Marriott points worth so little

Old Dec 20, 2018, 10:23 am
  #31  
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Originally Posted by Hipplewm
Then wait for the 2019 rate charts which will have peak and off peak rates, then you save points when the rooms are cheaper
Are the 2019 charts being released on Jan. 1, '19?
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 10:24 am
  #32  
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Why are there two "Off Peak" columns in this redemption chart?
https://www.marriott.com/rewards/poi...dType=Standard
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 10:32 am
  #33  
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Originally Posted by theplayer
It's not even that....No business travel, but we acquire points every year with sign up bonus and take a 2 week vacation in the winter. We've gone to Europe last 4 years. When should we use the points if not for our vacation? I don't look at it like ..the room is only $175-200 in the off season so it's not a good deal, but same room in peak season is $500, so great deal. We are staying for free at a time when we are able to travel.
Pretty similar to our approach.

We have redeemed points in every program that is NOT the optimal value but hey, those pts would otherwise just sit there versus if we use them they save our out of pocket cash.
In the recent trip we redeemed a 5th night free award at 4Ps at Brisbane at 70K total. Hotel has weekend rates very cheap like around 100 AUD, so 73 USD but on weekdays it jumps to 130+ AUD so 95 USD. We had 2 weekend days and 3 weekdays - the total pay amount would have been 450 USD max. Some would say that at 0.6 cent it is less than what its "value" should be (at 0.8 cent) but I view it we saved $450 instead.
Another case is with IHG program on the same trip. We needed an overnight stay at MEL where there is a Holiday Inn within walking distance from the terminal. IHG wants 35K while cash rate is USD135 (we stayed there before when it was only 20K) True, we used the IHG pts at below "breakeven" if you acquire the pts via the Cash and Point booking trick (lowest at 0.005 per pt cost) - but again, those IHG pts were from sign up bonuses and all kinds of promo and they just sit at the accounts. Either I "save" the pts for better value redemption or save $135 cash. We opted the latter.
OTOH we redeemed a 5th night free at Sheraton on the Park in Sydney for 140K - hotel cash rate was around US$270 per night, and US$1362 for 5 nights. So we get almost 0.01 per pt value, slightly better than the 0.007 I pecked it for a long time, since 4 or 5 years ago - because it seemed to be 50% of the case in our travels.

Anytime one can save real cold hard cash without undercut your point hoarding much, it is a win to me.
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Last edited by Happy; Dec 20, 2018 at 11:30 am
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 10:35 am
  #34  
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Originally Posted by iowa guy
Are the 2019 charts being released on Jan. 1, '19?
Nobody knows.
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 10:59 am
  #35  
 
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Originally Posted by iowa guy
What is an LNF claim?
Look no Further, Marriott's best rate guarantee: https://www.marriott.com/look/claimForm

During the off season hotels have excess capacity and are more motivated to sell those rooms on third party channels so LNF claims typically become easier to find.
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 11:04 am
  #36  
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Originally Posted by iowa guy
Are the 2019 charts being released on Jan. 1, '19?
Historically new charts released in March.

However Marriott (and SPG also) can and do, change categories year long. They have the clause in the program to allow them change the redemption level at any given time WITHOUT NOTICE.

On top of that, both can have hotels do NOT match the released charts - naturally only happens when hotel category should go down but it does not.
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 11:06 am
  #37  
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Originally Posted by iowa guy
I've heard that philosophy more and more lately. It seems like there's a greater chance of points/miles becoming less valuable than more valuable.
Huh?

It is ALWAYS that way, pretty much a GIVEN, that mile and points DEVALUE over time... If there is anything guaranteed in the loyalty program, Tis is the guarantee that points / miles become less valuable over time. Been like this for over a decade or more, and much more rapidly and noticeable in the past 5 years.
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 11:12 am
  #38  
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Originally Posted by Happy
Huh?

It is ALWAYS that way, pretty much a GIVEN, that mile and points DEVALUE over time... If there is anything guaranteed in the loyalty program, Tis is the guarantee that points / miles become less valuable over time. Been like this for over a decade or more, and much more rapidly and noticeable in the past 5 years.
Well, the exception is the future cat 8 properties which are now available at cat 7 pricing. I've managed to snag a few of those!
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 11:33 am
  #39  
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Originally Posted by margarita girl
Well, the exception is the future cat 8 properties which are now available at cat 7 pricing. I've managed to snag a few of those!
That is not the norm nor the trend. We are talking about the trend.

The Cat 7 pricing is an aberration - a very rare positive thing coming out from Marriott's poor IT!

I probably would also snatch a couple of them though there are only a few I am interested in, namely the Venice properties and may be Al Maha - just for the experiences.
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 12:30 pm
  #40  
 
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Yeah as others have all said this really 100% comes down to your personal travel habits and preferences (and budget). And ability to replenish spent points.

Personally I'd never spend 35k for a $160 room but I travel often enough to where waiting for a better redemption is fairly easy. If you don't then they are your points you do you.

As others have said I'd take a look at the 60k future cat 8s right now and plan a trip around one of those if you can? If you are set on Athens you just aren't going to get a great redemption most likely.

I actually have a Greece trip coming up... I'm paying cash for the Athens hotel and snagged a future cat 8 in Santorini for the bulk of the trip.


Ultimately if you care about good redemptions you need to have a bit of flexibility as to when/where you go. I will plan trips around good deals all day long most of the time or shift the time frame around a little to fit what's available.
However, If you are going to insist on going exactly where you want exactly when you want then expect to not find great redemptions often. But you get to go where and when you want...you decide what's more important.
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 12:48 pm
  #41  
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Originally Posted by Happy

I probably would also snatch a couple of them though there are only a few I am interested in, namely the Venice properties and may be Al Maha - just for the experiences.
Funny. I did Venice in Sept and will do Al Maha in March.

There's a few more I am looking at that I will grab before the prices go up.
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 1:04 pm
  #42  
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Originally Posted by GUWonder
$388+/night for that hotel next week over Christmas? Sounds way overpriced for what is one of the cheapest weeks of the year for Paris hotels. At times like this, Hotwire and Priceline type opaque bookings are major money savers for Paris. Its why I wouldnt use anything close to $388+/night at that hotel as my point of reference on the value being gotten out of Marriott points.

Even with my Platinum whatever status with Marriott, for this hotel at that time, my reference point would be closer to $150-180/night at highest and then it comes across as another questionable value redemption again. But then again this is going to get worse for customers after Marriott insitutes its peak/off-peak point pricing game.
We spent last Christmas/New Year's in Paris. 4 of us, a 2-bedroom apartment right near Forum des Halles. It was something like $1100 for a week. It was through Booking.com...which has a somewhat higher standard (that the unit actually exists and will honor a booking) than the Airbnb nonsense.
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 1:25 pm
  #43  
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Originally Posted by margarita girl
Funny. I did Venice in Sept and will do Al Maha in March.

There's a few more I am looking at that I will grab before the prices go up.
You know what Al Maha attracts me? it is not the setting, but the dinners look amazing and the services reportedly excellent. lol.

March is at the edge of the "cool" period. We were in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in mid to late Jan last year and the weather was still very hot under the sun, like in the 30's degree hot. If we return to Middle East again, it would be in Dec/Jan time frame. Since Al Maha is way outside of Dubai, if we go it would be a good excuse to get a rental car and do bit of self-drive sightseeing in neighboring areas. May even go all the way to Oman if my husband accepts that idea!

It is a bit more difficult this time due to the ongoing political spats between Qatar and UAE, could not go direct on QR but have to go thru Kuwait, Oman or Jordan. I am inclined to have a stopover at DOH (for the excellent Islamic museum) then go to AMM on RJ, and to DXB on RJ. Logistics are getting complicated.

We have given up on Venice the place long ago with the overcrowded situation. Our last visit was 2 years ago and it was so unpleasant on the main island that we spent most our time on Giudecca island? where the Hilton is. The water buses were so full that if you did not get on from the end station, you literally had to stand for most of the way. Just mere 5 years ago you could get on from almost any stop and still were able to find a seat...
That said, we may return for 2 nights if I could make the mini-RTW on Aeroplan happened in late Spring, though not hopeful.
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 1:31 pm
  #44  
 
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Originally Posted by theplayer
It's not even that....No business travel, but we acquire points every year with sign up bonus and take a 2 week vacation in the winter. We've gone to Europe last 4 years. When should we use the points if not for our vacation? I don't look at it like ..the room is only $175-200 in the off season so it's not a good deal, but same room in peak season is $500, so great deal. We are staying for free at a time when we are able to travel.
This is a reasonable use of points. Your concern isn't "Can I maximize my points?", but is, as you noted, simply a way to not pay cash for your vacation. Everyone's strategy is different and all are valid.
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Old Dec 20, 2018, 1:41 pm
  #45  
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Originally Posted by iowa guy
I had thought that 37,500 points would get more than a $160 room or vice versa, $160 wouldn't require 37,500 points.
Several bloggers peg Marriott points to a value of nearly 1cent. (TPG for example says 0.9 cents per point)
Marriott will sell you up to 50,000 at a value of just over 2 cents each? So that is their value.

I believe a more realistic metric is about 04 to 0.6 cents. It's very common to see 35,000 point hotels for about $160.

There is a handful of examples (and I mean only a handful out of the 6500 properties) where you can get 2 or more cents value.
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