All -

I'm sitting on 500k Marriott Points and they are starting to burn a hole in my proverbial pocket. I travel just about every week so I'll build up the points again...

My fiance and I are backpacking around Central America in November and I'm trying to decide do I use half the points to get a sweet SLR (maybe this one? https://www.skymall.com/mr/detail.htm?pid=203110455) or do I use them on a hotel? Obviously the "value" staying at JW Guanacaste ($200 / night) for our few nights in Costa Rica gives me a bigger "bang for my buck", but we typically stay in lower-end hotels when we're trekking.

Questions for everyone:
1 - What's the best way you've burned through a large sum of miles before? I'm open to suggestions...
2 - Thoughts on buying product through Marriott Rewards vs. Hotel stays
3 - What would you do with the points??

Let's hear your thoughts!