Renaissance - Points or Cash
 

I booked award tickets on American for early December to Curaçao, and a Stay at the Renaissance Curaçao for six nights before it was recategorized as a Category 6, for a total of 125k points. AAA rate now is averaging only about $130 for these nights, for a total of about $985 with taxes and fees.

I still have the equivalent of about 250k Marriot points available thanks to the SPG merger.

Would you use the points to save $985 or pay cash?

The value of the points are around USD$1000, so essentially a wash there.

If paying in cash you would earn 10000 to 20000 points depending on your elite status and payment method. That incremental value of up to $160 in earned points would tip it to paying cash for me.

Finally the 250k MR points in your account can be used to buy a Travel Package which is an exceptional value.

I personally value 125k MR at about $1500, assuming the points are later used in a 120,000 mile Travel Package. Since you're already in range of a TP, I'd probably hold onto the points since you have access to such an attractive paid rate.

Continue to pay close attention to the program. It's possible that the 2018 Travel Packages could change if SPG and MR are integrated. That might mean you need to redeem a Marriott-style TP by some date in the not-so-distant future, perhaps completing the stay by end of '18, although for now it's all speculation.