Airline/Hotel Loyalty Programs

[Omaha 680]

The airline. The mileage program is OK, although the miles required has been creeping up, but they allow you to book easily on line and you can see what is available. I have used their program to travel all over the owrld and we accumulate miles with credit cards and travel. But I hate the airline; crappy service, crappy planes (we just flew to hawaii on a 737-900 without any movie or music or food, etc.) and generally unpleasant experiences.

I see. As far as airline experiences go, Delta is reasonable, especially with status. Their newer planes are quite comfortable and they have wifi on every flight which is important for me. I haven't heard many good things about United and their status tiers aren't any easier to get than Delta so I guess they aren't an option for me.

It's a moving target as everyone devalues their points. It really depends on where you're going for what you want to go after.

This is not helpful!

Most important is probably comfort. I want an airline that I can get status with quickly so I can have the perks that make travel more bearable. Reward miles are nice, but are becoming less important because as you say no one gives good value in their reward miles any more.

[Bo Diddley]

It's a moving target as everyone devalues their points. It really depends on where you're going for what you want to go after.

[CJF]

I'm Delta almost exclusively. For hotels I'm Marriott is the US and Shangri-La in Asia. Marriott is mostly because of Residence Inn. My preference to use my points when traveling with my family. That and I'm lifetime Platinum.

[creekster]

What do you hate about United?

The airline. The mileage program is OK, although the miles required has been creeping up, but they allow you to book easily on line and you can see what is available. I have used their program to travel all over the owrld and we accumulate miles with credit cards and travel. But I hate the airline; crappy service, crappy planes (we just flew to hawaii on a 737-900 without any movie or music or food, etc.) and generally unpleasant experiences.

[Omaha 680]

I am tied deeply into southwest and United programs. Southwest is easy but offers nothing exciting. United I hate, hate and hate some more but I am so deep into it I cant make myself get out of it. Hotels SPG for the most part. They have been easy to work with over the years, more so than Marriott, IMO.

What do you hate about United?

[creekster]

I am tied deeply into southwest and United programs. Southwest is easy but offers nothing exciting. United I hate, hate and hate some more but I am so deep into it I cant make myself get out of it. Hotels SPG for the most part. They have been easy to work with over the years, more so than Marriott, IMO.

[Omaha 680]

I know there are some road warriors on the board, whether in frequency of trips or just enough international travel that you really rack up the miles. I'm interested in hearing which airlines/hotels you stick with and why. I couldn't find an existing frequent flyer thread so if there is one feel free to merge.

I have gone exclusively Delta the last 3 years and it has treated me pretty well. The flight options out of the NYC area airports are great and having a bunch of flights out of each airport cuts down on the competition for upgrades. I was platinum the last two years and was probably upgraded on 75% of my flights. Unfortunately, 2015 was a rather slow travel year for me so I'm struggling to make silver (if I end up meeting the dollar waiver through spending on my Skymiles Amex ). I'm not looking forward to being cast down with the masses out of sky priority, frequent upgrades, and free comfort+ seats. Delta reward miles have been devalued recently in that they are harder to earn, but I still think if you can make platinum or above Delta is a pretty good travel experience. My problem is my international travel is virtually nil, so even when I meet mile requirements, I don't have the high dollar flights to push me over the spending requirements for the higher tiers. Is there another airline program out there I should be exploring?

For hotels I was exclusively Hilton forever until their massive points devaluation last year. Free nights cost a gazillion points with Hilton now, so I switched to SPG the latter half of 2015.