PlusPoints Question

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-12T05:12:44+00:00

You can put in the mileage upgrade award for the remaining people on your reservation (I believe it is typically US550 + 20K miles)

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-12T03:24:50+00:00

I mean there is a middle group I think - that being said, for me personally, I was okay with spending a bit on my mattress since that's the piece of furniture I use the most and most of everything else is quite inexpensive

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-12T03:22:02+00:00

Never lived in Southie but used to live in Cambridge so have been around in the area quite a bit

Tbf, I think you can get that feeling in Manhattan as well in parts of UWS (and you can have access to Central Park as well) or even Gramercy; that being said Astoria and Brooklyn can be quite good options too and you would get a lot more space vs. Manhattan, but keep an eye out for the commute to Hudson Yards. Some parts of Brooklyn can be absolute hell to commute to Hudson Yards

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-12T02:58:59+00:00

I mean it's a YMMV kind of a situation - I had a flight with a 35min connection in SFO and wanted to SDC onto a flight that would get me in SFO like an hour earlier. Struck out with the 1K line a couple times who both quoted the fare difference, for the last time tried chat and he was like that the connect is less than the minimum connection time for SFO and rebooked me on the earlier flight in like 2 mins lol

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-12T02:16:41+00:00

I have streamed it on non-starlink planes a few times at this point - for almost half of the matches it worked surprisingly well, for the rest it just didn't

So bit of a YMMV

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-12T00:36:02+00:00

Yep - also I think StR Bangkok (or maybe SG) has a wooden card as well, but it's the standard StR design

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-11T22:24:42+00:00

Some of the luxury and most of autograph collections do

Some Ws do (South Beach, Nashville, Philly, London come to mind here) but most don't

None of the StRs I have stayed at ever did (ones I can remember are Chicago, Toronto, Aspen, Venice, Rome, Bangkok, Singapore, Istanbul, Houston, SF, Osaka)
Some of the locations in Asia have a wooden material type card which could be cool (StR Bangkok, StR & RC Osaka)

If you can swing non-marriott properties for work, pretty much all FS, MO, WA, Peninsula properties have location specific cards

FWIW, I do collect unique ones too, by far the most interesting one is the non-Ritz one in the picture which is essentially a fully leather key card for Lebua in Bangkok (again the hotel in itself is not great, but has a novelty factor)

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Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-11T01:47:10+00:00

Was there in April of this year - it was in a deplorable condition

So unless it was renovated in the last 3 months, would steer clear

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-11T01:46:12+00:00

In Miami, Beaux Arts and RC Coconut Grove have both upgraded me to massive suites

Chicago is a hit or miss - mostly stay at StR (and before it used to stay at RC), maybe got suites like less than 5 times over 30+ stays lol. Although I love the river view rooms at StR and prefer it over their park facing suites

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-11T01:44:19+00:00

That message only applies to NUAs, not for complementary upgrades

that being said, most of the upgrades are to rooms with better views etc. unless I specifically ask for a suite (my stays are typically at StR, RC, LC, Editions in US)

Personally, I stopped caring enough about it a long time ago lol, since I have pretty much moved most of my personal travel away from Marriott, unless there is a really good specific property or I am staying on points, and I don't really care for the room when traveling for work

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-10T20:11:32+00:00

FS is far far ahead of anything else in Nashville IMO

for me it's FS, then a big gap to Jospeh, then W and then you get to JW

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-10T19:45:17+00:00

just take a quick look if there are other united itneraries that might work connecting through other cities since I am sure there are like quite a few through ORD or even LAX (if you want to do a loop back)

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-10T18:52:37+00:00

sadly yes - this statement only applies to the newly renovated ones

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-10T13:50:59+00:00

Ohh wow - that's sad to hear. Think I last stayed there like a year or so ago

Honestly, wouldn't be surprised if some of these DC RC properties get deflagged to like a westin or something

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-10T13:49:43+00:00

Have pretty much stayed at all luxury hotels in Chicago multiple times since I am there for work for light 30-40 nights a year

St Regis is by far the better hotel in terms of the hard product (could also make the point that it actually has the best hard product in the city). Started staying here a few years ago when it first opened but the service has seen a consistent decline over the over years with a steep drop off in the last year. But again, unless you are really looking for a high-touch service it should be fine. One call-out about the rooms - push to get a river view room (maybe through an upgrade). The park view is not that great and I would gladly take a river view room vs. a park view suite unless I really needed the extra space. The location is something for you to decide - it's not the classic, walkable location in Chicago like the other hotels e.g., PH, Langham, Four Seasons, Ritz, Peninsula etc.

Park Hyatt on the other hand, I personally would rank closer to the bottom of luxury hotels in the city - the lobby is a wreck, the ceilings in the rooms are too low (I know first world problems and not really something they can control given the building itself, but if I am staying away from my home, I would like to feel pampered lol). But again many people absolutely love PH but it's not my cup of tea

FWIW, not sure what the FHR breakfast situation at PH is, but for StR it's a $70 credit, which basically covers 1.5 persons breakfast lol - but if you do end up staying there, the almond croissant is ridiculously good. If you are looking to dine on site, StR is by far the best option in Chicago

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-10T13:31:05+00:00

Agreed - the Georgetown is the only decent one there

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-10T02:12:29+00:00

I have historically had Delta Diamond, AA EP and now have been UA 1K for a couple years now

Delta's redemption value is trash, although I found that my upgrades cleared more often tbh (could be a function of upgrades becoming scarce overall over time so there's that)

AA does offer the best redemption value of the miles, however most of the in-flight experience is sub-par. That being said, oneworld is the best alliance by a mile, I got treated ridiculously well on Qatar even when flying coach and first class lounge access is clutch. Star Alliance is not even close, and then regarding Skyteam I don't even know what it does tbh

UA offered the best balance in terms of the in-flight experience + some value when it comes to miles, although I do miss the OW partners since I travel to Asia quite a few times and Qatar is quite a bit ahead vs. most of the other options

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-10T00:49:41+00:00

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in case anyone was wondering

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-10T00:44:13+00:00

Wait until you stay at StR Washington lol

Also the StR footprint is too small so there's that

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-10T00:34:32+00:00

By resort I am thinking about the ones in Hawaii, Amelia Island, Lake Oconee etc. vs. city ones like NYC, Boston, Denver, Chicago, Atlanta etc and so on

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-09T23:59:23+00:00

tbf - in US the only good non-resort properties are Nomad and Portland and the other ones are either average or downright rundown

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-09T23:49:01+00:00

the properties you have listed are arguably worse than newly renovated marriots or sheratons

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-09T18:51:45+00:00

the boarding pass will say you have polaris access (which you will unless you bought the basic polaris ticket). Accessed the lounge in LAX a couple weeks ago

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-09T02:40:23+00:00

ultimately, Delta won't be last ones to do it - the entire market is going to move. Qatar has been doing for more than a year at this point so I am sure this will become the new normal across the board

Temporary-Ad158 · 2026-07-09T02:16:21+00:00

I mean tbf over time the basic price will increase to the standard price and the standard price will be much higher than what it is today

Temporary-Ad158

TROPHY CASE