Some buddies and I do this semi-often. I end up picking up the hotels with points in a lot of cases. At first, the guys tried to give me cash. But they got tired of my declining, so now they just try to get even by picking up dinners, rounds of drinks, etc. It ends up working out okay... I figure this is why I collect the points to begin with - to use 'em on golf trips, baseball trips, marathon trips, etc.