Generally you get a better "airline miles" value with the packages:

- If you convert points to miles only the best deal is 125,000 points = 50,000 miles, which works out to 1 mile = 2.5 points

- Take the package with 7 nights in a cat 1-5 hotel plus 120,000 miles which costs 235,000 points. That's 1 airline mile for slightly less than 2 points (better than the above "miles only" award) and you have the seven nights to boot.

Or, to look at it another way, if you take 250,000 points and convert to miles only, you'd have 100,000 miles. If you take the 250,000 points and convert to the package, you have (a) 120,000 miles [more than the 100,000 for the "miles only" conversion], (b) seven free hotel nights, and (c) 15,000 points left over.

With a half-million points, you could redeem this award twice and have 240,000 miles (plus, of course, 14 free nights). If you can get a RT award to Hawaii for 60,000 miles or less, that woudl be enough for your 4 round trips.

So it actually would make "economic" sense to take the package award, bank the airline miles, throw away the hotel certificate, and you'd still come out ahead of a "miles only" redemption.

BUT: The nice thing about the packages is that you don't have to use the hotel nights on the trip you use the miles for, so some folks will buy a package, deposit the miles, and keep the hotel rooms for another trip.

I'm not sure, but the certificate for the free hotel nights may be able to be gifted to a relative or friend. You'd have to check.

(Edited to add: Two minds thinking alike, but one post delayed for some reason.)