Yes, it was part of the changes in January 2009. They got rid of the older sliding scale reward chart, converted everything to a per-night basis, and added the 5th night free (upping the redemption costs in the process).

Sidebar: unless they have renovated/upgraded that old Wailea Outrigger hotel on a massive scale, there's no way that place is worth $420 a night unless you are talking about a suite.

I paid $300/nt. for a room in the oceanfront wing at the old Renaissance Wailea (rate included two wonderful breakfasts each day). Sadly, that property is no more and the next-door Outrigger became a Marriott. I know there was always a plan to renovate...just not sure if they really did it to the extent that would command four Benjamins a night...

0.008cents per point isn't great but if that's where you want to go, then why not?

One way to improve the overall value is to book it at a paid rate and get $1000 giftcard for 135,000 points. When you spend it you will get 15,000 points back (as a Plat) making a net cost of 120,000 points or $0.008 per point. The major benefits here though are the stay and spend qualifies for megabonus, adding maybe 2000 points per night, thereby decreasing the points cost by 9% (or to put it another way upping the value to $0.009 per point) AND you'll get the nights credit for the stay. You can use any remaining balance against other charges, upgrades or a stay at another Marriott later.

Personally, I usually manage about 1 eurocent+ per point (1.5 to 3 cents), but that's easy living in the UK and jumping over to the continent where the appreciation of the euro against the £ and $ has made such redemptions especially high value. Pity that when I get there everything now costs 30% more :rolleyes:

What is the point value of Marriott Rewards
 

I'm considering using some of my points for an award stay.

I hope to get the best of my points and would rather pay for a hotel night than sacrifice my points if it turns out to be a good rate.

What would be the value of 20000 MR points in USD?

Thanks!

+/-$200.00.

No changes due to program change Jan2009
 

Tx for the fast reply!

Still worth about 1pct would mean no devaluation due to the changes made to the program in jan2009.

That would be great! I was afraid points would have been worth less afterwards.

I think you will be hard pressed to find a Category 4 hotel that is $200 a night. I would put the value closer to $100-125.

Outside of a very few redemption locations (generally Europe or NYC) or travel packages IF you value the miles on business class flights I wouldn't value a marriott point at more than $0.005.

You can buy a $1000 Marriott gift card for 190,000 points. This comes out to .005 a point and I think of that as a very poor spend for Marriott points.

Value packages, NYC, Europe, the Caribbean, San Francisco, San Diego, San Antonio, Chicago, Toronto, Vancouver, etc., etc., are what makes the points valuable to me.

Personally, I think .01 a point is a good starting point for the value of these points, but I always try for more value from them.

Just my opinion.

Actually, any Marriott elite member can order a $1K Marriott Cheque for only 135K points.

This is really very subjective and depends on numerous factors including ones travel patterns, expectations with regard to accommodations, single, couple or family, frequented destinations, what price point you can afford, etc.

For me, single, travel a lot internationally, prefer very nice full service hotels, and while I would like to pay under $200/night for these, sometimes I am paying in the 200s and 300s (USD). So I value points a bit higher than most and generally use them for the hotels that are outside my price range. I usually get at least 1.5¢/point and sometimes as high as 4¢/point. Paris, Moscow, or Hong Kong (JW) which regularly range in the 400s and up to $1000/night I would only stay in these hotels using points, unless it was perhaps for only 1 night. Now travel is my passion, and I don't frequent the family type destinations like Orlando, etc. I also avoid major school holiday periods when leisure family travel is in full swing. In many cases I can pick and choose my travel dates based on seasonal weather, rates (stay in London Thursday-Sunday for weekend rates), and avoid peak travel periods.

For others, they may have no desire travel internationally, or visit NYC, where rates are much higher and the rate of return on using points is also better. Or perhaps they prefer SHS or RI for the added room for their families. Others may like CY for the free WiFi, etc. The point is one size does not fit all.

Quite a few MR members here on FT, are fortunate enough to earn many of their points from business travel and are then able to use points for most, if not all, of their leisure stays.

On the flip side, some of us (like me, who I think are a minority here on FT) do mainly leisure stays and have to pick and choose which stays to use points in order to minimize our cash outlay and maximize the return on our points usage.

My suggestion would be to pick a few, half dozen if possible, destinations you want to visit over the coming years and compare the cost for of your visit at the appropriate time of year, and then calculate what the value of using points would be. For each of these properties divide the total cost of your stay by the number of points required for the same stay; this will give you your point usage rate of return. My advice would be to save the points for places you want to go that have the best return. This will also help you determine what the best value for points are based on the multitude of factors including your single/couple/family status, preferred destinations, activities, hotel types, season, etc.

Exton stated Marriott points were worth .005 a point, thus my example of what .005 would purchase.

Your example shows that points are worth more than .005 as well. In your example, they are worth .0074, which is almost 50% more than what one poster is suggesting. While the Marriott Cheques are nice, I still think you can get more value for your points.

My point is that the points, in general, are worth somewhere around .01 a point.

I don't disagree at all. I just wanted to make sure you knew that elites get an even better offer.

As to the OP's original question, I tend to agree with aaupgrade. It all depends. Personally, I don't really worry about "point values". What I worry about is if I can pay for the hotel, I pay for it. If I can't I use points. (Normally that translates into using points whenever those are available. :eek: )

ANC Fairfield Inn is $199 for tonight.

For the traveler to Alaska they might get a good value with 20k points...or they could try and priceline a comparable hotel for $100 or less.

To get good value for points you need to redeem a lot more than 20k and that is what I was replying to. My 7 nights at grand flora, 5 nights at capri, and 6 nights in Paris all valued out at around $0.04/point...but were redeemed in bunches of 100k+.

It is just like FF miles. Sure you get good $/pt redeeming for business class....but you will rarely get that same value if you are only redeeming a small number of miles/points at a time.

Assuming the infrequent traveler has no status to get lounge access or any special treatment then the redemption value is even lower compared to lower cost travel sources. IMHO less frequent travelers are better served by priceline than by the rewards point game.

Ok -$1,000 Marriott Cheques can be obtained with 135,00 MR points. Is it true that the MR Cheques are available in $100 increments (nothing smaller), and that the entire cheque value must be spent at the property in order to maximize the cheque value? example: If a total bill for a stay at a Marriott property is $457, and one submits (5) $100 cheques, no change is given in return. The ideal situation, then, is to pay $400 with Marriott Cheques, and the $57 in cash or credit card ... right?

IF one uses the Marriott gift Card (purchased with 195,000 points) the amount charged can be the exact amount of the stay. Is this correct as well?