In today’s Frequent Miler on the Air podcast, we’ll look at United’s cardholder discount, Hilton’s Diamond Reserve status, and we’ll rank the perks of hotel elite benefits from Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG.
Elite Benefit Battle: Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG
Watch here:
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Giant Mailbag
(01:13) – “I just spent the day in Nice and Monte Carlo and I have you to blame…”
Bonvoyed
(03:30) – United increases prices for close-in award bookings
Read more about United’s increased prices for close-in award bookings here.
Awards, Points, and More
(06:08) – Bilt/Rakuten: Read more about earning Bilt points with Rakuten here.
(08:36) – Add your Passport to your Apple Wallet
(11:11) – Hilton Diamond Reserve
Read more about Hilton Diamond Reserve status here.
(19:57) – Read more about Greg’s opinion about how Hilton’s Diamond Reserve status disappoints here.
Main Event: Elite Benefit Battle: Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and IHG
(23:52) – Free breakfast, lounge access, suite upgrade certificates, guaranteed late check-out: which program has the best benefits?
(24:20) – Primary shortcuts
(30:36) – Comparing Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott for free breakfast
| Free breakfast | Elite Tier (Nights) | Short cuts? | Benefit Description |
| Hilton | Gold (25) | Yes | U.S.: $10-$25 daily F&B credit; continental breakfast elsewhere |
| Hyatt | Globalist (60) | Yes | Daily full breakfast for up to two adults and two children |
| IHG | Diamond (70) | Yes | Daily full breakfast for member plus one guest |
| Marriott | Platinum (50) | Yes | Varies tremendously by property |
(40:21) – Comparing Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott upgrade certificates
| Suite upgrade certs | Nights | Short cuts? | Benefit Description |
| Hilton | 80, 120 | No | Confirmable at time of booking for up to 7 nights |
| Hyatt | 40, 50, 60…* | Yes | Confirmable at time of booking for up to 7 nights |
| IHG | 20, 40, 70 | No | Confirmable up to 14 days before stay for up to 5 nights |
| Marriott | 50, 75 | Yes | 5 nightly upgrades, confirmed no more than 5 days prior to stay |
(50:43) – Comparing Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott lounge access
| lounge access | Elite Tier (Nights) | Short cuts? | Benefit Description |
| Hilton | Diamond benefit (50 nights) | Yes | Diamond Reserve status required for “premium” clubs. |
| Hyatt | Milestone (20, 30 nights) & Globalist (60 nights) benefit | Yes | Milestones consist of 2 single-stay certs; Globalist benefit is unlimited. |
| IHG | Milestone (40, 70 nights) | No | Member plus 1 guest, valid for the rest of current year and all of the following calendar year. |
| Marriott | Platinum benefit (50 nights) | Yes | Lounge access limited to select brands. Does NOT include access at Ritz-Carlton properties. |
(58:05) – Comparing Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Marriott, 4 PM Late check-out guaranteed
| Guaranteed Late Checkout | Elite Tier (Nights) | Short cuts? | Benefit Description | |
| Hilton | 4PM | Diamond Reserve (80 + $18K Hilton spend) | No | Includes resorts |
| Hyatt | 2PM | Discoverist (10 nights) | Yes | Not guaranteed at resorts |
| 4PM | Globalist (60 nights) | Yes | Not guaranteed at resorts | |
| IHG | 4PM | InterContinental Ambassador status | N/A | Paid status Intercontinentals only |
| Marriott | 2PM | Gold (25) | Yes | Not guaranteed at resorts |
| 4PM | Platinum (50 nights) | Yes | Not guaranteed at resorts | |
Question of the Week
(1:03:54) – Are there banks that let you refer to a lesser card if you have the more premium card?
Learn more about Amex multi-referrals here.
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Music Credit – “Ocean Deep” by Annie Yoder
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Just a reminder that Chase has begun limiting some referrals too, so Capital One is no longer the only bank doing so. I heard it here first. 🙂
https://frequentmiler.com/chase-going-the-way-of-capital-one-only-rewarding-for-referrals-of-new-to-bank-ink-business-cardholders/
One thing not addressed here is the quality of the lounges. IHG InterContinental Club lounges are Head and shoulders above Marriott or Hilton. Their champagne standard, which is supposed to be Perrier Jouet or Nicholas Feuillate or better… It’s just the start.
I know you guys don’t have much experience in it but I’ve always thought Accor’s loyalty program was very nice, you can still kind of buy your way in by purchasing several of their subscription programs.
The IHG lounges I have used, Osaka and Auckland and more, were all in Crowne Plaza hotels. Not Intercontinental which I would love to try but super rarely to never book.
at minute 30:36 IHG diamond is 70 nights, platinum is 40
just as a datapoint- i have only the United Gateway ($0 annual fee) and I haven’t spent any money on it this year, and I still see all of the expanded award availability that they promise
it’s possible this will go away for me eventually and they just haven’t coded it correctly yet, but just wanted to throw that out there
Did you get it by downgrading from a card that had an annual fee?
yes. was explorer from 2022-2024 then i downgraded and has been gateway for 22 months at this point
They changed this benefit to require $10K spend in March 2025. It’s possible that they won’t enforce it until sometime in 2026. Or that they’ll grandfather existing cardholders into the old approach. Or that downgrades from other cards retain this capability (as has been the case in the past).
Great episode!
One thing I want to point out on the subject of SUAs… for a family, Hyatt just destroys everyone else. When traveling overseas, so many rooms can only accommodate 2-3 people BUT there can be suites that accommodate 4-5 people. In that situation, the suite can make the difference between staying reasonably for free on points versus paying out of pocket for an Airbnb or booking two rooms (barring other limited-case shenanigans like family rate, FHR etc).
Having the ability to book into those directly with a SUA and zero uncertainty is priceless, when the alternative with an IHG or Marriott is potentially needing two rooms on short notice due to the limited occupancy of regular rooms. For a Globalist right at 60 nights you’ll have up to five weeks of guaranteed suites in a single year and that is absolutely unmatched for families. While the Hilton confirmable upgrade sounds like it will be similar, they’ll be virtually unachievable for those who don’t travel constantly for business.
Sounds like Greg and Nick need to read Tim’s post from 8/21/2025 about Atmos credit card referrals.
You’re right!
Just wanted to share my experience with the Question of the Week from this episode. I opened the Summit card (no Ascent yet), and then I used the referral link from Tim’s article to refer my wife for an Ascent. She got approved, finished the spend, and about a week later the “Tell a Friend” bonus showed up in my Atmos account. The process is a little quirky, but it definitely works.
https://frequentmiler.com/how-to-earn-up-to-250k-alaska-miles-per-year-with-credit-card-referrals/
And then there’s FHR and Marriott Stars/Luminous and Hyatt Prive and . . .
Might one spare oneself a lot of time and energy (and money) chasing tier status?
Fair question?
If anyone was scoring – Hilton/Hyatt/IHG tied with 18 points, Marriott got 20
so not really a program that is head and shoulders obvious