Marriott points worth so little
Jan 2, 2019, 11:14 am
#106
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Iowa
Posts: 725
You are right, I need to branch out to other hotel programs that have properties internationally. At this time, I only have Marriott, IHG, Wyndham, Choice, and Hilton. I had never even thought about Hyatt. Is their present 60k bonus (spend $6k in 6 months) a deal they frequently offer?
Jan 2, 2019, 11:17 am
#107
Join Date: Jul 2018
Location: SFO
Posts: 487
You are right, I need to branch out to other hotel programs that have properties internationally. At this time, I only have Marriott, IHG, Wyndham, Choice, and Hilton. I had never even thought about Hyatt. Is their present 60k bonus (spend $6k in 6 months) a deal they frequently offer?
Jan 4, 2019, 7:59 am
#108
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,565
60k Hyatt is a pretty nice sign-up bonus. I've had good luck redeeming HY at around 2 cents per point without getting too exotic with the awards - just midcategory hotels during high-cost periods. Elites who know how to maximum the program probably do better.
Jan 4, 2019, 12:04 pm
#109
Join Date: Jun 2015
Location: DAY
Programs: Rapid Rewards, Skymiles, Hilton HHonors, SPG/Marriott Rewards
Posts: 4,944
I use my Hyatt points for short, expensive reservations. Counting the impact of taxes and resort fees, I'm usually in the 2 cent range.
Did 3 nights at the Hyatt Centric Fisherman's Wharf in SF during peak fall season. Legit 2+ cpp, even comparing to paid rates at HIX and similar. *Every* hotel down to the Days Inn was $300+ per night, and the Hyatt, as it turns out, is a really nice hotel.
I'm still cautiously holding to about 1 cent as my Marriott valuation. I do that math based on the new Travel Packages pushing the miles to AS, where I still give them a conservative 1.5 cpm.
I'm losing faith in Hilton being worth much more than 0.6 cpp. Did a nice redemption at 1 cpp for a five-nighter in DC earlier this year, thanks to a points cap being in place during a max-peak travel week. But if the caps disappear, than HH is locked at a pretty boring, low rate. In the future, my stays with Hilton may be driven by the promotion at the time. In 2018 I've been earning 50+ points per dollar on most stays, thanks to Aspire + status bonus + promotions. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get one more stay in at 95k per night in the Maldives or something. Eventually that program will be 100% Southwest-esque.
Did 3 nights at the Hyatt Centric Fisherman's Wharf in SF during peak fall season. Legit 2+ cpp, even comparing to paid rates at HIX and similar. *Every* hotel down to the Days Inn was $300+ per night, and the Hyatt, as it turns out, is a really nice hotel.
I'm still cautiously holding to about 1 cent as my Marriott valuation. I do that math based on the new Travel Packages pushing the miles to AS, where I still give them a conservative 1.5 cpm.
I'm losing faith in Hilton being worth much more than 0.6 cpp. Did a nice redemption at 1 cpp for a five-nighter in DC earlier this year, thanks to a points cap being in place during a max-peak travel week. But if the caps disappear, than HH is locked at a pretty boring, low rate. In the future, my stays with Hilton may be driven by the promotion at the time. In 2018 I've been earning 50+ points per dollar on most stays, thanks to Aspire + status bonus + promotions. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get one more stay in at 95k per night in the Maldives or something. Eventually that program will be 100% Southwest-esque.
Jan 4, 2019, 7:50 pm
#110
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,755
You are right, I need to branch out to other hotel programs that have properties internationally. At this time, I only have Marriott, IHG, Wyndham, Choice, and Hilton. I had never even thought about Hyatt. Is their present 60k bonus (spend $6k in 6 months) a deal they frequently offer?
The Hyatt card is subj to 5/24. If you can get the Hyatt card you would be better off to get a Chase Ink Preferred - 80K/$5K sign up bonus and you can self-refer yourself to earn 20K if you have the Ink Plus, or someone refer you then s/he earns the 20K, Ink Cash - 50K/$3K sign up bonus - while itself cannot transfer, its pts can be combined with the fee-based Ink card or even the personal card, then you can transfer. Ink Unlimited - 50K/$3K like the Ink Cash.
Ever since Hyatt card did away the FN sign up bonus, one would be better off to use Ultimate Reward transfer route.
Jan 5, 2019, 11:27 pm
#111
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, MM, NR; HH Diamond, Bonvoy LT Gold, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Diamond, others
Posts: 12,159
By comparison, Hilton usually comes in around 0.5 cents/point though their promotions often make it easier to obtain Hilton points but their dynamic categories linking room cost to redemption cost means it is hard to get beyond that 0.5 cents value unless you are booking the aspirational hotels where you hit the maxed out category value but have a cash value that by comparison is significantly higher (e.g., Conrad Bora Bora) or are able to snag a base level maxed out redemption during a special event (e.g., Super Bowl, NYE, etc.) where the cash price is sky high
Jan 6, 2019, 8:21 am
#112
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Seattle WA
Programs: DL DM, Marriott Titanium, AA PLT for Life
Posts: 398
And we're same: A little Hilton will enter the mix as the SPG card went from near automatic to near worthless.
Jan 6, 2019, 1:46 pm
#114
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,755
It is essentially a pseudo revenue based just like Hilton, for a majority of Marriott family properties. There are still "value" to be found, but it is much harder than in the past.
As an example I just notice the Spring Hill Kallispell, MT (30 min drive to Glacier NP West Entrance) that we stayed in the Fall of 2017 at 10K a night, is now a 25K a night property, in just 15 months - at 10K when the cash rate was around $190, it was a great value, at 25K when the cash rate is $260, it is still slightly better than the prevalent 0.007 value but no longer a great one.
Oh yeah, that property has gone thru some category creep in that 15 months, went from 10 to 15, shortly after we booked, but definitely after the usual annual changes on the chart. I do not know when it eventually becomes 25K but the increase in such a short period is quite astonishing.
Jan 6, 2019, 2:57 pm
#115
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: New York
Programs: MB-LTT , HH-Diam., HGP-Expl.
Posts: 778
Yup. SPG had rounds of such sales the 6 or so months led to Aug 2018 the final merger. Then SPG devalued by way of the new earning rate.
It is essentially a pseudo revenue based just like Hilton, for a majority of Marriott family properties. There are still "value" to be found, but it is much harder than in the past.
As an example I just notice the Spring Hill Kallispell, MT (30 min drive to Glacier NP West Entrance) that we stayed in the Fall of 2017 at 10K a night, is now a 25K a night property, in just 15 months - at 10K when the cash rate was around $190, it was a great value, at 25K when the cash rate is $260, it is still slightly better than the prevalent 0.007 value but no longer a great one.
Oh yeah, that property has gone thru some category creep in that 15 months, went from 10 to 15, shortly after we booked, but definitely after the usual annual changes on the chart. I do not know when it eventually becomes 25K but the increase in such a short period is quite astonishing.
It is essentially a pseudo revenue based just like Hilton, for a majority of Marriott family properties. There are still "value" to be found, but it is much harder than in the past.
As an example I just notice the Spring Hill Kallispell, MT (30 min drive to Glacier NP West Entrance) that we stayed in the Fall of 2017 at 10K a night, is now a 25K a night property, in just 15 months - at 10K when the cash rate was around $190, it was a great value, at 25K when the cash rate is $260, it is still slightly better than the prevalent 0.007 value but no longer a great one.
Oh yeah, that property has gone thru some category creep in that 15 months, went from 10 to 15, shortly after we booked, but definitely after the usual annual changes on the chart. I do not know when it eventually becomes 25K but the increase in such a short period is quite astonishing.
Jan 7, 2019, 11:42 am
#116
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: Manhattan NV
Programs: Hilton LTD, Hyatt Glob, Marriott LTTE, AA LTP, Avis PC, National EE, Seabourn DE
Posts: 3,030
Livermore CA Courtyard....category 2. Average weekday rate over $200/night. It's where I use my points for five night stays. Bonus.....it is a nice property. A rarity among CYs visited the past six months.
Jan 31, 2019, 12:49 pm
#117
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: DFW
Programs: AA (Lifetime Gold, 1MM),UA(Premier Silver), Hilton(Diamond), Marriott (LTT), Hertz (PC)
Posts: 230
I stayed and gifted 5 nights at Courtyard San Diego Liberty Station in 2008-2009 when it was just opened.
It was a cat 3 at 15000/night or 12000/night with 5th night free.
Now the rate is 35000 points/night while the rack rate is 169 or 190 including taxes. Not a very good redemption value to me...
Still, depending on time of the year and location around the world, there are still hidden gems to be found.....
The Hilton program has the same problem and less properties. Hyatt has even fewer properties.
However I found Hilton has been more generous in giving points than Marriott in the last 5 years at least.
Feb 4, 2019, 8:14 pm
#118
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Nashville
Programs: DL DM 3 MM AA PLAT HH Lifetime Diamond Marriott Plat AMB lifetime titanium Hertz PC
Posts: 6,187
Yes Marriott Points are worth so little since, the hotels black out dates anytime their is a high demand or I think even if they hit a certain price point. Overall I find it hard to use Marriott points, I spend 200 nights a year in a hotel. I expect them to be similar to cash, Hilton has no blackout dates, yes they play some games with room types to get around it, but with Marriott I can only use my points on rooms that are pretty cheap, since no one is staying their then.
Feb 4, 2019, 9:03 pm
#119
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1MM, Marriott LTP, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Explorist, Hertz PC
Posts: 1,003
Not bad for a property renovated in 2017.
I stayed and gifted 5 nights at Courtyard San Diego Liberty Station in 2008-2009 when it was just opened.
It was a cat 3 at 15000/night or 12000/night with 5th night free.
Now the rate is 35000 points/night while the rack rate is 169 or 190 including taxes. Not a very good redemption value to me...
Still, depending on time of the year and location around the world, there are still hidden gems to be found.....
The Hilton program has the same problem and less properties. Hyatt has even fewer properties.
However I found Hilton has been more generous in giving points than Marriott in the last 5 years at least.
I stayed and gifted 5 nights at Courtyard San Diego Liberty Station in 2008-2009 when it was just opened.
It was a cat 3 at 15000/night or 12000/night with 5th night free.
Now the rate is 35000 points/night while the rack rate is 169 or 190 including taxes. Not a very good redemption value to me...
Still, depending on time of the year and location around the world, there are still hidden gems to be found.....
The Hilton program has the same problem and less properties. Hyatt has even fewer properties.
However I found Hilton has been more generous in giving points than Marriott in the last 5 years at least.
Feb 4, 2019, 10:08 pm
#120
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: MSP
Programs: DL PM, MM, NR; HH Diamond, Bonvoy LT Gold, Hyatt Explorist, IHG Diamond, others
Posts: 12,159
I just booked a Westin, at around 1.9 cents/point (not counting the foregone points for not paying cash). That's about what Points Guy says they're worth, too.