Originally Posted by
Kremmen
...No way I'd redeem 196k points for under $1000 and I'd still be aiming for closer to $1500.
While my Cleburne example was a bit tongue-in-check (although 39 nights at 5K/night makes for a very good redemption rate when the cost for those nights would be a shade under $3000), a better example (someplace people might actually want to go -- i.e., the Four Corners area, etc.) would be the Category 2 Farmington Hampton Inn. 19 nights at AAA rate = $2413.
The point? It all depends on your situation, but if one has a need for a lower-end property there are indeed plenty of places where you can get far better than your $1500 of value.
(Btw, both of these examples -- especially the Cleburne one -- are situations where if you are are going to pay for a room it makes much better economic sense to purchase the points and then redeem for the room)