For me, it's to trip into the next elite level.

My sister however has used Megabonus tactic you posit. She does a couple of weekend nights at a $50/night Residence Inn, gets a Cat4 cert. She's going to use one cert in a few weeks to stay in a Denver location that would cost more than $100. She's a stay-at-home spouse and for her chasing the savings of that seems worth it.

I have in past used MegaBonus certs to stay places like Courtyard Maui and it's well worth it. However with all my fave Cat4 moving up to Cat5 I have not much interest in accumulating certs. Even the Fairfield in REDDING California will now be Cat5 which just blows my mind.