Which hotel memberships are worthwhile to retain for 2024?
Conrad Bali (Credits: Hilton.com)
Another year of contemplation for my miles and hotel memberships strategies. Here’s my take on which hotel membership statuses are worthwhile to continue holding……..
It is the time of the year again, and I am doing a periodical review of my current hotel membership statuses, determining which ones to retain or pursue.
The primary hotel membership programs with which I currently hold significant statuses are:
Hilton: Diamond status
GHA Discovery: Titanium status
IHG: Diamond Elite
Accor: Silver (from Accor Plus)
There are of course a few other hotel membership programs (e.g. Wyndham Rewards, I Prefer Hotel Rewards Program, Radisson Hotels) obtained through their status match programs, but I have no intention of actively upkeeping them or striving for elevated status levels.
The factors that I look into consideration are as per below:
Cost: The least amount required to actively maintain or pursue a higher hotel status.
Coverage: does this hotel membership program cover a diverse range of hotels? Especially in Asia-Pacific region.
Benefits: It is worthwhile to maintain/go for higher hotel status?
After extensive comparison, my decisions are outlined below. Read on!
Cost
Some caveats before continuing:
For my analysis, I do not include points earned as part of my consideration, but I did take note that this could be a contributing factor to the overall value of pursuing a particular hotel status for different individuals, especially during occasional points promotion like 2x or 3x points.
Regarding Accor, I have not taken into account the cost of the Accor Plus membership (which provides an additional 20 nights upon annual renewal). The membership cost varies from S$308 to S$538 based on the package. However, I personally do not consider this in my evaluation, as I typically maximize the benefits to eventually get much more value out of it and offset this cost.
On first impression, the cheapest (and most practical) mattress run would be with GHA Discovery, where maintaining Titanium status only necessitates stays at three distinct brands. Achieving this requirement is already possible with staycations in Singapore (PARKROYAL, PARKROYAL Collection, and Pan Pacific), but I can potentially reduce costs further by incorporating stays in nearby Southeast Asia.
The next feasible mattress run would be for Accor Platinum. With the additional 20 nights granted by my Accor Plus annual membership, I would need a total of 40 nights. While there are budget-friendly properties in Indonesia and Malaysia, the tipping factor is the availability of a suitable mattress run property in nearby Johor Bahru (no flights needed!) with rates around S$30 per night. At less than S$1300 for Platinum status, it might be a worthwhile investment if I anticipate an extensive stay at Accor properties, given their really good coverage (more on this in the next section).
The cheapest Accor mattress run property available to Singaporeans that does not require a flight
To maintain Hilton Diamond status is something of a conundrum. To maintain it, I can either do 60 nights or 30 stays. Upon a quick search, the most economical options seem to be situated in Malaysia, particularly with well-known mattress run opportunities in Kuala Lumpur.
(A side note on my appreciation for the Hilton website displaying the average rate for extended stays. The screenshot provided is only for 30 nights, as that is the maximum nights selectable.)
If based on nights, the cheapest option would be to do consecutive stays at either of the Hilton Garden Inn Kuala Lumpur Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman properties, which encompasses both South and North wings. This method significantly raises the cost to just under S$2,600, making it the pricier but more practical option for me. On the other hand, I could opt for weekly back-to-back stays at the two properties, counting as 2 stays per trip. The cheapest average price is about S$41 per night (inclusive of taxes), translating to about S$82 per mattress run, and totaling a more realistic S$1,230. Of course, you will need to consider regular flights to Kuala Lumpur, which is not practical for me.
The cheapest rate for Hilton mattress run - if only $$ wasn’t an issue!
For IHG, it is now more challenging to go to Johor Bahru for mattress runs now, due to the heightened nightly rate at Holiday Inn Express Johor Bahru, now approaching almost S$100 per night. The cheapest property I could find is at Indonesia, at the Holiday Inn Express Jakarta Matraman (a 40 minute drive from Jakarta Airport, according to Google Maps). It is arguably the most expensive mattress run, at slightly less than S$3600 (excluding flight expenses).
Almost $3,600 before flight costs? No thanks 😆
And getting IHG Platinum via the IHG Ambassador Program at 1/12 of the cost, it becomes less enticing to pursue for the entire 70 nights. However, the proposition may gain appeal if the requirement is reduced to just 30 nights.
Go for: GHA Discovery and Accor Platinum
Coverage
For me, having extensive coverage at Asia Pacific properties is crucial, with an even greater emphasis on the availability of hotels close to the airport—a necessity for my frequent flights with relatively short layovers. Based on my experience booking hotels close to the airport this year, my preference would be outlined below:
Accor: With Novotel, Mercure, Ibis Chain, and Pullman covering a substantial number of locations in Asia-Pacific and Oceania airports. I find Ibis properties particularly attractive for their value-for-money bookings and wide availability.
IHG: The presence of its Holiday Express chains, along with comprehensive coverage at Asia-Pacific and Oceania airports, makes IHG a favorable option.
Hilton: Noteworthy for European and North American airports (although Marriott is arguably the better option, but I lack of status with them). Hilton's coverage in China and North Asia is also commendable.
GHA Discovery: The lowest coverage for both city properties and airports, and I was rarely able to utilize it for my travels.
In my perspective, I'm more likely to maximize my benefits at Accor properties compared to the others. However, maintaining status with Hilton and IHG remains worthwhile, with Hilton being beneficial for Europe and North American trips, and IHG serving as a viable alternative if Accor's airport properties prove to be prohibitively expensive.
Go for: Accor Platinum (for Asia-Pacific), Hilton Diamond or Gold (for Europe and North America stays). IHG Diamond as backup.
Benefits
The potential benefits associated with status is as stated in the table below:
Summary of potential benefits for achieving hotel status objectives ( in blue) and their practicality assessed by how often do the benefits gets fulfilled
Based on my past experiences, hotels within the Accor ALL program do not consistently provide benefits (e.g. room upgrades, early check-in/late checkout), possibly due to my lowly Silver status (but I occasionally did not receive the benefits also with Accor Gold from another account). Nevertheless, upon achieving Platinum status, the advertised offerings (complimentary breakfast, suite night upgrades and lounge access), would only be matched by Hilton Diamond.
Speaking of Hilton Diamond, the allure lies in its consistency in providing room and (occasionally) suite upgrades for its Diamond members. The inclusion of complimentary breakfast also provides significant savings, and priority early check-in and late check-out is almost unfailingly granted.
However, it's worth noting that Hilton Gold also includes complimentary breakfast, which makes maintaining Diamond status not very compelling.
For the other 2 programs, GHA Titanium offers the most consistent benefits (although not as guaranteed as Hilton Diamond) but lacks complimentary breakfast and lounge access, while IHG Diamond allows a pseudo complimentary breakfast benefit (selected during check-in) but other benefits need to be at least 20 nights and above. IHG Diamond also yielded significant benefits fulfillment, particularly at Intercontinental properties.
Go for: Accor Platinum (for Asia-Pacific), Hilton Diamond or Gold
Verdict
Taken together, I have summarized the comparisons in the below table:
Summary of comparisons between the hotel programs that I have current status with
Given its relative cost and the simplicity of achieving it (requiring stays in just three different brands), I will certainly be retaining my GHA Titanium status.
Accor Platinum appears to be a worthwhile status to aim for, while Hilton Diamond, although good to have, might need to be sacrificed and drop down to Hilton Gold. However, Hilton periodically presents status offers, and I am hopeful to swiftly upgrade back to Hilton Diamond soon!
As for IHG Diamond Elite, I plan to maximize its benefits during my stays this year, before downgrading slightly to Platinum Elite through the annual Intercontinental Ambassador membership in the near future.
Conclusion
An interesting exercise and thought experiment on my current hotel membership statuses. I hope to do another post delving into the analysis of my existing airline statuses soon!
