What's The Value Of A Marriott Rewards Point?
 

I was offered the lousy 6 nights/5000 point bonus in the recent Megabonus promotion.

But right now it looks like I'll only accrue 5 nights before the end of March.

I can get a weekend room at Fairfield Inn down the road for $49 + tax. So figure I can earn (with the bonus) 5490 points for about $55.

Is it worth it?

That is about 1 cent/point. This is beyond my typical range of .6-.8 cent/point valuation for Marriott points.

I probably/definitely would not- no elite status issue involved! You can get the "not so mega bonus" 5k MR points for free with no stays by getting a Marriott VISA- fee free for first year ($30 thereafter).

If interested, let me know and I can/will refer you and we'll both get some free MR points!

I don't think Fairfield stays count.

EMD: Fairfield counts.

Doc: No interest in the CC.

MileKing: How did you arrive at the .6-.8 cent figure?

Rule of thumb I've heard is that hotel points are worth a penny, airline miles are worth two pennies.

This may be generous, but I use that when I consider redeeming an award; in other words, if the points I spend * 1 cent >= the award's cash value I'll go for it.

So your situation is close enough I'd say its a judgement call. Good luck.

The value depends on what you use the points for. I think that services like Priceline provide a closer estimate to what the value of the points are and I would concur with the assessment of MileKing.

Also - you are considering paying for one night at Fairfield Inn but do not get enough points for one free night at Fairfiled Inn which is 7000 points (though you can get 7 nights for 30,000 points).

The value of hotel points ( as of airline miles as well) also depends on how many you are spending. For instance, for 500,000 Marriott points you can get a cruise for two to Alaska, a week at the St. Thomas resort, and a week at the Caro Marriott.... among other possibilities. I think you always get more value by spending a larger number of points. Using 20,000 points for a weekend night, which would sell for $100, produces far less value per point.

value of Marriott points
 

Looks like I am going to fall 3 nights short of my Megabonus. I'll hit the 35K for 20 nights but will miss the 15K that is given for 25 nights. Is it worth spending $300 or so for the 3 nights to hit the extra 15k? I am guessing not but thought I would leave it to the experts :D

Put me in the camp that it is not worth $300 for 15K bonus points.

Same here.... not worth it.

I'm sure you could do better than 300$ for 3 nights... more like 69$/nt in a FFI...

HTSC

Recall that you would get points for the $300 in spend, too.

It is likely too early to guage whether you will need the three nights to complete the 75 required to retain Platinum, but that may be an ancillary consideration . . .

Were it me, I would not do it.

Try ODZ
 

There are some really great rates available with the United Fly Away sale, which still seems to be working. I was going to be at 23 nights, so booked two nights at a TownePlace at $51.35/nt to get up to 25 and make those last 15,000 points.

I do not believe that it's at all worth your while for $300, but if you could find a better rate it might be worth it. I plan on paying for the $51.35/nt rate with the proceeds from the 10% giftcard bonus promotion, so that makes it even better.

Bellow are a few threads where Marriott point valuations are disussed:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...rd-points.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...tt-points.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...onversion.html

Note that most of the posts in these threads are before Marriott's big point devaluation earlier this year, so the actual valuations may have changed a bit. But you can see how different people come up with their valuations. From there, you can pick and choose what fits you the best.

Personally, I'm not sure there is a hard and fast "answer" to your question. For quite a few people, 15K Marriott points isn't worth a $300 cash outlay. But what if you need that 15K get just enough points for that 25th Anniversary trip/Honeymoon/etc? And if you have no other ways to get those last few points, then this may be your best bet and can save you many thousands of dollars over paying cash for your trip.

Another situation might be that you have been wanting to take your SO on nice little romantic weekend trip to Niagra Falls? If so, then you can solve two problems with one trip and the $300 may be money well spent.

Of course if you are only going to check-in to a local FFI, leave and comeback to checkout 3 days later just so you have the points. Maybe it isn't worth it.

The moral of the story is that the answer "depends" on you, your situation and your desires.