I think firewind was referencing the example I gave where points + cash cost more dollars, than just paying cash.
Originally Posted by
sdsearch
The points + $ rates are simple, if you realize that all the $ component is simply is the cost of buying the difference in points (between the points-only rate and the 6000 points of the points + $ rate).
No matter what the points-only rate is, the points + $ rate is always 6000 points + a dollar component. If the points-only rate is 8000, the dollar component is the cost of buying 2000 points. If the points-only rate is 10000, the dollar component is the cost of buying 4000 points. If the points-only rate is 16000, the dollar component is the cost of buying 10000 points. If the points-only rate is 25000, the dollar component is the cost of buying 19000 points.
That's why the dollar component is very low when the points rate is quite low, and shoots up drastically as the points rate goes up into "middle" points rates.
This is very similar to how the IHG program works. In both the Choice and IHG program, with points + cash you're simply buying points at the moment of reservation, and if you later cancel the reservation, you get back only the full points.
So at Choice if you make a reservation for 6000 + $75 when the points-only rate was 16000, you'll get back back 16000 + $0, rather than 6000 + $75.
Similarly, at IHG if you make a reservation for 5000 points + $70 instead of 15000 points, and you cancel it, you get back 15000 points + $0, rather than 5000 points + $70.
Thus in the IHG program you buy 5000 points for $40 or 10000 points for $70 in a points + cash reservation, while in the Choice program you buy 10000 points for $75. Not exactly the same, but in the same ballpark.
Thus at Choice (or IHG), there's never a better time or worse time to use points + cash. It should simply be based on whether you need to buy points or not, or if there's a promo to do so. (There are some other programs, like Hilton HHonors, where you're not buying points, and where the balance between the points and cash is quite different from one hotel for one date vs another hotel for another date, and where points + cash rates are far from always available.)