Diners Club Club Rewards - To Use, Or Not To Use

Travelling on business next week. I can charge my hotel to a VISA card and earn double points with Marriott Rewards, or I can use the Diner's Club card and add those points to a growing pot. I hope to eventually turn these DC points into miles in American's AAdvantage program.
If there are any number crunchers who want to quantify the pros and cons that is welcome. Philosophical leanings are valued as well.

I analyzed this on the Marriott board. The optimal way to play this scenario is:

1. First, buy discounted Marriott gift certificates with a mileage-affinity V/MC card, and use the certs + your V when you check-in.

Since it's probably too late to do that, you at least want to
2. Have an affinity-V card, or at least get some additional benefits above and beyond the Marriott points. If so, definitely double dip on the Visa card over DC.
3. Since DC points are worth about 0.6 cents a piece (1.2 cents per dollar charged), you have to compare that to your value of a Marriott point, which is what you're asking.

If you have a bill of $1000, you can get an additional 10,000 Marriott points (unless it is the Residence Inn) or 2,000 DC points.

10,000 will get you 1/2 of a free night at a Marriott (or close to a free night at an out-of-the-way Courtyard). So about $80.

2,000 DC points will get you 1/25 of the way to a heavy-restricted airline ticket. That's about $12.

Looks pretty simple to me. In fact, if you needed the 2,000 DC points so badly, they will sell them to you for $30.

One other factor to consider is Diners is running a double miles promotion with British Airways this summer, and you can convert BA miles into AA tickets.

Originally posted by Tino:
I analyzed this on the Marriott board. The optimal way to play this scenario is:

1. First, buy discounted Marriott gift certificates with a mileage-affinity V/MC card, and use the certs + your V when you check-in.

Since it's probably too late to do that, you at least want to
2. Have an affinity-V card, or at least get some additional benefits above and beyond the Marriott points. If so, definitely double dip on the Visa card over DC.
3. Since DC points are worth about 0.6 cents a piece (1.2 cents per dollar charged), you have to compare that to your value of a Marriott point, which is what you're asking.

If you have a bill of $1000, you can get an additional 10,000 Marriott points (unless it is the Residence Inn) or 2,000 DC points.

10,000 will get you 1/2 of a free night at a Marriott (or close to a free night at an out-of-the-way Courtyard). So about $80.

2,000 DC points will get you 1/25 of the way to a heavy-restricted airline ticket. That's about $12.

Looks pretty simple to me. In fact, if you needed the 2,000 DC points so badly, they will sell them to you for $30.

Tino -

Great stuff, thanks.

Curious......I have never converted DC points, but can't you turn them into straight airline miles? It is a 2 for 1 deal, right?

Yup.

2,000 DC points = 1,000 miles = 1/25 of the way to a heavily restricted domestic ticket = about $12 cash value, maybe more if you really like the miles

I've been using my Visa card (not my Diners) for stays at the Marriott this month and really racking up the points. The bonus is exceptional.

Please correct me if my math is off, but I think it could work out like this: $1,000 spent = 20,000 Marriott points with the double points bonus. I believe you can convert 60,000 Marriott points to 25,000 miles on their partner airlines.

With Diners, the $1,000 = 1/25th of a free trip. With Marriott bonus, the $1,000 = 1/3 of a free trip.

Additionally, I get 1 mile in Alaska's program for every dollar I spend at the Marriott.

I was surprised the offer only made it to #10 on "Randy's best" list.

I would also go with the Marriott Points. I bank them and someday will use them in Europe for free ngihts (with at least one night paid stay.)

Diners I use for the restaurant bills and any retailers that takes them. I can use for the Air tickets but I'm also builidng My AMEX M-R Account.

Remember, you have to decide what you ened more: free nights or miles (or do the Marriott pt conversion into airline miles.)

tino - Not sure how you arrive at the conclusion that Diners Club points are worth only 0.6 cents.

Usually airline miles are counted as being worth 2 cents each (although as a posting some time back pointed out, if used for upgrades on international flights, as I do, they're worth more in the neighborhood of 6 to 8 cents each). Since you can always convert them to airline miles at 2 points = 1 mile, the Diners Club points would be worth a minimim of 1 cent each. If you convert them during one of the "double" offers, where a DC point = 1 airline mile, they'd be worth 2 cents each.

While I won't disagree that you *could* spend them on something so poorly valued that you only get 0.6 cents in value from them, I would value them at at least 1 cent each.

That said, I tend to agree that in FlyAAway's particular circumstance one would be better advised to get the double Marriott Rewards

Diners Club will "buy them back" for the equivalent of 0.6 cents per point. You can buy your annual fee (cash), gift certificates, or other quasi-"cash" purchases for that conversion rate. That is what I refer to as the "cash value" for the points.

I would be willing to bet that you could structure a Personalized Reward that looked a lot like cash (say, a down payment on a car) and they would probably use that rate.

As for merchandise, if you can get 0.6 cents of value, you'd be lucky. Most products come in at 0.5 cents per point or below. (example: at 1 cent, their bottle of Glenlivet would be valued at $70. this drunk says no way)

I'll admit that airline miles are the best way to use the points (and the only way I use them). It then becomes a scale of what one values heavily restricted airline tickets. Since I live in a cheap market, I value them at about 1.5 cents. I suppose I would value international upgrades at a higher value, but I wouldn't be willing to pay the $x,xxx value anyway, so to me that comparison is moot.

I agree that the double mile conversion is great. Unfortunately, my luck with getting award flights is so poor that I have yet to find the opportunity to participate, especially for an airline that I do not have status on.

If British Airways did not have the restrictions on transferring points to non-household accounts, I would be very tempted to sell those points at significantly less than 2 cents each to someone who wanted them more badly than I.