As a permanent setting, probably not. But if you're staying at a cheapo Holiday Inn Express for one night per stay, for example, where the $70 rate will get you 700 points base, with platinum but outside any promo period, that's 1050 points total, at the 4:1 conversion ratio that's only 262 BA miles. But if you choose to earn BA miles directly FOR THAT STAY, then you get 500 BA miles.

(The math obviously changes depending on what, if any, points-but-not-miles bonus may be applicable to you at a given time.)

In case you're not aware, whether you earn miles or points depends on how you have your preference set AT THE TIME THE STAY POSTS. Thus if your stays are posting on time and there's at least a day or two between them, then you can usually change between miles and points on a per-stay basis. That makes the question a per-stay one instead of a permanent one.

And, btw, if you collect domestic US airline miles, then in the same example you would only earn 700 / 4 = 175 miles directly, which makes BA miles the best way you can use your earnings for such a cheap stay (if BA miles are the only 500-per-stay miles you collect).

Now, all this math goes poof at Intercontinental (and only Intercontinental), which is what this particular promo is for, because Intercontintal earnings in points are a fixed 2000 rather than proportional to spending, and 2000 / 4 = 500 miles to ANY airline. So normally AT INTERCONTINENTAL if you're elite with PC it makes more sense to collect points and later convert to miles. But at all other PC brands, the earnings are 10 points per $ spent or 2.5 domestic miles per $ spent or 500 BA miles per stay.