Is the problem that you have to deal with Expedia rather than the airline in the case of IRROPS (e.g., flight cancelled) and Expedia has excessive hold times and generally incompetent phone agents?

I usually book hotels through travel agents that offer benefits such as free breakfasts or upgrades, but the implied discount from 1.5 cents/point may outweigh those benefits (depending on whether transferring points to airline and hotel partners would be better value).