Originally Posted by
Happy
Only if you have the need to travel in such periods. If you do, or plan to, sure, you should hold out for such redemption to SAVE cold hard cash. But if one does not have such near term or even mid term plan to visit places during a high demand period, there is no reason to "hold out" for when one can save reasonable sum of cash.
Again, how one travels, determine the redemption. Also dont forget the other side of the equation - the earning side. That makes huge difference, too.
The earning side makes Hyatt and Hilton program far more attractive thanks to the easy to earn UR pts and HH pts.
You are also forgetting to take into account the various promotions that run from time to time. For instance, Best Western has lowered redemptions down to 10,000 points during the low season, which allowed me to stay at a Best Western Toronto with the few points I have cashed in the program.
From my experience, there is always a time where those points come in handy. For instance, on vacation and get IRROP'd and the rack rates are thru the roof. Key is to keep track of the redemption rates and use them wisely. If this is too much work for you, then maybe FT is not your community!
-James