Originally Posted by
sophiegirl
As a general policy, you may be correct. But as you stated - when I do the math, the checks are a better deal at this point for what I need.
I need 2 rooms where the only availability is Stay Anytime - at a Cat 7! (and I have checked every day for 3 months) Definite bad use of points. To pay for the rooms is $400+ per night - need 4 nights X 2 rooms. By buying these certs I can get points for the stay, use PP's, and the points needed to get enough certs to pay the bill is less than what would be needed if I did the Stay Anytime.
I agree that the best use is usually the packages or just regular awards - but I don't need a package, I need rooms in NYC at no cost. At this point, this is the only option that will give me that..unless I just stay home!

I first got excited thinking you would earn at least 41,000 points from this stay offsetting the 135,000 expenditure but quickly realized that you'll probably need 4 x 135,000 checks to pay for this. Ouch either way! Perhaps hold off and see if the new PLT benefits materialize? And I've seen these offers time and time again.