Originally Posted by
s0ssos
So am I right to conclude 100k Marriott points is worth 2k to you but not 6k?
Because as you noted it is painfully simple cost/benefit analysis. Emotions do not come into play, like "hating inefficiency".
It seems to me the most efficient way is to buy the Marriott points when they are on sale, $860, take the rest of the money and "put it toward" all the errors Marriott makes.
Instead of spending $2000 towards unneeded hotel rooms, which seems "inefficient" to say the least. I think that requires some menial work like calculating numbers which would definitely be a hassle for most of us.
Perhaps you misunderstand the issue, which is the 20k Ambassador spend requirement. The stay requirement was trivially made, especially this year with Marriott providing free nights credit to its members. I anticipate ending the year with between 150 and 175 nights. The year in which I first achieved Ambassador, I organically spent 18K. As that was reasonably close to 20k, I treated myself to a 2k Christmas vacation (much more fun that hiring a secretary). Your "solution" of purchasing points when they are on sale fails for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that purchasing points regardless of how many points are purchased and how much is paid will have no impact on your Ambassador spend requirement. Per Marriott's language:
"Marriott Bonvoy® Ambassador Elite Status is earned when a Member has both 100 Qualifying Nights annually and $20,000 USD in annual qualified spending [...]Qualifying Charges for Participating Properties include Qualifying Rates for Stays, Food and Beverage, and in-room phone/movies/video games. They do not include on-property charges earned without a hotel Stay, Marriott Bonvoy® Events, Cobrand credit card spend, and other Non-Qualifying Charges."
Out of curiosity, why the $2,000 = 100k points question. And the answer is no. Not even close. For me, the value of points is purely a function of the redemption value based on my travel habits. As a reference point, I spend last Thanksgiving in Paris at the Marriott Champs-Elysees. The room rate was 350€, the points was 50k/night. The value of 100K points would be capped at 700€ or roughly $700. Actually far less as Marriott Points are owned by Marriott, can be canceled, devalued, lost, etc.
Off-point, but to answer your question, for consumer transactions a cost/benefit analysis is largely influenced by emotion. As I'm sure you remember from high school economics, the
fair market value means the price at which property would change hands between a willing buyer and a willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or sell and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts. It's emotional is because the willing buyer determines what the property (or any goods or service) is worth to him or her, which is purely subjective, not capable of objective determination. Why stay at a $500 St. Regis, if the $200 Westin will satisfy your needs (location, space requirements, etc.) just as well? Ultimately, in this hypothetical, it's almost certainly because the St. Regis satisfies some subjective desire, e.g. prestige,
obsequious, fanning service, etc. all of which are emotional)
. Once you determine roughly what something is worth to you, the cost benefit analysis is (usually) fairly simple. In my case, since I hate inefficiency, I am willing to pay to avoid it. If I didn't, if waiting on hold with Marriott was less annoying to me, a different decision would be made. The cost/benefit was easy. I can go on vacation, to an area which I love and get Ambassador status to boot. I booked the vacation that very day.
As I stated, for me, the main value of Ambassador is the ability to avoid the inefficiency of having to call Marriott. I value having my issues (which are rarely time sensitive) resolved with a single email. That value is somewhere between 2k and 6K.