Hotel Loyalty Conundrum: Solved (For Now)

I regularly go back and forth about hotel loyalty. I’m on the record as saying that Hyatt has the best hotel loyalty program and its points are worth the most. Of course, Hyatt also has the smallest footprint, with under 1,000 hotels. Also, Hyatt skews upscale, which is a nice departure from chains like IHG, which really only have a few hundred Kimptons or Intercontinentals and then make up the difference with like 3,000 Holiday Inn Expresses. A small footprint can work fine when your location is flexible and you’re looking for a resort that suits your needs, or traveling to the downtown area of a major metropolitan area. It doesn’t work so well when you have a fixed location (wedding, family event, meeting up with friends) on the outskirts of the city or by the airport and it‘s necessary to be close to a given location.

Current Situation:

As of right now, I have about 5 nights in the hopper. It’s not much, but they’re mine, and I’ll take them. 1 night in Seattle, 2 nights at a beach destination within driving distance, 1 night in Salt Lake, and 1 night in LA (maybe 2 more). Of those potential nights, I can do 4 at Hyatt: the beach vacation (2), LA (2), and Salt Lake (1). Of those 4, Hyatt is only cheaper at LAX. So all things considered, 1 for-sure night at Marriott, 1 maybe night at Hyatt, 3 could go either way. Let’s take a look at the pros & cons of loyalty vs. flexibility and what I’ve decided to do. 

Seattle - 1 night

 In a couple weeks, we may be going to Seattle for a friend of my wife’s birthday party. She throws a bash. She’s a friend of my wife; she barely speaks to me, but I like her husband and her parties, and I need a trip, so of course I’ll go, but it’s not up to me. We’re only going if my wife decides she feels comfortable flying. If we go, we’ll be staying by the airport. Fly in on Saturday and out on Sunday. There’s no point staying downtown as we really won’t have time to do anything. The nearest Hyatt to the airport is the one by the Boeing 737 factory and is a good distance from the airport. We’ll likely stay at the airport Marriott. I’ve always wanted to stay there; it seems like it’s got a rustic charm and has been recently renovated. I checked IHG and Hilton and their points values are ridiculously overvalued for the price and the Marriott is $107, so all in all, it seems like a pretty easy decision. 

Park City - 1 night

Our next opportunity is a bit of a toss-up and may even lean toward Hyatt. I at least am going to Salt Lake for a family event over July 4. If my wife decides Sshe feels comfortable flying, then we may do a night in Salt Lake or Park City at the end of the trip. Right now, points for the best Park City hotels are astronomical. The St Regis is 85,000 and the Hotel Park City isn’t even accepting points. However, the Sheraton Park City looks like a reasonable $85 for the night. The Hyatt Centric is $185 for the night, so Marriott has the edge here, too. 

Beach - 2 nights

Next, we will likely drive to a beach. Living in Atlanta, we are blessed to have the Florida Gulf Coast about 5 hours away, as well as the Atlantic coast a little less than 5 hours away. There are 3 good options: The Dunes Resort (A Destination hotel), the Sheraton Panama City, or the Westin Jekyll Island. The points value for the Hyatt is without a doubt the best. 20,000 points a night or $500 a night (including $112 in taxes and resort fees), giving a 5 cent per point value. The Westin is 70,000 points per night and reminds us of an updated version of the Moana Surfrider on Waikiki (one of the oldest hotels on Waikiki). However, it charges $254 a night, so at $512 would give us a value of .07 cents per point, which is pitiful. I expect better of you, Marriott. The final option for this trip is the Sheraton Panama City Beach. It also has a classic beach vibe and I frankly don’t even believe it was built to be a Sheraton, but I’m glad it was. It is just 50,000 points for the weekend, is about 20 minutes further drive than the other two, and is $530 for the weekend, giving it a value of $0.011 cents per point. 

It’s clear that The Dunes is the better value. While the Sheraton is not as great a value in points, when I look at the value of the points I’m spending, the Sheraton comes out on top. I value 40,000 Hyatt points at almost $800, so I’m still getting a deal on the room, but the opportunity cost for me is not being able to stay at the Park Hyatt Sydney or Park Hyatt Vienna or Grand Hyatt Kauai. On the other hand, I value the Marriott points at right around $500, so I’m spending less for arguably a better location (I’m more familiar with the Gulf Coast) and it’s a lower percentage of my overall amount of Marriott points. 

LA - 1 night

Finally, I’m planning to go to LA for an event at the airport. Due to the location, I’ll want a hotel by the airport. The Hyatt Regency is competitively priced to the Marriott and the Sheraton. This is the only time there’s not a clear-cut decision for me. I stayed at the Marriott last year and the Regency and I thought both were good. I got a good night’s sleep at both, while staying at each for one night. 

The Loyalty Decision:

Product Comparison

I like Hyatt. I like it a lot. I think its bedding is better, I think its service is better. As a Discoverist, I was upgraded to a suite on a one-night stay at the Grand Hyatt Atlanta earlier this year. That has never happened at either SPG or Marriott as a Gold. I think Hyatt Place and Hyatt House are way better than Marriott’s limited-service properties (although much rarer). I PREFER staying at Hyatt vs. a Marriott or Sheraton. I think most Marriotts are old and need to be renovated. I’ve never liked Marriott’s or Sheraton’s bedding. It’s always too hot and heavy; I usually end up stripping off the duvet and getting the blanket that’s meant for the pullout couch and putting it on the bed to get the temperature right.

What we are is SPG people. To date, all of the best vacations we’ve been on involved SPG. We’ve been to Adelboden, Split, Bora Bora, and Zagreb on vacation and stayed in SPG hotels and loved them all. We are Le Meridien people. We’ve taken every opportunity we’ve had to go into a Le Meridien, eat at them, walk around them, even if we weren’t staying there. When faced with a choice between Le Meridien Bora Bora or St. Regis Bora Bora, the Le Meridien was a no-brainer. They have been part of some of our best vacation memories. As yet, we have some good memories at Hyatt; we stayed at the Hyatt Centric Waikiki and loved the “Wet” bathroom (the tub fills from a spigot in the ceiling - it’s magical); the Hyatt Centric Long Beach is good, too. We just haven’t had the opportunity to go abroad and stay at Hyatts like we have SPG / Marriott.

Le Meridien Bora Bora Infinity Pool & View of Overwater Bungalows

Value Comparison

However, Hyatt’s points are better. The program is more trustworthy. When Covid hit, Hyatt delayed moving forward with its peak / off-peak pricing, while Marriott moved full-steam ahead. The credit card earning is better. If 1 Hyatt point = 2 Marriott points (this roughly works), then Marriott’s dining bonus on its ultra-deluxe premium card is 25% worse than Hyatt, offering just 3 measly points per dollar. Additionally, Hyatt lets me earn 2 elite nights for every $5000 I spend. Marriott is just a fixed $75,000 on a card. For my lifestyle and budget, that’s just not likely that I’ll put $75,000 on a credit card in a year. However, I can spend enough to get 10 more elite nights on the card, putting me right into no-man’s land. 

Projecting Outcomes

So this is where I’m at: 15 elite nights on Hyatt, so far (I feel like it should be 21, but they’re deferring to Chase and I can’t get in touch with them). I can likely get up to 25 nights (or 31 nights & Globalist if they give me what I want) without another stay in one of their hotels. If they don’t give me what I’m reasonably asking for, and assuming I will be at 25 nights without another stay, then 3 nights (Sucking up spending the points at The Dunes & the night at LAX) puts me 2 short of Explorist and I’ll need to find 2 nights somewhere.

For Marriott, I’m currently at 27 nights and it’s a big jump to get to 50 from here. There’s no way I’ll put enough nights in a bed (even if my wife lets me go gallivant around the country for a couple days like she did last year) to get 23 more nights. I could start a company and get 15 nights that way, and it’s something I may explore, but I’m not going rely on it. Realistically, with what I’ve got right now, I’ll be at 30 Marriott nights and 28 Hyatt nights. Even if I had decided to stay at Marriott earlier in the year, that would put me at 22 Hyatt nights and 38 Marriott nights. Again, nowhere to go. 

I should also point out, that I have 2 free Marriott nights from my Amex Bonvoy Brilliant card that I can use this year. So I already have 27 nights, 3 more scheduled, and 2 free nights to use somewhere.

As of Saturday when I spent probably all-too-long contemplating this, I decided that it makes the most sense to be a bit of a free agent between Marriott & Hyatt. I expected to be in no-man’s-land with both programs. I’ll continue to put my credit card spend on the Hyatt card to get 2% back per point and get those 10 elite nights, thus earning me some more club-level rooms I likely won’t use, but more importantly, something like 35,000 Hyatt points (just a guess).

The Hotel Elite Wars Have Begun

Marriott Changes Everything

And then today, like mana from heaven, Marriott let us know that it would bestow us with half as many nights as the tier we qualified for last year. So I’ll be getting 13 nights. 13 nights!!! My eyes lit up like Scrooge McDuck’s with dollar signs. Now, I’m at 45 nights and on the cusp of getting the best all-around status (not the best status, but you know, for the work). I’ll need 5 more nights, on the margin. I may just find a nice, warm resort somewhere and book a 5th night free reward and we’re there. We’re living that executive club life. On further retrospection, I’ll still be putting the spend on the Hyatt card this year. We’ll see what happens next year. 

There are obviously some wrenches that can be thrown into this plan. How does Hyatt respond? Their 3x points promotion is pretty good, but obviously requires spending for hotels, which is not something I intend to do much of for the rest of this year. But will they counter? Even if they do, I was only discoverist last year, so assuming the same terms, I’d only get 5 extra nights (which is what I feel they owe me anyway), so that would push me over the limit for Explorist and I still wouldn’t even need to do anything. I tend to think that Marriott Platinum > Hyatt Explorist. 

Possible Options for Hyatt to Change My Mind

Hyatt would need to come out with something special. They often come out with double elite night promotions in the late summer or early fall at specific chains like Ziva. It would have to be open to all Hyatts everywhere, and maybe double nights for non-cardholders and triple nights for cardholders, because at this point, we’re looking at having free breakfasts and suite access. The Points Guy values Marriott Gold status at $2,655 in benefits against Hyatt Explorist at $995. So the dollar value is pretty clear, allowing my wife and I to lockdown suites on our trips and save money on breakfast.

What else could Hyatt do? I think Hyatt should take a look at our nights last year and give us half of those. I think that would be pretty generous. I expect to be somewhere around 25 elite nights with Hyatt at the end of the year, as things stand. If they gave me 13 nights based on my stays last year (and rounded up on the half), that would put me pretty comfortably as an Explorist with 38 nights for the year, something I was expecting to earn this year, anyway. I’m actually not sure what they could do at this point to convince me to switch my stays from Marriott. I’m so close to an incredibly valuable status (and the best status I’ve ever had) that I would have to hit 50 and have nights leftover. 

Even then, I see an opportunity to go for Titanium. With a total of 10 more nights in a hotel above what I’ve got planned, I could maneuver things to actually get Titanium. I’m at 27, with 5 planned = 32; 32+13 = 45; 5 nights needed for Platinum. 5 nights as Platinum Choice = 55 + 15 for business credit card = 70; 5 more, and I’m there. United Silver status, here I come (might as well)! In reality, I see myself locked into Marriott for this year. No matter how generous the promotion they come out with, I can’t imagine any scenario with Hyatt where Globalist comes within reach. 

Conclusion: 

Ultimately, Hyatt’s points are more valuable and their top-tier is aspirational, but for my lifestyle, not achievable. With Marriott’s gift to us all, I can realistically achieve Platinum status this year and continue spending on my Hyatt card to get as many elite nights as possible without actually going out of my way, while still saving up for aspirational resorts like Grand Hyatt Kauai and Park Hyatt Sydney. It would be nice to have suite upgrades when we go, but it’s not likely. I’m sure we’ll be treated well enough that I wish I could have with Hyatt what I have with Marriott. Alas, Marriott has the memories and the advantage (for now).

What is the best card for secondary / un-bonused spend?

Historically, my goal has been to earn flexible airline miles with my primary spend and earn hotel points with my un-bonused spend. When I first got into the game, I got a Reserve card and converted my Freedom card to a Freedom Unlimited. As a compromise to adding a platinum, I downgraded the Reserve and since then have been looking for the same quality pairing. I’ve tried several combinations, but they’ve all had some weaknesses. For the last year and a half, I’ve been using a combination of FIVE different cards to maximize my spending. I might have been maximizing, but it’s gotten out of hand.

In this post, I want to explore the different options and share the criteria I have when considering a secondary card. I look for four things in my secondary card:

The first thing I wanted to have was a combination of card issuers. So, if my primary card was the American Express Gold card, then I wanted to complement it with a Visa or Mastercard.

This goes without saying, but I wasn’t willing to accept a cash-back card as my secondary card. There are several good cash back options, but I want the opportunity to maximize the points like I do my spending, and I don’t want to hedge my opportunities against a fixed rate.

The next requirement I wanted to have was a card that had no foreign exchange fees, so when we traveled, I wouldn’t have to change my spending patterns. Whenever we travel, I either end up putting all my spend on one card, accepting that those Japanese egg salad and chicken teriyaki sandwiches will be unbonused, or I choose a card that I wouldn’t normally spend on, then need to remember to go check the balance when we get home. The result is that I change my mind several times throughout the trip and nothing gets executed well. 

Finally, I wanted complementary spending categories. For instance, since American Express isn’t as widely accepted, I needed my secondary card to have similar bonuses in case I decide to eat somewhere that doesn’t accept American Express like Cook Out or Little Caesar’s. Ideally, the secondary card should have other bonus categories that the primary card doesn’t, like fitness, or other travel categories.

Ultimately, I use four criteria:

1. Earn airline miles and hotel points 
2. Combination of card issuers
3. No Foreign Exchange fee
4. Complementary bonus categories

There are several quality cards available to consider:

• Freedom Unlimited
• Citi Doublecash
• Hilton Honors Amex Surpass Credit Card
• Marriott Boundless from Chase
• Hyatt Card from Chase

Flexible No Annual Fee Options:

Ultimately, the real limitation here is that both the Freedom Unlimited and the Doublecash card accrue foreign exchange fees. They work fine in the States, but they’re part of the problem. That’s a deal-breaker for me. If either one of them were to have no foreign transaction fees, that would be a game-changer.

Hotel Credit Card Options:

Hilton

The Hilton Honors card (with a $95 annual fee) checks 3 of the 4 boxes: no foreign exchange fee, earns hotel points, and combination of card issuers. Unfortunately, the bonus categories are the same as the Gold Card: groceries, restaurants, and airfare (and of course a bonus on Hilton stays). Since I wouldn’t be able to capitalize on these categories, and because it’s from the same issuer, the bonus categories are a wash. 

Hilton points are worth about .04 cents each, so with a 6x bonus on the 3 categories above, that’s the equivalent of a 2.4% return, which is not special. Even at 12 points per dollar Hilton, that’s just a 4.8% return, for which the return of the Citi Premier card is better: 5.4%. You wouldn’t want to use the Hilton card to pay for your Hilton stays!

Marriott

Unfortunately, Marriott’s return is basically the same; on the Marriott Boundless card, you earn 2 points for every dollar spent and 6 points per dollar at Marriott. Marriott’s points are worth roughly twice as much as a Hilton point, so your general return is worse: 1.6%, while your return for nights at Marriott is still 4.8%. 

Otherwise, this is a card that seems to check the boxes; it’s a Visa, with no foreign exchange fees, and “bonuses” almost as well as the Doublecash card, except that card, even without converting to Thank You points, offers a better return.

On the other hand, if you don’t want to stomach another annual fee, the Marriott Bold card is intriguing. Its return is not great, but it has no foreign exchange fees, is a Visa, and bonuses 2x on travel expenses and 1x on everything else. The return is limited, but you won’t have to change your spending patterns when you go abroad.

Hyatt

Finally, there’s the Hyatt card. World of Hyatt points are the most valuable hotel points out there. They don’t quite have the upside of airline arbitrage opportunities or the flexibility of the SPG card, but they’re more consistent than most airlines. I value Hyatt points at 2.1 cents per point, so while it only has a return of 1 point per dollar on most purchases, it does significantly better than its competitors for your average daily spend.

Additionally, it has very complementary bonus categories. First, it has the usual suspects: airfare and restaurants are each bonused at 2x, giving a return of 4.2%! It also has additional bonus categories: fitness & ride-share, public transportation, both earn 2x points. Finally, it bonuses 4x at Hyatt hotels, or 8.4%. None of the other cards even get close to that! Granted, Hyatt is by far the smallest, so they must work harder for your loyalty.

Conclusion:

Ultimately, my card strategy over the last year and a half has been a series of complications of trying to maximize spending and has spiraled out of control. I wanted a card that provided me 4 things: no foreign transaction fees, access to hotel points, a combination of card issuers, and complementary bonus categories to my primary card.

The Hyatt Card for World of Hyatt seems to have the best return and unique categories. While this analysis doesn’t consider the benefits you receive from any of these cards, in terms of strict ROI for spend, the Hyatt card should make sense for most people. Even if you don’t stay at Hyatt that often, if you’re saving up for an aspirational destination like the Maldives or Sydney, Hyatt has you covered.

If you don’t want to pay for an additional annual fee, you might consider the Marriott Bold card. It bonuses on travel and thus complements the Citi Premier card, while having no additional foreign exchange fee. It could be the right card for you if you have yet to see the value of paying an annual fee.