Happy

Also Booking.com customer service does exist. I have had situations that require their helps and they always come thru, incl providing some needed docs to file trip interruption / cancellation claims with Chase card benefits.

pinniped

I still find around 1 cent reasonable post-devaluation.

The main difference (IMHO) is that previously, the Travel Packages could easily yield 1.3 cents or more (and that's just valuing miles at their generally-accepted/conservative value). You received a big boost in value by redeeming a TP instead of a 5-night stay. Now, I don't see a big value advantage in the TPs. It's about on-par with a 5-nighter.

So, points are worth a little less...but I guess that since I'm earning 23.5 pts/$ now instead of 17.5 pre-August-1, I guess it's about a wash. I tend to prefer 5-nighters over 7-nighters, so there's that.

JBord

Right, there is no actual value at the individual member level. There are ways to get more for your "money" (points) but ultimately the value lies with the individual. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

For all the discussion on here about the "value" -- I don't know the answer, but I assume Marriott has to list outstanding points as a liability on their balance sheet, which would assign a monetary value to them.

yjc281

I found the point prices have gone up a lot in Europe in general while in Asia(China, Vietnam, Taiwan...etc.) many hotels have significantly reduced rates.
I suspect European locations are more popular which likely led to the increased point rates. I had a 5 night redemption at Rome Marriott Grand Flora for 160k in 2014, which was a very good value given the cash rate was at least $500 USD a night. It's now 200k for 5 nights, more expensive but still cheaper than cash rates.
In 2017 I was planning for a family trip to visit Virginia and wanted to use my Hilton and Marriott points but the point costs were quite high.
Then I looked around and found Hilton Tokyo Odaiba had a point rate of 162000 points for 6 nights and decided to go to Tokyo instead. (that's like $135/night in the summer.)
Now if I go there at the same time in 2019 it would cost me 360000 Hilton points for 6 nights.
I think if you are flexible regarding travel destinations and dates you can still find good values.... But I am in the same boat as you as I promised my kids I would take them to Greece in the summer, too.
So, we just have to accept the unfavorable redemption rates or pay cash.

Sjondorn

Typically more upscale places have better point rates vs cash. rate.

FlyerTalker70

This is very much a case of YMMV. There are times where I'm left scratching my head wondering, "How could SPMarriott price this hotel so low?," and other times where I ask just the opposite.

Some recent examples:

• AC Hotel New York Time Square - Just 35,000 points (category 5 hotel meaning I can use my AE Free Night Cert) when the rack rate was $1,000 on NYE?!
• Sheraton on the Falls (Niagara Falls, Ontario) - 40,000 points (category 6 hotel) when the rack rate is hovers around $100 CAD
• Various hotels in the GTHA,Ontario - 5,000-10,000 points in spite of these hotels often costing well over $150/night
• Renaissance Mirage Cairo & Le Meridien Cairo Airport - 10,000 points per night (category 2)

It seems to me that SPMarriotts selection of what's worthy of extra points vs not is arbitrary - certainly not entirely based on the average rack rate alone.

Meanwhile a week ago I was staying at the Hilton Bali for 5,000 Hilton points per night (so 20,000 points for a 5 night stay) which included free CO breakfast as I'm (still) a Gold elite.

Morale of the story : rack up points across the various hotel chains - you never know where you'll be travelling to next for leisure, and different chains offer better values in some regions than others.

Safe Travels,

James

yjc281

So the suggestion is not to be loyal to one chain? It can be tricky as some properties require a large amount of points per night...
One way I can think of is to convert some AMEX MR points to supplement.....or keep a brand-specific credit card for each chain....
Long time back in 2007 I did exactly what you said and split my nights between Marriott, Hilton, and SPG to max out the status. That was tiresome and I gave up in 2008.
Ironically, I status matched to SPG Platinum using my Marriott stay in 2007...which eventually added a few nights and years back to my MR account in 2018.

robertw477

I went to Venice 2 yrs ago. Its terrible. Not worth the time or effort. I went in off season for sure. If there is such a thing. Way overcrowded, over priced and overrated. SPG gave me a great upgrade without certs for being Plat so that was a plus. I wish I went 20 yrs ago. It would have been a little better.

Happy

Our first visit was in Sept of 2008. We had a TATL cruise from Venice to Ft. Lauderdale. The 3 days early arrival before the sailing we stayed at Lido - where you can take either No.1 or No.2 water bus - the dock was a floating dock and tickets are hand-inspected upon boarding. Now the docks are all permanent docks with turnstiles...

One of the crowding issue is many cruise ships have an overnight at Venice, either at the beginning or the ending of the sailing. During that overnight, there are many passengers of the previous sailing and all the passengers of the current sailing - you cannot imagine at night how crowded it could be at St. Mark's Square and the surrounding area. We went out after having dinner on the ship as our 72 hours ferry passes were still valid. We could not get pass the little bridge near the water bus stop heading to St. Mark's Square direction. All we saw ahead of us were people's heads ... we turned around and took the next ferry back to the train station where one can either walk or take a bus to the cruise ship pier.

Think about that, each ship has 3000+ passengers, and there are often a few ships at port... On the "turnaround" day, there are additional passengers from the previous sailing... It really makes things much worse. During our 3 days pre-cruise stay, it was a lot less crowd. If we go again in 2019 I would check the port schedule and try to avoid days when there are ships in town. (For that matter, St. Pertersburg also has same problem but at least St. Petersburg is a much bigger metropolitan though Hermitage would be near impossible too.)

Happy

I understand with kids you may have to travel only during school holidays. But Greece in Summer may not make for a good vacation due to the weather is very very hot, even on the isles. The cost is very high - on everything from lodging to dining. Plus it also gets very crowded esp on the popular isles. Add the cruise crowds as well.
If you can go before June or no later than Mid June, you would have a much better vacation.

SPN Lifer

For the Residence Inn BFL, I have used 12,500 points when the rate was $141 or $171, but paid cash when it was $94.

BFL makes a nice stop when driving between SFO and SAN or LAS.

yjc281

Thanks a lot for the advice. I'm thinking about June 1 to 15 with first 5 days in Italy and then fly from Rome to Crete.
Now I'm thinking if I should go to Greece first. However, it is easier to fly to Rome since I can get a non-stop...but not Athens and Crete takes 2 stops.

jjmoore

This is spot on.

There is a lot of variability in the value of points when comparing cash price vs. redemption price. The general trend is that the best value in points redemption is for very expensive properties (RC / JW) ... but it is nice to get a FI for 10K/night when the going price is $150 or so... when you can redeem at a value of $0.02/point, you are doing exceptionally well, and I am generally happy redeeming at $0.015/point. As a platinum, you are paying approximately $0.067/point just to put things into perspective. This is based on earning 15 points per $ spent on base room rate.

FlyerTalker70

If you're thinking of flying to Greece, you may want to look into signing up for and crediting your Greek flights to A3. You can get *Gold with just 4 flights on A3/Olympic + 24,000 miles across * partners.

-James

daloosh

This makes sense, if you can swing it. Regular travelers usually try to focus on one chain, probably Hilton or Marriott, but if you can do both you cover a lot more cities, especially smaller markets where you might not find both. Those road warriors that can add Hyatt (or IHG) as a third get even better coverage. Of course, now with hotels and airlines monetizing their credit card links, so many of us have built in elite status that way, diluting the value of those points and reducing upgrades. But what are we going do to? I guess keep traveling...