Originally Posted by
Need
I think 20k HH points is worth more than 3.3k Starwood points. If you have the SPG Amex card, every $1 spent on everyday purchase is worth 1 Starwood pts. If you spend $1 on HHonors Amex card, you get 3 HH points. Just looking at that, 1 Starwood pt is worth approx 3 HH points. So if you trade in 3.3k Starwood points for 20k HH point, it would be twice that.. 1 to 6 ratio. It seems like a better deal unless you really need to stay at a Starwood hotel or you need it to transfer to other reward points.
In this specific example, 20K HHonors are probably worth more than 3.3K Starpoints. Earnings rate is only half the equation, however; you've got to look at the redemption options and rates. 3.3K SPG gets you a weekend/weekday at a category 1 or a weekend night at a category 2; using your formula, 6.6K Hilton points gets you--no redemptions. 14K SPG gets you two nights at a category 3 or a full three-day weekend at a category 1; 28K Hilton gets you 1 night at a category 3 (and to be fair, three nights at a category 1).
Without status or an Amex card, 40K SPG gets you 5 nights at a category 4 hotel; 80K Hilton gets you 2 nights at a category 4 (with or without status since 85K are required for the lowest GLON multi-night award of four nights at a category 3). If you have Hilton status, 65K SPG gets you five nights at a category 5; 130K Hilton gets you five nights at a category 4 (with 10K points left over). If you don't have status (admittedly not a high hurdle to get to Silver), 130K gets you four nights at a category 4.
In valuing, you can't ignore the multiple options SPG provides for airline transfers although 3.3K doesn't really give you much.
I have decent stashes of both SPG and Hilton points. I have found valuing points a sticky business at best since there are so many individual variables involved--for instance, if you're not terribly concerned about the facilities a hotel may offer, a well-located category 2 or 3 hotel may be worth more to you than a poorly-located category 6. But, in making any guess as to what points may be worth, you just can't look at the earnings rate.