Originally Posted by
Adelphos
I was looking for Italy (Rome) redemptions in late September/early October. I acknowledge cash prices are high, but it seems like redemptions are all in the 120K to 140K range. Rome Edition generally pricing at 132K per night whenever there is availability, for example. I generally expected 85K to 110K or so for most European redemptions.
The issue here is that Marriott redemptions seem to be requiring as many or more points than Hilton redemptions for the same tier of hotel in Europe (I'm seeing less inflation in North America, at least relative to Hilton). Marriott points are supposed to be worth .2 cents or so more than Hilton. Once that starts to look like a stretch, it becomes less useful to collect Marriott points...
Remember, Marriott prices points primarily based on how many people redeem there. If more people are redeeming there than before, that will drive the points price up.
I can tell, because some suburban mid-tier hotels in my area that most people don't redeem at are still very low priced in points, even when their cash prices are high. They just slightly change with the prices, but when prices are lower they dip below 20k, while when prices are higher they're just a bit above 20k. While hotels in very popular areas require many points even when the prices are relatively low.
How useful it is to collect Marriott depends on how often you stay in places where most people don't redeem. If you do, then Marriott points can be very valuable at those places. If you're only going stay where everybody else redeems, they're not going to be of much use.