I choose points for the sake of simplicity. I know mathematically you can come out slightly ahead with the gift card, but I hate tracking gift cards from reception through usage, and I need more than the ~10% advantage to deal with that hassle.

I did choose the giftcard once, and it took about 30 minutes for the front desk staff to figure out how to process it. They had to call the corporate office and be walked through it. Yeah, that is an anecdote, but the risk of a frustration like that is much higher with a giftcard than just straight up points (where I can just check out on the app 98% of the time on my way out of the room).