BrightlyBob

I reckon mostly on redeeming MR points at the rate of at least 1 eurocent each...

My one exception to my valuation is when I'm booking 2 rooms. Then the second room doesn't earn night credits, and therefore that second room is better if its free, no point in paying for something you dont get, better to keep the money back for nights that do get the credits.

According to SmartShopper your total bill would be $638 including the tax. I don't deduct the unearned points since I believe thats a false premise, when you redeem, you dont earn points, 'cos you dont spend. Thats the idea of points.

At $638 (inc tax) the redemption rate tips at just over 1 UScent per point, but saves you paying for a room that doesn't give nights credit. You have 500,000 points so burning a few is a good idea. Most will, and have already agreed, that points represent "funny money" which can and do devalue, they're not a save for retirement type thing.

I'd use the points, its not a shoddy value, esp bearing in mind your points balance and the fact paying will not get you nights credit. I have in fact done a very similar redemption myself on a second room, albiet at about 1.5UScents per point.

Do however remember that the breakfast situation may alter the outcome, if you end up having to pay for breakfast the sum saved could be a lot less, 2 x $15 x 5nights = $150 extra cost, reducing your saving to less than $500 for 60k points. At that point the redemption becomes poor value, indeed you'll be better off redeeming for a $1000 cheque...

happymommy

Thanks for all the replies! Still on the fence, but leaning towards just using the points. I thought about not getting the second room, but the last 3 nights are two paying at $79 (one is bogo) and the last one is the visa cert. So I only pay $79 total for the last room (and get a $25 visa gift card). We need to use up the visa free night, and it's better to do so while also earning a night credit.

Just thinking in a year or so, a nice RC stay for free will be fun! We haven't taken the kids to NYC, which is only a 3 hour drive from us, so the RC Cetral Park would be fun. We aren't saving the points for too long - I like to go on at least 3 trips a year

Smart Shopper

We should agree to disagree.

OP asked for input either to pay w/ cash or w/points. If she pays w/cash she will earns points, therefore this is equation I use:

- 60.000 points = - $ 634.84 + 8.250 points*
- 68.250 points = - $ 634,84
1 point = $ 0,0093


* $ 110 x 5 nights x 15 MR points = 8.250 MR points.
Please mind: I did not include up to 5 MR points/$ for paying $ 634.84 w/MR CC (= 3.174 MR points) and pay no attention to other benefits of MR CC such as one elite night for every $ 3.000 spent. If she is able to materialize this, worth of one MR point comes down to $ 0,0089.

davevt98

I would hold off and save them for something better. Not the greatest use of points and you can have a much better vacation at some of the higher end properties.

judolphin

IMO, no, save for a travel package. You easily get > $0.02/point that way.

hhoope01

Since you are paying for the Presidential suite, have you asked about the possibility of getting a rollaway bed? This might be able to help alleviate the beds issue.

happymommy

Actually, I am now seriously considering that option!

Wow - 50,000 points is the diff between 3 and 5 nights at a high end Ritz - that is worth a ton. The Central Park RC is about $800 a night or so I think.

Thanks all of you for your advice!

SkiAdcock

The above 2 paragraphs are basically my take on things as well.

In all my years of flying & hotel staying I've never done the $ per point thing, and that includes since I've joined FT.

There have been times when I've redeemed air/hotel points for pricey flights/hotel stays & so a good use of points. There have been times when my checkbook has not been that flush in terms of $$, but has been in terms of points so even if a flight/hotel wasn't first class but was still more than I could pay for at that moment, then using the points was valid then as well.

Cheers.

happymommy

I thought about it, and well, it's not a lot of points, considering my husband still travels a lot. I only spend $79 to get 8 nights with the extra room, so it's a lot nicer than using a rollaway. Still spending $169 a night for the suite, so that's enough spending (considering it's to visit family and friends, a summer ritual for us). This makes it more of a vacation, to have the extra space. I guess I won't worry about the value too much - just enjoy the spoils of my husband's travels! He'll still get a lot of extra points this trip (10 nights total, plus the Fairfield Inn & Suites 5,000 points bonus, as we'll stay at those on the way to and from St. Louis).

These points are addictive!!!

burtonmadness

Example please?

BM

happymommy

Maybe since you get the airline miles. For 75,000 (twice) miles each, I've gotten first class from the East Coast to Hawaii, which would have been $2,000 (and for four tix, once on AA once DL). So I guess that would be a good use (very good?). These were last year and the year before. Damn that AA isn't with Marriott anymore! They were really easy to get better tickets to Hawaii for us, and only they and DL have the almost lie flat seats, which are really nice to Hawaii.

BrightlyBob

Yes, this isn't the first time I've seen similar mathematics.

The situation in redeeming is that you don't earn points because you don't spend cash. Admittedly you've foregone the opportunity to earn points but only because you didn't spend money. To deduct that from the value of redemptions is a fallacy of mathematics.

If I stay in a Marriott on points I don't receive 8,250 points, I've not lost those 8,250 points, I've never had those 8,250 points. Instead I've not spent $634 and as a consequence lost the "opportunity" of receiving 8,250 points for spending that money. But that's not the same as losing the points, hence they aren't a cost of redemption. The "cost" is the 60,000 points I've paid.

To put it another way, If I turn down 48 hours work eating cowpats for $634, I've not lost $634, I've never had that $634. Instead I've not spent a week dining on bovine effluence and as a consequence lost the "opportunity" of receiving $634 for my efforts but that's not the same thing as losing the cash. If I did the work (yuk), collected the cash, but was robbed on the way home, then I've lost $634

tvetter01

So, say that you are deciding whether to pay for a one night stay or use points. Also say that this given night, if paid, would represent your 30th night in some megabonus promotion, thus earning you 60,000 Marriott points via the promotion. You wouldn't factor in the 60,000 points in your decisionmaking process?

Similarly, if you were offered the opportunity to purchase a room for $500 and earn points or $499 and not earn points, would you opt to save the dollar because you can't lose points you never had? I doubt it.

If you want to argue that it's unnecessary to include the value of points that you would have earned (on a run of the mill stay) because it is a fixed rate earning structure, that makes some amount of sense. But to say that they're irrelevant because you haven't earned them yet is, in my opinion, a woefully incomplete way of evaluating the cost of using points.

BrightlyBob

Yes. If as a result of an award stay a megabonus is missed then that has to be added to the cost, as they're not available all the time, and the failure to take that stay as paid has a clear detriment missing out on extra points that are not always available when spending. Note in that case the "cost" would only be the points forfeited from the megabonus...

Likewise, when paying, if a low rate doesn't attract points that has to be factored in, but that's a different concept since it's not point redemption.

tvetter01

It's not really a different concept at all; both involve foregone points and whether or not you should factor them into your purchase decision. You stated that the points you would forgo should be ignored because you haven't earned them yet (and therefore they're not part of the cost of redemption). I disagree.
I'm not saying that you have to include the foregone Marriott points in the calculation - you don't. But it's not because you haven't earned them yet. It's because the earning ratio is fixed (excluding bonuses, etc.). You're always going to earn 15 points per dollar (for Plat), so factoring them in will always have the exact same effect on your calculation.

So, when spending airline miles, do you factor in the miles you would have earned? Say you have two tickets, both would cost $500 (or Pounds or Euro), and both would cost 25,000 miles. One of the tickets is a 1,000 mile round trip, and the other is a 10,000 mile round trip. Which one are you going to purchase with money and which one are you going to purchase with miles? Or does it not matter, because you shouldn't factor in what you would have earned?