I just booked the JW Desert Ridge in Phoenix for 100k points for 3 nights + $250 marriott check. The best rate I could find for the dates we're there was $320 + tax using a discount code. That puts the cash value somewhere around $1300 including tax for 100k points.

I think this is a fair deal, for a resort, Cat 6 hotel. We'll be there over the Thanksgiving holiday, I was sort of surprised they had rooms at standard reward rates....

This is the main reason (despite having over 1.5m points in my account) I really only use the points for travel rewards (the packages with airfare are good) and don't use them for merchandise... despite how nice that 42" plasma screen looks ... but not at 800k points!

Quick question - because I like Residence Inns, use Priceline from time to time, and go to Chicago a lot - was that RI alone in its class/zone, or was it a lucky "get" from a very opaque (lots of hotels) zone? Which property Chicago was it? The one behind the Hancock Tower?

My only hesitation with using the pure Priceline rate as my only valuation for hotel points is this: if I'm considering using points to begin with, it means I've already ruled out Priceline as an option for the stay. I ask myself the Priceline question first. Only after I decide that the zone I'm visiting or my travel situation make Priceline a bad choice do I consider using hotel points.

Therefore, I have to acknowledge that an award room is worth something more than a Priceline room. In that case, my valuation is based against whatever method I'd use to get a room in that city without the points. It totally varies by city - the way I'd look for a villa in Hawaii is very different from the way I'd look for a nice B&B in central London - but I go through those efforts and use the results to compare against an award stay at a Marriott or other big-chain property.

(The effort of looking isn't wasted - if the Marriott has no award rooms available or if I find a gem of a place that is better than a big chain - I end up booking that room.)

No kidding! It's almost offensive for them to suggest that we redeem bazillions of MR points for a TV! I wonder how many people out there use those awards? You have 1.5M points and you still agree it's a raw deal. If you had 10 million would your opinion change? I mean...did they put those awards in there to please a teeny tiny subset of people who have zero use for free airline flights and zero use for free hotel nights?

I guess if I traveled on business 250 nights a year at four-star Marriotts, I might be happy to have MR take 800,000 off of my hands in exchange for a TV. Or...I might not. I might donate free hotel room certificates to the charity of my choice instead or something like that.

Good question, really... I don't know. I do know it is hard to get this many points with MR. I have traveled over 75 nights per year, for over 6 years. They don't accumulate as fast as they used to, as rates have generally gone down, plus promos aren't as common as they were. I have earned about 2m points to date, as you can see, I don't use them much. I travel enough already. I use them for a night here, night here, for family, friends. That sort of thing. My parents have stayed more on my MR points than I have.

I think it there are those who book conferences, some companies that pool the points for their employees, etc. I'll tell you, though, I have thought about getting that Polaris ATV and hawking it on EBay =)

It is RI Downtown at 201 East Walton Place. It was more of a luck than intention, but if you go to www.biddingfortravel.com you will realize that there are very few hotels for each area, for downtown I believe there are only two 2.5* hotels.

That is pretty much what I was trying to say. I use priceline first, if I can't get it I use the points, but I never value the points at the rack rate.

And it's not even high definition!

I've noted, as a non-elite, that, at the same properties, I often get a dfferent level of room on a Priceline stay vs a paid or award stay. Perhaps, elites get more consistent accomodations because of their status. Due to this experience, I factor Priceline stays accordingly.

I've also noted, especially in the last year, that Priceline stays are becoming more problematical in certain locales and at certain star ratings. IMO, the recovery of the lodging industry has seemed to cut the dumping of rooms onto WorldSpan and, at least IME, made procurring PLN rooms at the normal 30-35% of BAR more problematical. I still look to PLN first, especially for business stays, but find I'm using it less and less, overall.

As we tend to burn our points fairly immediately, I'm pretty envious of someone with a 1.5M balance That and Platinum status must make for wonderful adventures!

Pat

Depends how cush my bank account is when I am planning a vacation!

Seriously - I recently was in Maui for a convention at the Hyatt with ocean view room for $220. I could have stayed there for business and then switched to a Marriott for the rest of my trip and stayed on points. However I know that the $220 rate was very good for a Maui Ocean View room, and my bank account is doing ok right now, so I paid the money and kept my Marriott points for next years trip when I may not be so lucky.

As a different example, About 10 years ago I used Delta miles for a free tickets that would have cost me about 200-300. The agent tried to talk me out of it since they "knew" it wasn't a good used of my miles. My response was it was better than spending the money I didn't have.

Thus my corrollary to mile/point programs:
the greater the bank account the more one seeks from the program.

Which is interesting since this tends to result in "banking" points, which is in contrast to my second law:

All programs will see reward point inflation and corresponding redemption increases.

Thus - the more you save points for a "big ticket" award, it will actually take longer/more points to acheive.

Cruel!!

hersh