Need Help Deciding which Loyalty Program to Join...

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kurtislee09

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So I have difficulties deciding which of the following programs to join: IHG or Accor Hotels. I've tried both - IHG: Holiday Inn Express Brisbane; Accor Hotels: The Sebel Auckland & Novotel Cairns. However, having compared my experience in both hotel brands, I still couldn't come to a decision. So it'll be up to you guys to see which one is more superior than the other.

Here are my travelling preferences:
Location: mostly within Australia
Luxury isn't important but comfort and cleanliness are
Most important loyalty perks to me: room upgrades and early check-in
Travel budget: mid range

Hope you guys can help this indecisive guy out :(
Cheers
 
How many stays and how many nights a year in hotels are you looking at? That can be a factor in determining whether to concentrate on one program or not.
 
How many stays and how many nights a year in hotels are you looking at? That can be a factor in determining whether to concentrate on one program or not.
I'll be doing a 2-3 trips each month so that'd be about 4-6 nights each month.
 
Join hotels.com - you'll get back 10% of money spent as a free room credit, after every 10 stays.

I've never had a decent upgrade with Accor, or IHG really.

Hilton or Marriott generally are better with upgrades, early check in and late check out.
 
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Join them all and try a few different places and see what the service and standards are like and then decide
 
Join hotels.com - you'll get back 10% of money spent as a free room credit, after every 10 stays.
This is how I go about it. Means I’m not tied in to any particular chain, and can use the free credit however I like as well.

Room upgrades, early/late check in/out don’t really matter to me, so I’d rather bank the free room credits for holidays with my wife and not be limited to where I can use them.
 
But unfortunately no matter which program you choose it can always change.
I initially was a gold member in the Sheraton program.It was a life time membership.Unfortunately when Sheraton got taken over by Starwood the life time was for the Sheraton not me.

Next was Hilton.It was in the time I started to do a lot more travel.I qualified diamond on stays,nights and base points.As well a member of the NYC Hilton Club.Despite that I always seemed to miss out.virtually no targeted promos,missed out on upgrades (a couple of times a gold member in front of me got the last suite upgrade) and in the last 2 years before lounge access became a definite diamond benefit I began not getting that access including twice in Adelaide so I then joined SPG.

SPG was a very good program for me and I made it to lifetime platinum.Good upgrades,early checkin and late checkout.But at the moment I attained my lifetime status they were taken over by Marriott and a new status Titanium was introduced above platinum and my treatment with upgrades has nose dived.So not faithfully staying now.As well both Hilton and Marriott Bonvoy use a form of dynamic pricing for award nights making them much less attractive.

So I the joined IHG but pay $US200 for platinum Ambassador status.The fee is more than worth it with a free weekend night in an IC hotel plus 15000 points for paying.IHG have been treating us really well with upgrades.

So now I use Marriott,Hilton and IHG depending on the location and actual hotel but also using Luxury escapes and Virtuoso for their benefits and some times staying in a truly independent hotel.

Also look at where you are likely to be staying and see what each chain has in those places.
 
But unfortunately no matter which program you choose it can always change.
I initially was a gold member in the Sheraton program.It was a life time membership.Unfortunately when Sheraton got taken over by Starwood the life time was for the Sheraton not me.

Next was Hilton.It was in the time I started to do a lot more travel.I qualified diamond on stays,nights and base points.As well a member of the NYC Hilton Club.Despite that I always seemed to miss out.virtually no targeted promos,missed out on upgrades (a couple of times a gold member in front of me got the last suite upgrade) and in the last 2 years before lounge access became a definite diamond benefit I began not getting that access including twice in Adelaide so I then joined SPG.

SPG was a very good program for me and I made it to lifetime platinum.Good upgrades,early checkin and late checkout.But at the moment I attained my lifetime status they were taken over by Marriott and a new status Titanium was introduced above platinum and my treatment with upgrades has nose dived.So not faithfully staying now.As well both Hilton and Marriott Bonvoy use a form of dynamic pricing for award nights making them much less attractive.

So I the joined IHG but pay $US200 for platinum Ambassador status.The fee is more than worth it with a free weekend night in an IC hotel plus 15000 points for paying.IHG have been treating us really well with upgrades.

So now I use Marriott,Hilton and IHG depending on the location and actual hotel but also using Luxury escapes and Virtuoso for their benefits and some times staying in a truly independent hotel.

Also look at where you are likely to be staying and see what each chain has in those places.
Thanks for your in-depth analysis. I've had a look at the Marriott program, but while I like their lifetime membership and how posh everything just looks like, I don't think I'll be able to afford their luxury brands all the time; IHG might be my final choice. Cheers
 
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