Originally Posted by
beltway
As the different responses above demonstrate, this is completely YMMV. Some people will find it easy to use the cert, perhaps for a room costing well in excess of $75/night. Others find cat 4 certs hard to use without going out of their way.
I'm in the second camp. The cat 4 properties within reasonable driving distance of DC don't really do much for me--so much so that simply let my cert expire unused last year, and I'm not usually one to let a free night go to waste.
In short, there's no universal answer, so it's pointless to argue about whether the card is worth $75/year. It's like arguing about whether cilantro is tasty or whether blue is the best color. If the cat 4 cert is worth >$75 in your life, more power to you.
+1.
I've used my free CC night in the past at the HR San Francisco (before the category jump) and then at the two Toronto Hyatts; IIRC, paid rates for those nights probably averaged US$250-275 all in (the applicable taxes definitely contributed to that number), so for me the card was worth it in economic terms. But none of those properties is really where I want to be staying in those cities, and at this stage in life I am ready to stay where I want to stay, not where I can save some bucks. I am accordingly planning to dump the card.