I've been Globalist for about 15 years straight. I'm finding it difficult (and more expensive) to maintain the gamesmanship to hit the 60 night threshold every year. I know the pros/cons of Hyatt inside & out. For the first time in a while I'm thinking I need to do a deeper dive on competitive hotel options. I'm still traveling fairly frequently every year but staying in more condo style accommodations (ie. kitchens/laundry included). I do enjoy a good resort experience once/twice per year and I do require an occasional 1-2 nights hotel stay every now and again.
For the past 4-5 years I have had to do some hoop jumping to hit 60 nights. Stuff like a few mattress runs, charging more to the Hyatt cards to get the additional EQN's and now looking at Rio in Vegas pad the nights LoL. I make good use of the suite upgrades and I do get spoiled by them but now I see they are coming at the cost and inconvenience of striving to hit 60 nights annually.
Have any of you switched over to Hilton via the Amex Aspire card to get instant Diamond status with the $550 annual fee? Along with the Diamond status the card includes $400 resort credits (semi-annual increments of $200), $200 flight credits (in $50 quarterly increments) and $100 property credit at Waldorf Astoria & Conrad hotels on a 2 night minimum. They have other benefits but these are the most material to me in offsetting the higher annual card fee.
What I think I would miss most of Hyatt Globalist would be the following: waived resort fees, free parking on points stays, confirmed suite upgrades, free breakfast.
What I think I would like more about Hilton would be: rapid points accumulation (although very high redemption rates at nice properties), larger footprint of properties
I'm posting this in the Hyatt forum to get a perspective from fellow Globalists that have tried out Hilton. I know the Hyatt Globalist status is superior to Hilton but I'm trying to gain additional insights into what I might like/dislike about being Hilton Diamond in comparison along with the benefits of the Amex Aspire card.
Many thanks for your observations....
For the past 4-5 years I have had to do some hoop jumping to hit 60 nights. Stuff like a few mattress runs, charging more to the Hyatt cards to get the additional EQN's and now looking at Rio in Vegas pad the nights LoL. I make good use of the suite upgrades and I do get spoiled by them but now I see they are coming at the cost and inconvenience of striving to hit 60 nights annually.
Have any of you switched over to Hilton via the Amex Aspire card to get instant Diamond status with the $550 annual fee? Along with the Diamond status the card includes $400 resort credits (semi-annual increments of $200), $200 flight credits (in $50 quarterly increments) and $100 property credit at Waldorf Astoria & Conrad hotels on a 2 night minimum. They have other benefits but these are the most material to me in offsetting the higher annual card fee.
What I think I would miss most of Hyatt Globalist would be the following: waived resort fees, free parking on points stays, confirmed suite upgrades, free breakfast.
What I think I would like more about Hilton would be: rapid points accumulation (although very high redemption rates at nice properties), larger footprint of properties
I'm posting this in the Hyatt forum to get a perspective from fellow Globalists that have tried out Hilton. I know the Hyatt Globalist status is superior to Hilton but I'm trying to gain additional insights into what I might like/dislike about being Hilton Diamond in comparison along with the benefits of the Amex Aspire card.
Many thanks for your observations....