I agree with your facts, but not necessarily your premise. You are assuming that most people soley use their points for recreational/ vacation stays at resorts, and that is not the case.

Using myself - while we certainly do use them for vacations - I have a niece who has is hospitalized frequently. I often use points to allow myself, or other family members, to stay in a lower end property to be near her. Is it a good use of points by FT standards...no. But to my family this is priceless, especially those who absolutely do not have the wherewithal to visit otherwise.

That is why I am annoyed about loss of the $1k gift cheques. They helped in many different situations - family use OR when a popular property was not available on points, OR points usage was too high as compared to the rate. (off season, for example.). Others found them a complete waste, and were horrified whenever they were discussed - TEHO.

Even if people WANT to use points for vacation - they may not always choose a resort. With no real bennies (at Marriott anyway) it can get rather pricey with items NOT covered by the award. These forums have plenty of posts requesting information on FI, SHS, etc around Disney, Hawaii, AZ, - so am thinking those users do not find using their points in low end properties to be a waste.

It seems as if you and I can pretty much use our points when and where we want without worrying about the total vacation cost to the penny. Everyone is not at that point in their life, and I try to be mindful of that in my responses.