Why Hotels Earn My Loyalty Year After Year — and Airlines Don’t

I’ve mentioned several times that I don’t chase elite status with airlines. I’ve even given talks at points and miles conferences, saying that I don’t think chasing airline elite status makes sense for the average person.

When I say these things, people are often surprised to learn that I pursue hotel elite status.

From my experience, pursuing elite status with a hotel chain costs less and is more rewarding than pursuing it with an airline. Let me explain why I think the former is worthwhile — but the latter isn’t.

Airline Elite Status Requires More Spending Than Ever

To make matters more complicated, airlines use different rubrics to qualify for status. For example, American Airlines AAdvantage and Delta SkyMiles have just 1 metric to keep track of, while United MileagePlus requires tracking more than 1 threshold.

At the end of the day, though, earning status with most airline programs really boils down to how much money you spend. Let’s call it for what it is.

When AAdvantage shifted to Loyalty Points in 2022 and Air Canada Aeroplan shifted to a revenue-based system in 2026, these shifts were part of a larger trend: You simply can’t earn status without spending. The more you spend, the higher your status tier.

From the airlines’ perspective, it makes sense to confer status on your most profitable customers … except when flying isn’t part of the equation. Flying a lot isn’t an important factor these days.

With many airlines, it’s now possible to earn top-tier elite status without flying. You could, theoretically, spend a zillion dollars on your American Airlines or Delta credit card and come home with status perks and a fancy title even without flying much (if at all). True, a few airlines, including United, still have some minimum flight requirements, but my point remains: spending money is key.

Raise your hand if you got into the world of points and miles to spend more money on travel. That’s what I thought.

Airline Elite Status Has Been Devalued — By a Lot

My list of grievances against airline elite status isn’t done yet. The perks you’re guaranteed to get — early boarding or a complimentary checked bag — can also be granted with an airline credit card and a modest annual fee.

The perks you really want — namely, complimentary seat upgrades — are increasingly rare. And most U.S. airlines don’t even offer lounge access to their elites on domestic trips, only on long-haul international itineraries.

A friend of mine with top-tier United Premier 1K status once texted me to say he was number 61 on the upgrade list for a flight from Washington, D.C. to San Francisco. 61! His plane had 48 seats in business class, and he would need all of them to be empty, plus 12 people not to show up, before he would get an upgrade. I’ll never forget that. (Spoiler alert: He didn’t get upgraded on the flight.)

With the rate U.S. airlines are selling premium seats, space-available upgrades are hard to come by. Why not just get the airline’s credit card instead?

My final complaint is that chasing status often requires making nonsensical choices. Let’s say you’re pursuing status with Delta, and your family wants to go to Disneyland. Maybe Delta doesn’t fly there nonstop from your home airport, but American Airlines does. Will you add a layover — or worse, buy a more expensive flight — just to fly with your preferred airline? I’d rather take the nonstop and get to my destination sooner/cheaper; my airline-agnostic approach gives me that without worry.

And sure, I won’t get upgraded on whatever airline I fly with. However, if I want to fly in premium economy or business class, I can just book that with points.

Why Pursuing Hotel Elite Status Makes More Sense

A night is a night is a night. Well, mostly.

If you spend a night at a hotel, it counts toward your status goal. Whether you paid for that night with cash, redeemed points, or used a free night certificate, you’re getting credit toward the nights you need for elite status. Compare that to airlines, which rarely give you status-qualifying credit on flights booked with points.

Yes, Marriott Bonvoy has introduced some complexity, as some brands earn stay credits at lower rates than others — essentially a basic economy model for hotel brands. In general, though, you can get 1 night toward status by booking an inexpensive Hyatt Place or booking a pricy Park Hyatt. That’s true no matter how you pay for the stay.

And your spending doesn’t factor into most hotel status tiers, unless you’re going for invitation-only or ultra-luxe tiers like Marriott Ambassador Elite or the new Hilton Diamond Reserve. Spending 60 nights, all booked with points, at inexpensive Hyatt properties gives you the same Globalist status as someone who spends 60 nights at luxe resorts paying cash.

Even better, holding a hotel credit card can gift you complimentary elite status — something that’s almost unheard of with airline loyalty programs. On top of that, hotel credit cards can help you shortcut the path to higher status tiers.

Starting the year with up to 40 elite nights because you have the right Marriott Bonvoy credit cards can help you reach those upper status tiers with fewer nights, less effort, and less cost. You don’t have to spend on the credit cards; airlines don’t offer this.

And then there are the perks, which I find hotels provide to elites more often than their airline counterparts. Sure, there are only so many suites at a hotel, and not everyone can stay in a suite. However, hotels can offer preferred rooms, better views, complimentary breakfast, or other perks that, in my experience, seem more abundant than what airlines dole out.

Being able to pursue elite status on points stays — to me, that’s the main selling point. In theory, I could earn status with Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, or other programs without spending money. Simply spending enough nights in hotels, all on points, would confer status. That’s nearly impossible in most airline programs.

Final Thoughts

For the average person, I don’t think chasing airline status makes sense. It requires extra spending, but my goal is to spend less on travel by using points and miles. Airlines are also conferring fewer and fewer of the perks people care about most, all while I see friends add time and effort to their travels to fly with a preferred airline.

Hotel status, however, does make sense to me. The biggest reason is that eligible stays using points still count toward elite status, and my experience is that hotel status still offers the perks that made me care about it in the first place.