Use Points or Pay?
 

Trying to book one-week stay in London Marriott County Hall. The rate is 195GBP per night plus 20% fee. Is it more worthwhile using 240,000 points for the 7-night stay or pay? What is normal rationale on this?

Thank you.

What's the 20% fee?

195GBP is a great rate for that hotel. If you think you can use the points on a more costly per night hotel in the near future, I would save the points. Otherwise, if you burn the 240,000, I'd say you're close to the average value per point that most people look for when trying to make the same decision as you.

I would use your points for a five night stay during the week and pay for the weekend which is usually at a lower rate.

Estimated government taxes and fees.

It looks like this is standard in all London hotels.

The weekend rate is the same 195 GBP.

yup. using 5-night point stays plus 2 paid nights is usually best. some hotels have lower rates on weekends, some on weekdays (mostly resorts)

Just checked that weekend rate just rose to 295 GBP. The week-long rate Sunday check-in, Sunday check-out is still 195 GBP. I have never been to London, but I understand all the central London Marriotts are now Cat8 hotels. Just wonder if I should save the points for the 195GBP rate.

Thanks.

20 % is the VAT in the UK for all retail purchases. If you have the money, I would consider paying for the stay. 280-330 pounds + VAT would be the rate where I would definitely redeem points for the stay.

GBP195 * 1.2 * 1.6 USD/GBP * 7 = USD 2600+

That's in the grey area for me. A little under a penny per point all told...generally in the range that people look for in terms of a hotel award. I personally tend to do a little better on the middle-category awards.

Other considerations could include the need for the EQN or the points you'd earn on the paid stay, your cashflow vs. pointsflow, possession of giftcards or other discounts, where you are in terms of tracking towards a Travel Package, and whether you might need the points more on another trip where a Marriott property is more of a necessity than it is in London.

I only throw this last one in because I know London fairly well personally and therefore feel comfortable looking around in less-touristy neighborhoods and at local B&B/boutique type places. Contrast that to Asian or Middle Eastern cities that I don't know well and am more willing to pay a "Marriott premium".

All of that said, this is a very good hotel.

I think it's also depending on how many points OP has and that whether he has too many points in his account that he can't use elsewhere.

Personally I'll pay for the stay because a cat 6 hotel can easily cost GBP 195 per night. I have seen a now Cat 3 hotel charges the same too.

don't know how you're getting to Jolly-old, but I'd opt for the 360,000 point package which would give me 120k (or one of the other travel pkgs with less miles and naturally less points needed) miles and a week at CC

if you're gold/plat they'll give you lounge brekkie, but after second day I was bored with the lack of choices and ate out afterwards.........

If you don't have $2,600+ to spend on a hotel for a week or you want to use the $2,600 for food/drink/theatre/excursions instead, then it's a good use of points. If you do have the $$, then pay & you can accumulate more points.

Cheers.

That's a groundbreaking, deeply philosophical statement you just made :p

$400 AI per room night is the bottom end for using 35-40K points. There are resorts during high season where you can get better points/$$. Obviously it would be nice if OP could use 5 nights on points (get one free) and 2 nights on revenue. If the rates quoted are higher because of no seven day min. stay, maybe the hotel will adjust the rate in combination with the voucher.

About the travel packages, I used to take those (and last november was told they weren't available by one Platinum rep only to be told later by another one that they were!), but with the devaluations of FFP all over, it's doubtful I would want to use valuable Marriott points for YQ co-pay awards.

Sometimes Gift checks aren't a bad way to go to cover some of the room and incidentals, as one still gets the Elite night credit and points on those stays. (260,000 points is 2000 USD gift check, but 2000 USD also pays for rooms/services worth 30,000 points, so net cost is about 230,000 points).

Anyway, I never like to stick around 7 days (it's too long) in one place, and those 5 day awards were a really welcome change to the program.

It's a practical one ;)

There are times when I've had $$ to do paid stays on higher rates, & then there are times when I don't, so regardless of points per cent/$$, whatever you all do your calculations on, I've used points. Both worked for me at dif times/circumstances.

As long as we're on philosophy :p - each person has to do what works best for them, and it might or might not be what others would do.

But input from all sides is good, so OP can get info on suggestions, parameters, etc, before making a decision. That's the very best part of FT.

Cheers.

To wax philosophic I agree with Sharon's post in that it depends on one's circumstances.

To answer the OP's question directly and without further qualification, I only use points at a burn rate of 1.5¢/pt or higher. YCPPMV.

We stayed at County Hall last summer on points for 4 nights. Great location, very nice room....very good tea. We rushed to check out and get to the airport for our flight to Dublin. Later when I was home reviewing the bill, I realized we paid for a ~35 euro bottle of wine we never consumed. Put a slight damper on the memories but I would stay there again.

There are quite a few programs in Marriott's transfer list that aren't known for jamming their members with bogus YQ fees on awards.

It's sort of a weird twist: as airlines are keeping supply tight and fares high, I'm finding that FF miles are harder to use when I need them for a precise purpose but more valuable than ever when I have a general need and some flexibility.

For example, just today I redeemed 35k UA for an $800 R/T Central America trip in peak season. High fare but relatively short length where the EQM and the inability to upgrade aren't a huge concern. No YQ and only about $25 in government taxes. I had a window of a month to look for options and I found several to pick from.

Since I never get $0.02 per point on a straight hotel redemption, I still opt for the Travel Packages whenever I can.