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Hotel elite status comes in all shapes and sizes. Today, TPG Senior Points & Miles Correspondent Nick Ewen explains which programs offer the best value overall.

Over the last several weeks, I analyzed the value of elite status with several major hotel loyalty programs: Hilton Honors, Marriott Rewards, Hyatt Gold Passport, Starwood Preferred Guest, and Club Carlson. Each tier within each program holds some value for travelers, but what if you’re thinking about switching chains, or are new to the game and having trouble deciding where to direct your loyalty? In this post I’ll wrap up my series on hotel elite status valuations, and compare my findings to answer the following question: which chain has the most valuable elite program?

The first way to compare chains is by looking at the absolute values of each level, comparing the low tiers, middle tiers (where applicable), and top tiers across the various programs. The following table shows all those values (taken from my previous posts).

At first glance, you might conclude that Starwood Preferred Guest has the best low-tier status, while Marriott Rewards has the best middle and top-tier status. Remember though, that these numbers do not provide an apples-to apples-comparison. These are absolute values, not relative values. In order to truly compare status levels between programs, it’s necessary to convert these numbers into value per night and value per stay.

Top Tier Comparison

Let’s start with the top tier and work our way down. Here’s how I valued top-tier status at each property, broken down into per night and per stay estimates:

As you can see, there’s a clear winner: Hyatt Gold Passport. When you earn Hyatt Diamond status, the value you get out of each stay ($74.88) and night ($51.24) are significantly higher than for other programs. This makes a lot of sense; TPG has extolled the virtues of Hyatt’s top tier before, and I’ve had many positive experiences with Hyatt properties as well.

Some other interesting notes:

• SPG Platinum is the clear runner-up, with per-stay and per-night values that are substantially higher than the other three chains.
• The incremental benefits for the “enhanced” SPG Platinum tiers actually decrease as you spend more nights with Starwood. While I applaud the program for implementing these tiers to encourage guests to stay past the regular qualification threshold, it would be nice to see some additional (quantifiable) benefits.

Middle Tier Comparison

Not all of the programs have a middle tier, but for those that do, here’s how they stack up:

As you can see, there’s a clear winner in this category as well: Hilton Honors. Like the top-tier comparison, this too makes sense, as Hilton Gold status is typically viewed as the most valuable middle tier across hotel programs.

Other interesting notes:

• Marriott Rewards is a close second in value per stay, but the value per night is a far cry from Hilton Honors. This reflects the greatest drawback of the Marriott Rewards program: you have to stay at least 50 nights in order to earn Gold status.
• Club Carlson is a distant third, and this too shouldn’t surprise you. The benefit most lacking from Club Carlson Gold status is free breakfast, which is included for both Hilton and Marriott Gold members. If Club Carlson were to add this benefit, the values would be much closer.

Low Tier Comparison

Finally, here’s a comparison of the lowest tiers of each program:

Yet again, there’s a clear winner: Starwood Preferred Guest. This too makes sense, as earning SPG Gold requires you to complete 10 stays or 25 nights, which is much higher than any other low-level status. It makes sense that the perks being offered are more generous.

Overall Conclusions

The apples-to-apples comparison allows us to compare these different programs on a consistent per-stay or per-night basis, and the results are as follows:

• Hyatt Gold Passport Diamond is the most valuable top-tier status
• Hilton Honors Gold is the most valuable mid-tier status
• Starwood Preferred Guest Gold is the most valuable low-tier status

The good news is that two of these three status levels are available simply by holding co-branded credit cards. Hilton Honors Gold status is automatically granted with the Citi Hilton HHonors Reserve Card and the Hilton Honors Surpass Card from American Express, while SPG Gold status is included for holders of The Platinum Card from American Express. Unfortunately, the only way to earn Hyatt Diamond status is the hard way: 25 stays or 50 nights!

There are a few other trends that you may find interesting. For starters, notice that the values per stay/night decrease as you move from top tier to low tier status. The only outlier is SPG Gold, with numbers that are much closer to those you see for middle-tier status. Again, this makes sense given the (relatively) high qualification thresholds.

It’s also interesting that despite Club Carlson’s push to compete with the other chains over the last few years, the brand finishes dead last in each of the three categories (with the possible exception of top-tier Concierge status if you tend to qualify on one-night stays). As I mention above, adding free breakfast for Gold members would be a welcome improvement, but this analysis clearly shows that the program has a ways to go.

Finally, Marriott really suffers from its policy of “nights-only” qualification. Though the absolute value of Marriott Rewards Gold and Platinum status outshine the competition, that conclusion doesn’t hold up when analyzing the value you receive for each stay and/or night. Some of you may favor this restriction, as it prevents those tiers from being overwhelmed with travelers who typically stay for only one night. Either way, it does hurt Marriott in the valuation.

Final thoughts

Everyone has their own criteria for selecting a hotel chain, but hopefully these posts have given you some food for thought when it comes to elite status in the various programs. Remember that there are many shortcuts to elite status, including credit cards and status matching. At the end of the day, any status is better than no status, so take advantage of those strategies to make the most of your hotel stays.