Redemption Philosophy
Nov 17, 2017, 3:12 pm
#31
Moderator, Marriott Bonvoy & FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: McKinney, TX, USA
Programs: United Silver; AA Plat/2MM; Marriott LT Titanium; Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,727
Thanks for the specifics. I couldn't remember the exact dates, but I was able to get a CP before the final end date. So like pinniped, I have it through the end of 2018. And I have LT Plat status on AA through ordering a number of AA miles TP awards. ^
Nov 17, 2017, 7:15 pm
#32
Join Date: May 2011
Location: NYC
Programs: Marriott/SPG Ambassador, Delta Diamond, Hertz Platinum
Posts: 215
You might want to go check out the threads on this in the Southwest forum. Southwest specifically excluded Marriott points transfers with very little lead-time. There was a big enough outrage that Southwest backed off for 6 months I do believe to let folks get one last round of CPs via TPs and hotel points transfers. But that road has now been closed off and I doubt it will ever open back up again.
Nov 17, 2017, 7:39 pm
#33
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Mostly living in the basement
Programs: Newly minted free agent; MR LT(!)TE, HH SE, BA SECM, DL MM, UA PS, 2V Fanboi, CBP GE
Posts: 5,108
The same works at SPG, where $100 of gift card value costs 10000 points. This also would have accurately predicted the 3:1 conversion rate that was eventually announced.
Nov 17, 2017, 8:32 pm
#34
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,453
I wouldn't redeem Marriott points under about .9 cpp.
Beyond that, I look for either aspirational redemptions (e.g., suite at the Essex House for 85K) or a utilitarian stay where I don't feel like paying $200+ (e.g., transferred 30K points to SPG for an overnight at Sheraton Gateway LAX).
Beyond that, I look for either aspirational redemptions (e.g., suite at the Essex House for 85K) or a utilitarian stay where I don't feel like paying $200+ (e.g., transferred 30K points to SPG for an overnight at Sheraton Gateway LAX).
Nov 18, 2017, 6:22 am
#35
Join Date: Oct 2001
Programs: LTP, PP
Posts: 8,698
There's actually a very easy way to set the floor of the value of a point: gift card redemptions. Marriott gives $100 of gift card value for 30000 points -- any redemption of less value for hotel stays means you'd be better off just redeeming for gift cards and using the freed up cash to pay for your hotel.
The same works at SPG, where $100 of gift card value costs 10000 points. This also would have accurately predicted the 3:1 conversion rate that was eventually announced.
The same works at SPG, where $100 of gift card value costs 10000 points. This also would have accurately predicted the 3:1 conversion rate that was eventually announced.
Nov 19, 2017, 9:53 am
#36
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHL
Programs: AA EXP MM, HHonors Lifetime Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Ti, UA Silver
Posts: 5,036
Like many others here I also have a floor redemption value of about 1 cent per MR point. However, I have friends who are a bit cash strapped (daughter in college, husband retired) who use their MR points almost as soon as they reach a threshold for an award, so everyone values things differently.
I also have never redeemed a travel package because I fly a fair amount for work and prefer to either use FF miles from my airline accounts to pay for airline tickets, or just pay for the tickets with cash to earn EQDs.
Achieving Lifetime Plat has also altered my stay patterns a bit. I now mix in some HH properties in both work and shorter leisure stays so I suppose MR could view this a downside of awarding lifetime status. However, I also tend to focus my longer leisure and work stays on MR properties because the benefits are better, so awarding LT does have an up-side.
I also have never redeemed a travel package because I fly a fair amount for work and prefer to either use FF miles from my airline accounts to pay for airline tickets, or just pay for the tickets with cash to earn EQDs.
Achieving Lifetime Plat has also altered my stay patterns a bit. I now mix in some HH properties in both work and shorter leisure stays so I suppose MR could view this a downside of awarding lifetime status. However, I also tend to focus my longer leisure and work stays on MR properties because the benefits are better, so awarding LT does have an up-side.
Nov 19, 2017, 11:57 am
#37
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,453
The SPG transfer option opens up a whole bunch of new possibilities. I just transferred 120K Marriott to SPG, and converted those to KE (40K SPG=50K KE) to fund an F award SFO-BKK (95K). The cpp here is off the charts (though somewhat unrealistic, as I wouldn't actually go out of pocket $7K for the one-way ticket).
Nov 19, 2017, 1:09 pm
#38
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Programs: WN A+ CP, UA 1MM/*A Gold, Mar LT Tit, IHG Plat, HH Dia
Posts: 6,284
I spend most of my points on Travel Packages and 5-night stays (pay 4, get 1 free) or longer. These are the best value. On rare occasion I redeem for 1 night at a time. I look for a minimum of 0.8cpp before taxes and fees... which works out to closer to 1cpp after these are added in. The fact that it's hard to find redemptions above this threshold is the main reason I book single-night awards stays so rarely.
Nov 20, 2017, 12:31 pm
#39
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Finally back in Boston after escaping from New York
Posts: 13,644
I see threads about all sorts of topics here, but I have never seen one that specifically addresses how we use points.
For instance, do you have a specific target for value per point redeemed? If so, do you typically use 5 for the price of 4, 7 night (or 5, if you're eligible) travel package redemptions, point savers and so forth?
Now what makes sense for one of us may not make sense for another for any number of reasons. I'm thus not looking for people to prove that what they do is "better" than what someone else does; I just want to hear what you do and hopefully learn something along the way.
I've done (or have booked) three redemptions over the past year:
NYC Edition on a point saver last year - I originally planned to do a travel package, but the point saver looked better to me. It worked out to better than 2 cpp plus an upgraded room.
Ren Phuket next month- done as a 7 night tp with 132K UA miles. This one will be at least 1.5 cpp
Courtyard Ogden in January - for a whopping 7,500 points I'll save $140.
Back to my original question, I don't redeem for less than 1.5 cpp. I've had a couple stays where I thought about redeeming, but the category seemed a little high relative to the cash price.
Anyway, I hope this topic can be helpful for many of us. This site has been incredibly valuable to me over the past several years and I'd like to see that be the case for everyone.
For instance, do you have a specific target for value per point redeemed? If so, do you typically use 5 for the price of 4, 7 night (or 5, if you're eligible) travel package redemptions, point savers and so forth?
Now what makes sense for one of us may not make sense for another for any number of reasons. I'm thus not looking for people to prove that what they do is "better" than what someone else does; I just want to hear what you do and hopefully learn something along the way.
I've done (or have booked) three redemptions over the past year:
NYC Edition on a point saver last year - I originally planned to do a travel package, but the point saver looked better to me. It worked out to better than 2 cpp plus an upgraded room.
Ren Phuket next month- done as a 7 night tp with 132K UA miles. This one will be at least 1.5 cpp
Courtyard Ogden in January - for a whopping 7,500 points I'll save $140.
Back to my original question, I don't redeem for less than 1.5 cpp. I've had a couple stays where I thought about redeeming, but the category seemed a little high relative to the cash price.
Anyway, I hope this topic can be helpful for many of us. This site has been incredibly valuable to me over the past several years and I'd like to see that be the case for everyone.
My redemptions fall into one of two category: One, very expensive hotels that I would never pay for myself (e.g., Ritz Carltons). The other is multi-night travel packages which get me points and miles.
It's different for everyone, but one rule is universal: Don't hoard. Points don't earn interest. Rather, they devalue year after year. Sadly, you probably won't have a need for a million miles anytime soon that you haven't already planned for. Earn 'em, burn 'em and keep the minimum number that you need.
Mike
Nov 20, 2017, 8:24 pm
#40
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2013
Programs: UA Au Marriott Ti Hilton C
Posts: 159
As you can see, there are 1,000 posters and 1,001 opinions.
My redemptions fall into one of two category: One, very expensive hotels that I would never pay for myself (e.g., Ritz Carltons). The other is multi-night travel packages which get me points and miles.
It's different for everyone, but one rule is universal: Don't hoard. Points don't earn interest. Rather, they devalue year after year. Sadly, you probably won't have a need for a million miles anytime soon that you haven't already planned for. Earn 'em, burn 'em and keep the minimum number that you need.
Mike
My redemptions fall into one of two category: One, very expensive hotels that I would never pay for myself (e.g., Ritz Carltons). The other is multi-night travel packages which get me points and miles.
It's different for everyone, but one rule is universal: Don't hoard. Points don't earn interest. Rather, they devalue year after year. Sadly, you probably won't have a need for a million miles anytime soon that you haven't already planned for. Earn 'em, burn 'em and keep the minimum number that you need.
Mike
The "redeem for really low or really high category properties" is the approach I follow.
My overall goal is a mix of four travel currencies:
1. Cash
2. MR/SPG points
3. UA miles
4. UR points
Mrs. 1120 and I are going to Greece next summer and I used SPG points for three nights at the King George. I looked long and hard for either a tp or 5/4 at Domes Noruz. I finally concluded that both the cash and points prices seemed a little inflated. Instead, we're staying in Chania in a small and gorgeous (that's right, non-Marriott) hotel that overlooks the harbor. Between actual flying and previous tp redemptions we had enough UA miles to fly J both ways.
I will burn MR points for another tp while the UA bonus is in effect. We'll use that for a week at Essex House next fall. I fly E+ domestically and don't care whether I fly into EWR, LGA or JFK. That way I stock up on points for TPAC or TATL J seats. We look at flights first when we book trips overseas since I don't want to pay cash or a zillion miles for J/F tickets.
It's a good gig and it certainly helps to pay attention. A friend of mine has a ton of MR points and he had never heard of any of this stuff until we did a little training session last month.
Nov 21, 2017, 8:27 pm
#41
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: PHX, ICN
Programs: OZ Diamond Plus, Marriott Gold
Posts: 502
I'm with the Travel Packages crowd. They are fantastic for us because of our travel patterns.
-We can be happy at any hotel that's clean, has a private bathroom, and is near where we want to be
-We really want to fly Premium when we go overseas for the foreseeable future
So to us the value is actually in the airline miles. The hotel stay is great and puts it over the top; we're doing 7-nights in Hawaii next year that was a 1.16c redemption. But the J class redemption to Asia for "free" is what we find exceptional, and worth pretty much the full "redemption value". That said, we love Hawaii and a great room on the beach that we'd never pay for is worth the entire $4K+ valuation, IMHO.
I understand people who say that "if you'd never pay for it, then it's really only worth what you'd pay for", but I think that's off. If you really want (or value) a thing, and you get it, then it's worth the original value (or very close) whether you'd ever buy it or not. If you've always wanted a Porsche but would only buy a used Honda, and you win a Porsche, that doesn't mean you'd value the Porsche the same as a Honda beater.
-We can be happy at any hotel that's clean, has a private bathroom, and is near where we want to be
-We really want to fly Premium when we go overseas for the foreseeable future
So to us the value is actually in the airline miles. The hotel stay is great and puts it over the top; we're doing 7-nights in Hawaii next year that was a 1.16c redemption. But the J class redemption to Asia for "free" is what we find exceptional, and worth pretty much the full "redemption value". That said, we love Hawaii and a great room on the beach that we'd never pay for is worth the entire $4K+ valuation, IMHO.
I understand people who say that "if you'd never pay for it, then it's really only worth what you'd pay for", but I think that's off. If you really want (or value) a thing, and you get it, then it's worth the original value (or very close) whether you'd ever buy it or not. If you've always wanted a Porsche but would only buy a used Honda, and you win a Porsche, that doesn't mean you'd value the Porsche the same as a Honda beater.
Last edited by SightseeMC; Nov 21, 2017 at 9:07 pm
Nov 24, 2017, 1:00 pm
#42
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 1,868
Like the others, I jumped on this one last time in March of this year, to get CP through the end of 2018. I don't know if we'll ever manage to earn it again - hotel transfers were the only realistic option for us. It makes it hard for me to chase MR points the way I used to...
Nov 26, 2017, 1:15 am
#43
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 51
I don't fret
I don't bother trying to assign a cents per point value . I already know where I want to go so I consider schedule , layovers , and aircraft type .
Number of points are a lesser consideration .
Number of points are a lesser consideration .
Nov 26, 2017, 1:52 pm
#44
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bye Delta
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Hyatt Plat, Marriott Plat, Nat'l Exec Elite, Avis Presidents Club
Posts: 16,273
Travel packages, but only when a transfer bonus occurs. Otherwise SPG Cash + Points.