I'm one of those quite focused on points and didn't really go in that direction until about 10 years ago. Prior to that I was doing a combination of single rooms in hostels, hotels, B&Bs and pensiones, depending where I was and on pricing, with points not in play. I would typically be out of the U.S. about 12 weeks a year so had lots of paid nights.

What changed my mind was meeting FTers at various events around the world who convinced me I was leaving a lot of free hotel nights on the table by not accruing points and taking advantage of credit card signup bonuses for the various hotel programs. My biggest score was 10 award nights in London during the 2012 Olympics at an Indigo hotel near the Tower of London, a property that was $1,000 a night a year out until dropping down to $600 a few days before opening ceremonies. Both IHG and Hyatt had award stays available during the Olympics if you were able to book 11 months out. Most of the paid rates I had looked at during the Olympics were prepaid, nonrefundable, which they can do with special events. The points really saved me a fortune here.

I tend to use my hotel points when the rates are too high - for me, typically something over $150 a night. I find a get a pretty good return, and the hotels I am paying to stay at, and accrue points at, are competitively priced. My points are split between four different programs.