Originally Posted by Guava

Actually, it's 3 pts/$, not 2 pts/$. If you can use SPG AMEX with a merchant, to be fair, the comparsion must be used against the HH AMEX, not the HH VISA which very few people on FT even bother with that card.



If the redemption is for a single night, the SPG Cash and Points, if available would indeed provide better value in most cases. Otherwise, the cost of a SPG Cat. 5 award which ranges between 12~16K SPG points as you stated is equivalent to 36~48K HH points. However, in most cases, you will not need more than 40K HH points for a one night stay with HHonors on Hawaii. So if you spend $16,000 on your SPG AMEX that gives you 16,000 SPG points; by spending the same amount of money on HH AMEX on the standard 3 pts/$, this will give you 48,000 HH points. Therefore, I am not sure how you come to your conclusion re: Hawaii. Plus, the HHonors VIP awards give you 6 nights in Hawaii for 175,000 HH points or the equivalent of spending $58,333 on regular non-double points purchases. SPG's 5th night free for a Category 5 requires a spending between $48,000~$64,000 on your SPG AMEX. Note, the SPG award is actually one night less than HH. Hence, on a per night basis, the opportunity cost is $9722 for HH AMEX or between $9600 ~ $12800 for SPG AMEX.

Hence, re: Hawaii, my answer is I think the two are quite comparable in terms of cost of award redemptions.