Originally Posted by
eponymous_coward
Let me try a thought experiment then.
I have two boxes. One has a certificate for 1,000,000 Marriott points. One has an exact amount of cash equal to your assigned valuation of 1,000,000 Marriott points (whatever number you say you redeem them at). You may choose one of them for yourself, you won't know what's in the box you chose until you choose it.
Are you entirely indifferent to whichever box you receive? Or do you have a preference? If you prefer the cash, doesn't that mean your heuristic for "this is when I redeem" doesn't match the value you have for Marriott points?
Isolating points and dollars doesn’t capture the nuance of points accumulation and usage. In your example, I’d take the cash. However, of it were 250,000 points, I’d take the points as I can extract greater value from that quantity in a reasonable period of time without worry of banking more than I’ll foreseeably need or use.
The first 250,000 points of 1,000,000 are worth more per point (to me) than the next 750,000 in a one year window. I’d suspect the calculus varies by person.