Questions and Answers

I will be traveling 2 to 3 nights a week by car with the corporate credit card (thus no extra bonuses). There are a lot of holiday inn’s, choice hotels, Hilton’s and to a lesser degree Marriotts here. I already have some points accumulated with Marriott and Holiday Inn where as the other programs I would be starting from scratch. Hi just stay in normal not upgraded rooms unless the chain gives me a complementary upgrade . Unfortunately there are no lounges and any of my hotels .

I’m trying to figure out which chain in this case would be best to accumulate points at given the fact I have some 150K points already accumulated with Marriott and Holiday Inn each. There are no aspirational properties in this geography so any points accumulated would be used in a years time probably domestically. (I rarely fly but if I did I would use Atlanta as my gateway for airlines.)

Your thoughts?

Considering your existing points and the flights & nights packages, I will sway towards Marriott.
IHG points can be “bought” for 0.6 cents a piece any time. So I personally would not go that way.
Next option for me is Hilton but their program is not compelling any more.
But if you go Hilton way, check if your company has a fast track gold program with them. It is worth asking. Since you are starting this from scratch I assume you can’t score a status match.

Any thoughts on applying for new cards?
Can you pay out of pocket and get reimbursed?

You could also get complimentary Hilton Gold status through a number of credit cards. Free breakfast and the occasional upgrade might be nice although the points are not as valuable.

[QUOTE=”Gaurav, post: 19060, member: 79″]You could also get complimentary Hilton Gold status through a number of credit cards. Free breakfast and the occasional upgrade might be nice[B] although the points are not as valuable[/B].[/QUOTE]

It’s true the points are not as valuable on a per point basis. But depending on how you want to redeem them, they can be very valuable and they are very easy to accrue. Even if you must use the company credit card for your Hilton stays, you can earn lots of points through everyday spend on one of the credit cards Gaurav mentions. And when it’s time to redeem those points (and yes, it usually takes LOTS of points) Hilton will let you use those points to get more than just a basic room. I was able to get a 2BR unit last year with Hilton points.

Marriott may still be the best choice for you but Hilton does have a bigger worldwide footprint. So keep in mind how/where you want to use the points while making your decision.