Pay or Use Points
 

Hi--
First time poster here, and was looking for some guidance. I am not a heavy duty traveler like a lot of the folks here, but have accumulated 300K+ Marriott points, and have never redeemed any primarily because it always seemed like it was a better value for me to pay than use the points. I am planning a vacation to Las Vegas, and can stay at the JW Marriott Resort for $149/night (4 nights) or I can cash in 95,000 points for a free stay. Is this reasonable, or would I be better paying cash, earning points, and using them when hotel rates are higher? Thanks.

Pay.


That one's a no-brainer. Using the points on this cheap stay takes you out of the Travel Package levels, which is where the most bang-for-buck for MR points is had. Now that you've found us :D, search the board for all sorts of discussions about Travel Packages, plus all sorts of info about where people commonly use their Marriott points.

Enjoy the JW, especially at that rate!! Welcome to FT!! :)

Also, if the $149/nt is a publicly-available rate, and you wish to bring it down somewhat, acquire a couple of Premium Pounds or Bonus Bucks certificates. Do a search here for more information about these certificates if you aren't familiar with them.

That is a really cheap rate for a category 6 hotel. You could use the points at another category 6 hotel with room rates of $300-400. The JW Marriott in DC or the San Francisco Marriott will often have rooms selling at that rate.

The travel packages let you get a 7 night certificate along with airline miles (up to 120K miles). You can get a mile for a Marriott point in a travel package, which is a great deal.