast in America is a tedious downgrade.

IHG has improved its offerings and room rates are more reasonable and more varied in my experience. IHG has a wider variety of types in cities I visit (mostly Asia and Europe). Most importantly, IHG's milestones offer great flexibility and the annual lounge membership at 40 nights is arguably better than diamond status. (And if you trigger it in the last quarter of a year, you can choose it Jan 1 of the following year to have it for 2 years.) I've also found IHG hotels to be far more generous. A Holiday Inn recently upgraded me to a suite just because of my status.

 

[drron]

For me, it's IHG for chain hotels and Agoda for non-chain hotels. ("status" with Agoda can actually include some good discounts)

SPG used to be good, but after the Marriott takeover, it's just not worthwhile to me. There are too few hotels in most cities and most are poor value.

I was diamond with both HH and IHG last year but dropping down this year. I stayed 50 nights with IHG last year and 10 nights with Hilton. HH has decreased in value and room rates have risen sharply. Points required for awards have risen too. Hilton's F&B credit instead of free breakfast in America is a tedious downgrade.

IHG has improved its offerings and room rates are more reasonable and more varied in my experience. IHG has a wider variety of types in cities I visit (mostly Asia and Europe). Most importantly, IHG's milestones offer great flexibility and the annual lounge membership at 40 nights is arguably better than diamond status. (And if you trigger it in the last quarter of a year, you can choose it Jan 1 of the following year to have it for 2 years.) I've also found IHG hotels to be far more generous. A Holiday Inn recently upgraded me to a suite just because of my status.

Absolutely. I triggered my lounge award on January 2nd this year so have lounge access until 31/12/25.
Also not hard to retain diamond if travelling to Asia. I'm at the IC Bangkok at the moment. If you book a cancellable rate you get offered bonus points per night which are elite qualifying points. The rate here is 207 baht for 5000 points. That is $A9. So 6 nights here and I have 25% of the points required to retain diamond.
I just looked at the CP Burwood for comparison. The 5000 points there cost you $A56. Chalk and cheese.

 

[Daver6]

For US, would you go for IHG or HH as the main option. Realistically not looking to splurge at this point of my travel/ work as I effectively work for myself so whilst it is company money, it is ultimately still me paying for it.

Depending on your spend, perhaps ALL? It's not too hard to hit platinum. The perks are decent. However, if you only make it to gold, it's pretty meh. IMFO, HH at gold with the free breaky is still a sweet spot.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Depending on your spend, perhaps ALL? It's not too hard to hit platinum. The perks are decent. However, if you only make it to gold, it's pretty meh. IMFO, HH at gold with the free breaky is still a sweet spot.

After many years loyalty to IHG, platinum and ambassador, never been impressed with the perks and in fact very annoyed at times. With Accor and ALL, have been quite impressed with the rewards, points redemptions, suite upgrades etc. but YMMV.

 

[Kremmen]

After many years loyalty to IHG, platinum and ambassador, never been impressed with the perks and in fact very annoyed at times. With Accor and ALL, have been quite impressed with the rewards, points redemptions, suite upgrades etc. but YMMV.

I've had more IT issues with Accor than all other chains put together. Their IT, even simple things like points crediting correctly, is worse than Hilton in the 90s. I've found it impossible to use Amex for online bookings at some properties, yet agents can book it (with same card) over the phone. Their benefits are all over the place too. A "welcome drink" can be a really decent wine in a Mercure in Australia or plain juice in a Novotel in Asia. (The former being worth more than 10x the latter.) Late checkout might be anything from noon to 5pm. Totally inconsistent. I'd go as far as to say a shambles. And ALL points are a fixed value. IHG points can be worth vastly more.

 

[kyle]

As well as benefits, I think the OP should also consider whether the chain has hotels that fit their style and in the cities that they are going to.

I'm working my way towards HH lifetime diamond and I think 30 stays a year to retain diamond is not too bad. And for a continental breakfast, LQS is pretty good.

 

[UP4014]

I find hotel loyalty doesn’t give back much in the way of benefits.

I tend to use Hilton as travel to the US a bit and their chain hotels are everywhere.

I don’t bother with it generally as spending $2000 for ‘X’ number of nights for a free bottle of water is a waste of effort and money.

Remember the old Motel 6 bill board slogan from the 1980’s, once you turn the light off all rooms look the same.