Originally Posted by
iahphx
It seemed easier to buy points this year than the past couple of years. Probably a combination of more inventory, slightly higher prices, fewer point transfer options, less publicity, fewer Choice award hotel "bargains" and a new and somewhat confusing Daily Getaways interface. Amazingly, the 28,000 point offer is still available as I write this! (Not surprised that the 14,000 offer is left, as that one was materially more expensive and somewhat marginal.)
Because of the ease of purchase, my wife and I bought more points than we usually do -- everything except the 14K offer. Given the risk of devaluation, we probably bought too many points, but we did use a ton of points last year with some VERY cheap redemptions. I think we averaged about 12,000 points/night with regular room rates averaging about $175. Most of the points were used in Europe, but I also had some very good Bluegreen stays. We actually had to throttle down our Choice stays as the year went on because we were running out of points!
I'm skeptical I'll get as good a value this year. The current redemption levels seem almost random. Where are folks finding the most value now? It's always a problem to track this stuff down, because the blogger community almost completely ignores Choice.
I know Loyalty Traveler gives reasonable coverage to the Choice program, and from his posts and some in this forum, I know that the Nordic Choice program is good and that there are still some properties in Europe that are good values. It appears that the Dublin properties have completely left the Choice program with my most recent search bringing up an Ascend property in Belfast for 12K points. I'm probably going to stay in Belfast in September on a trip to Ireland/NI so maybe I'll check out this hotel. Side note: the former Clarion IFSC, now the Spencer, seems not to be hurting from the change--I did an 8K redemption there for a suite that's now regularly $500 per night on most third-party booking sites.
I have a specific use for Choice points in the Orlando area where there's still the occasional 6-10K property. I bought one 55K package yesterday mostly for backup purposes and because I have a trip planned to Vienna, Austria in November that might also prove a good use of Choice points.
I don't complain too much about the changes in the Choice program because there are plenty of other changes occurring in all of the hotel loyalty programs--right now, IHG and Marriott/SPG especially--but I don't feel the need to buy a lot of Choice points anymore.