Hotel Rewards Program

[npham]

Looks like I will be travelling a bunch more this year and should be able to hit the mid to high tiers on business travel alone. Which programs are people using for 2020. Seems like Bonvoy took a bit of a step back back towards the end of the year with changes to their off/on peak pricing. Hilton in NA isn’t great but the one I travel to in Europe is pretty nice. Hyatt is another option but they don’t have enough properties and are not located near the offices in Europe.

What are people using? Why/how did you decide?

[ExtraSlow]

biggest deciding factor is if one brand has more locations where you will be travelling. Hilton seems to work for me, but I have Bonvoy too. I've cut back my travel, so I'm not going to get any status anywhere.

[gqmw]

I have all three that you mentioned, but for work I stay at Marriott and related hotels more than the other chains. Reasoning is just that I feel like there are more options and more availability across the world for places to stay (and more reasonable prices for when I travel for leisure). But you're right in that the rewards program for Marriott and others have gotten worse over the past few years.

[killramos]

I think I have an account with Accor through my CC. But have never used it.

I essentially never travel for business, nowhere interesting anyways.

[freshprince1]

I was a Sheraton guy for many years as I would transfer the hotel points to Aeroplan. However I switched over to Hilton last year as it works better with my company. I really like how easy it is to cash in points for hotel rooms, and now that my kids are getting older, we take off for short trips more often and I usually use points for that. The cost of redeeming points for stays at Hilton hotels seems very reasonable as well. I had 85,000 Holiday Inn points that expired because it was so hard to use, and difficult to find availability.

[Super_Geo]

I have Marriott and Hilton Gold through Amex.
I think the only useful things are:
- free room upgrade at check-in (if available). I find they'll have one available about 2/3 of the time. Usually just a better view, or 1 superior king vs 1 king or something like that... haven't been bumped up into a jr suite yet.
- late 2pm check out. Hang over life saver.

If you're traveling a lot I'd recommend an Amex Platinum or Business Platinum card so you can get unlimited Priority Pass lounge access. It's really hit or miss as most airport lounges are barely worth the time WITH THE EXCEPTION of Amex Centurion lounges. Those are worth getting to the airport slightly early for ;)

[cet]

I settled on Hilton when I was deciding based on recommendations from colleagues and that there are more options for the places I travel. I've been gold for the last 4 years and some of the perks can be nice.

[npham]

biggest deciding factor is if one brand has more locations where you will be travelling. Hilton seems to work for me, but I have Bonvoy too. I've cut back my travel, so I'm not going to get any status anywhere.

Locations/availability are about the same. The hotels I will be going to for work are newer or have been updated. So that’s why it’s so hard to choose.


If you're traveling a lot I'd recommend an Amex Platinum or Business Platinum card so you can get unlimited Priority Pass lounge access. It's really hit or miss as most airport lounges are barely worth the time WITH THE EXCEPTION of Amex Centurion lounges. Those are worth getting to the airport slightly early for ;)

I get to fly business for international travel, so lounge access isn’t an issue. But the Amex Marriott card might make sense, if I’m going all in with Marriott. Right now I’ve just been using my RBC Infinite Avion, but there’s likely better options but it’s flexible for us.

[nzwasp]

I have hilton, bonvoy and IHG.

My company doesnt really allow us to ever book Marriotts so i dont have much status with them and most of the time Im travelling to little towns in the middle of fucking nowhere but they all have holiday inns, so now im gold elite with them, doesnt seem to get me that much other than the points dont expire.

[swak]

Used to be a IHG fan-boy for years, but really as before mentioned - it is more about the location where you are going that determines the hotel. I choose this over the rewards programs out there.
I don't travel to the most sought after places either for work lol.
If i'm in GP, Best Western is the best there by far, Red Deer its Sheraton, Lethbridge is IHG, and Fort Mac is Radison i think...

Stay where has the best location and amenities over rewards! You'll have a much better stay.

[npham]

Location is negligible for my work locations, they are within 2 blocks of each other typically. I think it just makes sense to go with Marriott since the Hilton hotels that I would go to in NA are pretty average. Some of the other brands that is under the Marriott are hotels we'd stay at for vacations.

Time to see if there are any good deals for an Amex.

[roopi]

Location is negligible for my work locations, they are within 2 blocks of each other typically. I think it just makes sense to go with Marriott since the Hilton hotels that I would go to in NA are pretty average. Some of the other brands that is under the Marriott are hotels we'd stay at for vacations.

Time to see if there are any good deals for an Amex.

Amex Bonvoy has 50000 signup bonus right now but I have seen it as high as 80000 pts before. If you signup through a referral link it is 51000 points right now. If you want a referel link let me know.

[gqmw]

Amex Bonvoy has 50000 signup bonus right now but I have seen it as high as 80000 pts before. If you signup through a referral link it is 51000 points right now. If you want a referel link let me know.

I've been looking for the 80k sign up for bonvoy but haven't seen it in awhile. Not sure if it's coming back.

OP - amex plat has 60k and plat business is 75k as well through referral.

[roopi]

Last time I saw it was about a year ago.

[flipstah]

Amex Bonvoy gives you one free night up to a Category 5/7 hotel. So mid-tier

Other than that, meh.

[Super_Geo]

Time to see if there are any good deals for an Amex.

Amex Business Platinum is the best card to get right now.
- 40k sign up bonus (75k w/ referral)
- Centurion lounge, unlimited priority pass, delta sky lounge on delta flights
- Marriott, Hertz and Avis gold
- 1.25 points per dollar spent

Most importantly, they updated it last year and it's now metal :rofl:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/new-design-old-design.png

If you want a referral link send me a PM ;)

[killramos]

Amex Business Platinum is the best card to get right now.
- 40k sign up bonus (75k w/ referral)
- Centurion lounge, unlimited priority pass, delta sky lounge on delta flights
- Marriott, Hertz and Avis gold
- 1.25 points per dollar spent

Most importantly, they updated it last year and it's now metal :rofl:
https://www.doctorofcredit.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/new-design-old-design.png

If you want a referral link send me a PM ;)

Not sure if you are still in Canada but how’s your experience on card acceptance for Amex? That’s what always detected me because there is no point in having great rewards if you can never use the card.
I have heard it’s not as bad in the US.

[roopi]

I use an Amex as my regular card and 95% of the time it is accepted. Could just be where I shop though.

[bjstare]

My corporate card is an Amex, and I can't recall ever trying to use it and not being accepted.

[Super_Geo]

Not sure if you are still in Canada but how’s your experience on card acceptance for Amex? That’s what always detected me because there is no point in having great rewards if you can never use the card.
I have heard it’s not as bad in the US.

It's definitely better in the US, but I found Canada wasn't bad. Smaller restaurants usually wouldn't take Amex. Definitely turned down often at Chinese restaurants :rofl:

The US card perks are way better too... I'm on the US Amex Business Platinum, back in 2019 the benefits were insane:
- 100k points sign up bonus after 10k spent in first 3 months
- one year of WeWork hotdesk access at all WeWorks globally (:rofl: they rolled this out Feb19-Dec19... should've been a sign that things were looking like shit leading up to WeWork's IPO)
- $200 in airline charges (checked luggage, onboard meals, etc)
- $200 Dell credits ($100/6months)
- 10x GoGo Inflight Wifi vouchers
- Boingo Wifi Hotspot account
- Marriott and Hiton Gold
- Centurion/PriorityPass
- $85 for TSA precheck or global entry
Fee: $595/year

The got rid of the GoGo/Boingo and WeWork, but for all the people who had it last year they let you extend WeWork until the end of 2020, probably cause they're all sitting empty!
I've had people visit SF and we've gone on WeWork pub crawls where we got to 2-3 WeWorks and just drink for free :devil:

[npham]

Are there any calculators out there which show how much spend you need per month, to make it worth ponying up the 500 bucks a year? I know I will have 50k in travel spend in the first half of 2020.