Originally Posted by
Polytonic
It's why I tend to use certs on shorter stays (2-3 nights) and full point redemptions or cash on longer stays.
You can utilize the certificates best for both short stays and longer stays of 6 days or more. Some places that I've visited don't warrant parking myself there for at least 5 days to take advantage of the 5th night free. There are places where there's nothing to do beyond 2 days of sightseeing so in those cases I book one night with a cert and another with points or if my spouse and I each have a cert available we'll do 1 night each.
On the reverse side, there are places I'd want to stay even longer than 5 days. So for 5 consecutive days I use points to get the 5th night free and then I'll use certificates on either end to add days to my stay.
Originally Posted by
Adelphos
Second, I kind of disagree with quoted above - the way I look at cents per point is based on market/objective value, and how much utility you can derive from that redemption.
Say someone is willing and able to pay $200 cash for a hotel room night, but loves to use points and redeem for hotels that cost $500 a night or more. Do they derive the same utility from the $200 room as the $500 room? Likely not - they high room rate likely represents a better furnished room, a more desirable room during a time of high demand, a room in a property with more amenities and better service, etc. So even if that person isn't willing or able to pay the extra $300 in cash, they are actually receiving that extra $300 in utility, and the points they redeemed to access that utility should be valued to reflect that extra utility.
This was exactly my point in my post above, thank you for articulating it so well. I do value my points/certificate above what I'm willing to pay because I'm getting a much better experience than I would have gotten had I gone to a different hotel that was in my cash budget.