I spend a fair amount of time each week reading various websites. I scan through reviews of hotels and airlines that I’ll never fly on and credit cards I’ll never apply for. I see information about how to earn bonus points by purchasing something I don’t need from a place I can’t shop (because that store isn’t around where I live). That part only takes up a small bit of my time, as I’ve gotten better at ignoring things that don’t apply to me. I’ll read articles about special offers, way to save money when booking travel and how to best use my miles and points. I’ll also save posts that sound interesting and hold them for later. That’s where I find many of the things I put in the Posts We Like article each weekend.
It’s not unusual to see many different websites all writing about a big story but this week I found articles from several websites all writing about each other’s articles.
It started when Gary wrote an article on View From The Wing:
To Everyone Leaving Marriott for Hilton: You’re Nuts
We’ve stayed at nice SPG/Marriott hotels:
and nice Hilton hotels:
so I was interested in seeing what other people would have to say online since there’s no shortage of opinions. It didn’t take long. Ben from No Mas Coach wrote his support for the article on Twitter
Don't listen to @garyleff. Not because he's not right, because he is, but I'd rather not have to compete for upgrades with y'all 🤷♂️ https://t.co/e2lrR8wfC3
— Ben Nickel-D'Andrea (@bnickeldandrea) December 24, 2018
Later that day, Lucky wrote on One Mile at a Time:
Why You’re Not Nuts To Leave Marriott For Hilton
Then Nick from Frequent Miler wrote a post:
Why Gary is nuts not to even consider Hilton
Finally, Gary wrote his response:
One Mile at a Time and Frequent Miler Miss the Point on Marriott v. Hilton
Each one of these articles is well written and explains the reasons why the respective author feels that it’s a better choice to stick with Marriott or switch to Hilton. While I was reading the articles, one thought kept going through my head:
I’m so glad I don’t worry about things like this.
Even though we have Marriott Platinum status this year, the important thing is that we didn’t have to do anything to get this status except sign up for an extra credit card. We didn’t stay at Marriott/SPG hotels any more than we otherwise would have. More importantly, I’m not going to do anything to try to keep the status past 2019. Having status isn’t going to make me more loyal to one hotel over another. I haven’t had to spend one second thinking if the hotel program I’m focusing on is the best place for my spending, and that’s just the way I like it.
If you travel a lot, sticking to only one brand might be a good idea. You do get something extra from your status but what is that really worth? What if you could stay at whichever hotel you wanted, based on location, amenities, and price? You can still stay at that hotel you love but you aren’t stuck staying at a place that’s out of the way, older and/or more expensive because you get a free breakfast and one extra stay credit.
This whole thing also confirms what I thought when I started writing this website. None of the advice in the articles mentioned above is wrong. It’s just that some people will value certain benefits more than others and therefore come up with a different conclusion using the same facts. I have nothing left to say but Your Mileage May Vary.
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