Do you find "top tier" hotel loyalty status valuable?

C

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I've had great luck with hotel loyalty program. There are many, and each offers different benefits, but Hyatt offers the best benefits for us. Beyond the rewards given along the way to qualifying for Hyatt Globalist, I have gotten at least $1k in value each year from maintaining that status, and often much, much more.

For example, on a recent 3-night city getaway with Hyatt, we were upgraded to a club level room on one of the top floors. While it's hard to value amenities like an upgraded room with club access, we received complimentary breakfast each morning at the hotel restaurant and a daily room credit, which had a combined value of over $300 for the stay. Next month we'll be taking a 3-night resort getaway. Similar to this recent city trip, we'll get the best available room at the resort. We'll also get breakfast, waived resort fees, free parking and free daily access to the spa. Same as the recent city trip, it's an all-points stay and the Globalist benefits for this upcoming resort trip will be close to $500 for the trip, not including the upgraded room. Finally, next Feb. we're headed to Japan and will be spending a total of 6 nights in Tokyo (all on points) where we'll get at least $1k in Globalist benefits during that trip between the complimentary breakfast, free spa access, and resort credits.

With all these benefits, I'll seek out opportunities to continue to maintain Hyatt Globalist. So does anyone else find a great deal of value in top-tier and lifetime level status in hotel loyalty programs?
 
Lifetime Hilton Diamond member. Now that I'm retired I see no real benefit. We stay at the best hotels we can find. After 3000+ nights at Hilton with no advantages I prefer to start from scratch with each new reservation. The bottom line for premium accommodations is all that counts now. FWIW we're having good luck with Hyatts lately.
 
foxfirev5 said:
Lifetime Hilton Diamond member. Now that I'm retired I see no real benefit. We stay at the best hotels we can find. After 3000+ nights at Hilton with no advantages I prefer to start from scratch with each new reservation. The bottom line for premium accommodations is all that counts now. FWIW we're having good luck with Hyatts lately.
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How did you reach "lifetime diamond" at Hilton? I had diamond-tier for years and years, owing to business travel associated with a former job. Leaving that job meant cessation of travel, or at least travel on generous per diem, which meant goodbye Hilton, and goodbye diamond. It's actually a palpable loss. On those rare occasions that I do travel, and do try to stay at Hiltons (instead of Motel-6), I miss the free breakfasts, the executive lounge access (free dinner and free alcohol), gym/pool access and so on. And the fancy upgrades, from regular room to whatever suite etc. they had available.

As with most privileges and perks, we don't notice them until they're gone.
 
I'm with Bonvoy, and have Gold via my CC. I love to use points for stays at the best places, but I often find I have to ask - and I'd really rather not but I do - to get a decent upgrade on paid stays.

At a stay earlier this year the desk agent mentioned I was upgraded... but I knew the hotel and I was just getting the same room with a better view. I cited my loyalty to bonvoy and to that property (it was my 8th stay at least) and asked for a corner suite. He was very nervous, but I got it.

But yes the basics like a nice welcome amenity (from cookies to wine, depends), wifi and easy early check ins, late-outs, not hard to get.
 
When working i picked up enough Marriott points every year to get some free nights, but never saw any real advantage to worrying about top status.

I think airlines status is much more useful.
 
Did not like the HH program. Did not like the Accor program either.

I did very much like the Marriott program. We got upgraded on a very regular basis.

Certainly it depends on the property. The Hilton property in Melbourne Beach surprise DW with a significant birthday event including a room upgrade etc.

But for dollar for dollar value....the Marriott Bonvoy program wins hands down.

We only use our points in high cost cities. Last time was five nights in Sydney, Australia. The fifth night on points was gratis.

We have used up all my airline points. Besides...they keep reducing the true, redeemable value of the points.
 
I’m just at first level. Good enough for free bottles of water on arrival. Good enough for me. Hilton and Marriott.

I haven’t pursued top tier status. A few exceptions but we generally only stay in those properties on the way somewhere (road trip) and not in big cities. Not at destinations
 
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Lifetime Diamond with Hilton and even though retired I do find it very worthwhile. Upgraded rooms, executive floor benefits, and little gifts along the way. Recent stays (some paid some points) were Hilton Stucky in Venice, Conrad in Tokyo, and Hilton in Auckland. All wonderful rooms and wonderful stays.

Marc
 
Seems like these are best when you stay in big cities.

Not if you visit smaller towns or even villages in more rural settings.

Even in big cities though, they're all 5-star so more expensive than you may be interested in spending.

For instance, I've never priced the Hyatt in Sydney, even though it's in a very iconic location. Instead I've stayed in other places, which were probably a fraction of the cost.

That's fine because I usually don't make use of the amenities at 5-star hotels.
 
Hyatt has limited properties in the smaller towns, and oddball places I visit.

I frequent an other chain with more hotels in smaller cities. I occasionally get an upgraded room but usually it’s a small upgrade such as a room with a tiny balcony overlooking six lanes of a very busy major boulevard. A few months ago I did get an upgrade to a more spacious room with a couch in a separate sitting area. Since I was there for several nights, it was much appreciated.

I do get free rooms from time to time when I accumulate enough points. A few years ago I did a five night trip and paid for only two nights. This year I did a seven night trip and had three free nights. Their credit card gives me one free night a year, and a rebate of 10% when I use points for a room. So a 20,000 point room actually uses 18,000 points. The credit card fee is well below the price of a room at a good number of their medium level hotels.

I do check prices at competing hotels. Points are nice, but dollars in my pocket are nicer.
 
Traveling too much for work gave me lot of Marriott points. Such that I have lifetime platinum status. It's nice, but since a lot of my travel is motorhome, still have points to use for free nights when I do use hotel.

In general, if you're going to be using a lot of hotels, stick with one program and build up enough to get higher benefits. Rather than lower benefits under multiple multiple programs.
 
38Chevy454 said:
In general, if you're going to be using a lot of hotels, stick with one program and build up enough to get higher benefits. Rather than lower benefits under multiple multiple programs.
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That's been my experience. I tried balancing Bonvoy and Hyatt, but defaulted several years ago to just Hyatt in order to maintain Globalist.

The early check-in (as early as 10am) and late check-out (as late as 4pm---but realistically 2pm from experience) is a huge value to us. One of our favorite properties is the Park Hyatt in Beaver Creek. Between breakfast, resort fees, spa access and parking, the Globalist benefit is over $250/day. The premium mountain view rooms (and suite upgrades) make the stay magical. However, the early check-in/late check-out means we can basically ski two days on a 1-night stay. More typically, we ski 3 days on a 2-night stay with an in-house ski-valet and the gondola steps from the door.
 
We don't see value in high end accomodations as a rule. And when we do they are usually not the major brands. But I have status at several chains but not the highest level.
 
I'm lifetime Platinum with Marriot Bonvoy from work travel and there are many worthwhile perks. We almost always get a "club level" room and upgrades. Club level gets free breakfast either in the main restaurant or in the club which is usually our preference since we are not big breakfasters. We can book the cheapest room and usually get an upgrade to the best rooms, especially for 1-night stays. For longer stays I usually book one tier below what I hope for and almost always get upgraded.

The question was, do we find status valuable and I would say yes. But would I spend my own money seeking it if I were not close from work travel, not likely!
 
Diogenes said:
How did you reach "lifetime diamond" at Hilton? I had diamond-tier for years and years, owing to business travel associated with a former job. Leaving that job meant cessation of travel, or at least travel on generous per diem, which meant goodbye Hilton, and goodbye diamond. It's actually a palpable loss. On those rare occasions that I do travel, and do try to stay at Hiltons (instead of Motel-6), I miss the free breakfasts, the executive lounge access (free dinner and free alcohol), gym/pool access and so on. And the fancy upgrades, from regular room to whatever suite etc. they had available.

As with most privileges and perks, we don't notice them until they're gone.
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It's been about 10 years ago but I believe there was a 10 year Diamond status requirement.
 
I was Hilton Gold for years and Diamond for a few years. Last year I was about to drop back down to Tin status but got a credit card that restored me to Gold.

First, the advantages have deteriorated significantly over time. There are VERY few Executive lounges in the US although some of the ones in Europe are spectacular. Two years ago I had access to one in Malta with balconies on the Aegean. In the US, instead of offering the breakfast buffet at Hiltons (as opposed to Hampton Inn, etc.) you get a meal credit that doesn't really make up for it. Last week the Hilton O'Hare gave me credits for $36 per night per room- we had two rooms and 3 in each but they limit the $18/person credit to two per room. The breakfast buffet- I kid you not- was $31.95. Yes, we skipped it.

I've found it more of an advantage for things that don't cost them actual money. I once made a non-cancellable one-night reservation, realized almost immediately I'd made a mistake and couldn't use it, called and got it reversed. Also good for early check-ins and late checkouts when needed. I've never had to wait for a room when I showed up an hour or so early.

The "Diamond force" perk says that as a Diamond you can get a reservation in a Hilton even though it's fully booked. When making reservations for the Berkshire-Hathaway meeting one year I checked that out. Yes, I COULD :force" my way in to the Hilton downtown. Only $600/night. 😲
 
I lost my HH status a long time ago. Marriott is little later.

I earned my hotel privileges and my airline points through business travel.

Used up my airline points.

Certainly miss those those perks when I had them and was able to use them for vacation travel.
 
SecondAttempt said:
I'm lifetime Platinum with Marriot Bonvoy from work travel and there are many worthwhile perks. We almost always get a "club level" room and upgrades. Club level gets free breakfast either in the main restaurant or in the club which is usually our preference since we are not big breakfasters. We can book the cheapest room and usually get an upgrade to the best rooms, especially for 1-night stays. For longer stays I usually book one tier below what I hope for and almost always get upgraded.

The question was, do we find status valuable and I would say yes. But would I spend my own money seeking it if I were not close from work travel, not likely!
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Awesome! There's a lifetime Globalist, but I won't ever reach it since it's entirely based on spend ($200k).

However, I will spend my own money for those final few nights to re-qualify for Globalist each year. For example, I have an upcoming trip with an overnight layover on each end. Rather than checking out after the first stay, I'm just keeping the room for when I return a week later. The additional nights added about $500 to the total (I priced it both ways with tax), but I'll gain a free night certificate that can be used at their most upscale properties. We already have plans to use the certificate for a stay where the total value redeemed will be no less than $1200, so it's worth leaving a paid room empty for a few nights on this upcoming just to earn that certificate.
 
I am Marriott Titanium and Hyatt Globalist. Through lifetime and/or credit card games we are able to maintain these. Prefer Hyatt for perks but Marriott for footprint of properties. I like having club access (especially internationally since you get free booze), like free breakfasts, and like occasional suite upgrades. For us it's worth it. We travel a fair amount.
 
I'm platinum Mariott and like others I like the club and upgrades but I really like the upgraded wifi. I'm a power user and always appreciate the faster speeds.
 
CaliKid said:
I am Marriott Titanium and Hyatt Globalist. Through lifetime and/or credit card games we are able to maintain these. Prefer Hyatt for perks but Marriott for footprint of properties. I like having club access (especially internationally since you get free booze), like free breakfasts, and like occasional suite upgrades. For us it's worth it. We travel a fair amount.
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A few years ago we stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Paris. In addition to the club access for breakfast, happy hour, and throughout the day, our top floor room had Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe views.

Agree that Marriott's footprint is much larger than Hyatt's.
 
CO-guy said:
I've had great luck with hotel loyalty program. There are many, and each offers different benefits, but Hyatt offers the best benefits for us. Beyond the rewards given along the way to qualifying for Hyatt Globalist, I have gotten at least $1k in value each year from maintaining that status, and often much, much more.

For example, on a recent 3-night city getaway with Hyatt, we were upgraded to a club level room on one of the top floors. While it's hard to value amenities like an upgraded room with club access, we received complimentary breakfast each morning at the hotel restaurant and a daily room credit, which had a combined value of over $300 for the stay. Next month we'll be taking a 3-night resort getaway. Similar to this recent city trip, we'll get the best available room at the resort. We'll also get breakfast, waived resort fees, free parking and free daily access to the spa. Same as the recent city trip, it's an all-points stay and the Globalist benefits for this upcoming resort trip will be close to $500 for the trip, not including the upgraded room. Finally, next Feb. we're headed to Japan and will be spending a total of 6 nights in Tokyo (all on points) where we'll get at least $1k in Globalist benefits during that trip between the complimentary breakfast, free spa access, and resort credits.

With all these benefits, I'll seek out opportunities to continue to maintain Hyatt Globalist. So does anyone else find a great deal of value in top-tier and lifetime level status in hotel loyalty programs?
Click to expand...
Unlike American Airlines which gave me platinum for life, maintaining hotel elite status is too costly and restrictive. At one point or another was top tier member in most of the programs when work paid for hotel stays. Now retired much prefer slower travel and AirBnB or or apartment rentals as hotel rooms just aren’t all that comfortable. Plus the whole added fees is getting on my nerves! $35 resort fee which you can’t avoid? $30 per person breakfast? Hotels have become a rip off and I always enjoyed them previously….
 
I try to stay in a clean, comfortable room when traveling. I just want a room - not a resort or fancy eats, etc. SO, no, never did the "elite status" thing nor did I have any desire to. Plus now, we just don't travel that much. Not like the old days at Megacorp. YMMV
 
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