The value is there if you plan right and look at credit card bonuses. I've managed to get my business travel down to 20-25 nights a year, so I really don't earn a ton of points that way. Holiday Inn is my preferred brand for the consistency, availability at my work destinations, and their bonus challenges. I also use Hilton and Club Carlson.

Last fall I went to London and Scotland. Since I planned far enough out, I found the Club Carlson card that gives you your last award night free. The signup bonus was enough to get me two two-night reservations in London that would have cost $1400 if paid for in cash.

I also burned some banked IHG points around Scotland, but when I could get a $70 B&B instead of spending 35,000 points for the HIX, I went that way. I was also looking at city centers so I could have some pints and not worry about driving, and UK HIXs tend to be out by motorways. It took a lot of planning, and it is always nice to have a bank of points in case you don't want to spend the cash. Overall I got seven award nights with a value of $1880 for 100K CC and 65K IHG points. I also spent about $70 each for B&B in Inverness and hotel in Oban (which ultimately got paid for with Cap One points).

IHG also has some good promotions. The Into The Nights challenge promo in Q4 last year earned me two free nights and 20,000 points. Business travel covered most of my challenges, but I was two Saturday night stays short of the goal. I ended up booking a local Candlewood Suite at $65 for two Saturdays - I didn't even stay. Just checked in and left. That $130 earned me two free nights that have since been booked at the Intercontinental Dublin - a $750 value. The 20K points that also came with it are worth about $200, so a little planning and $130 got me $1000.

As I am hitting Ireland in the fall, I have a spreadsheet showing the IHG, Hilton and Club Carlson properties that may fit my itinerary. I also looked at the Chase Marriott 70K bonus, but as Marriott is weak in Ireland there is no point for this trip. The spreadsheet includes cost in both dollars and points (including easy to update $<>Euro conversion). From this I have concluded Club Carlson is my target as I can get redemption values from .009 to .015 per point, and the credit card gives 5X everywhere. I'll do some light manufactured spending to build up around 50K points that should cover four nights.

The other benefit is that points stays are typically refundable, so I can be guaranteed a bed but still change to a cheap cash room if it becomes available.

Soooo...

1. Figure out where you want to go.
2. Figure out what it will cost in points and dollars to get/stay there
3. Figure out how to get the points