Any suggestions for hotel status strategy

[GCC]

2014 will see quite a fall from hotel grace for this AFF'er. In 2103 my hotel elite status's were:

HH Diamond
Accor platinum
SPG Gold
IHG Gold
Club Carlson Gold

Beginning with my much loved HH diamond, 2014 will see them all drop to pretty much nothing.

So as I'm essentially starting from scratch, what now? I've been pretty loyal to Hilton but the reality is that my travel often takes me to places where there is no Hilton, including a lot of time in Canberra.

I will keep looking for promos or even a fast track to HH gold as I like HH Adelaide, HSW & HOTP.

I'm considering whether I should purchase IC Ambassador status, as there seem to be more IHG hotels in more places that I travel.

Is it better to forget just loyalty programs and be free to just choose the best hotel for each stay? Or some other option I haven't thought about?

Would welcome any thoughts.

 

[markis10]

Ambassador only works at ICs, but it does give you gold at other hotels, as does one of the codes in the bonus thread. Have you looked at a status match while you can.

 

[GCC]

Ambassador only works at ICs, but it does give you gold at other hotels, as does one of the codes in the bonus thread. Have you looked at a status match while you can.

No I hadn't - have never tried before. Do you mean ask IHG to match my HH status, or some other chain? Also apologies if this is just plain dumb, but where's the bonus thread?

 

[markis10]

The 2014 bonus thread is a sticky at the top of the rewards club thread while the 2013 might be worth a try:

http://www.australianfrequentflyer..../master-priority-club-bonus-thread-37679.html