Using reward points
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 2
Using reward points
I have just joined the Marriott Reward Programme with the purchase of a timeshare in Marbella, as part of the deal I now have around 700,000 reward points. I was just wondering how to value them or consider using them, what are they worth?
#2
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: LAX/El Segundo, CA
Programs: UA/AA/SW/MR Gold/Hyatt/HH
Posts: 223
Welcome SlackBladder! There are a myriad of threads, on this forum, about the value of points. Use the "Search" function and you find many opinions.
#3
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: South America
Programs: AA Platinum 1MM - Marriott Silver
Posts: 353
Basically use your points only to redeem travel packages with the maximum possible amount of miles. Second best is use points for hotel stays less than a week long. Forget about the rest of the catalogue. Marriott sells points at $12.5 per 1,000 for your reference. That's a conservative figure as you can make them yield much more.
#4
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: 11,775
Welcome to FT SlackBladder. As JTG mentions a search can be very helpful. I searched the Marriott forum with "value of points" as the search string and here are some good threads I found:
Devaluation - Did Marriott changes Category levels at 500+ hotels on 3/2?
When to Use Points/Value of Points
Value of Points
Vacation Clubs-Great use of Points!
There are more, but the above are some good ones to start with.
Devaluation - Did Marriott changes Category levels at 500+ hotels on 3/2?
When to Use Points/Value of Points
Value of Points
Vacation Clubs-Great use of Points!
There are more, but the above are some good ones to start with.
#5
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: N Charleston South Carolina
Programs: UA PM (by 2MM), DL GM (by 3.5MM), Marriott Lifetime Plat
Posts: 1,655
Probably the best value is the air/hotel packages. For 235K points you get 120K miles in a host of different airline programs and a 7 night stay in a cat 1-5 hotel. You don't have to use both at the same time/trip.
you can use the miles anyway you want: free flight, upgrades, etc.
The hotel portion can be "upgraded" later to a cat 6 or 7 if you decide to stay at one of thoese (15K more points for cat 6 and 35K more points for Cat 7).
The hotel certificate is good for a year, can be transferred to someone else (makes a great wedding gift) and can be extended for a year (or more).
You can even redeposit the hotel portion, although you only get 45K miles for it. Better than nothing if you don't use.
This is the only award I ever request, and I've been through 10 million point so far (of course, I used a lot of those points on even better awards that were available in the past...)
Using the points this way - I value marriott reward points at least 1.5 cents per point and sometimes 2 cents or more.
Billy
you can use the miles anyway you want: free flight, upgrades, etc.
The hotel portion can be "upgraded" later to a cat 6 or 7 if you decide to stay at one of thoese (15K more points for cat 6 and 35K more points for Cat 7).
The hotel certificate is good for a year, can be transferred to someone else (makes a great wedding gift) and can be extended for a year (or more).
You can even redeposit the hotel portion, although you only get 45K miles for it. Better than nothing if you don't use.
This is the only award I ever request, and I've been through 10 million point so far (of course, I used a lot of those points on even better awards that were available in the past...)
Using the points this way - I value marriott reward points at least 1.5 cents per point and sometimes 2 cents or more.
Billy
#6


Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Philadelphia, PA, USA
Programs: UA 2P, AA LT Gold, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 3,176
Probably the best value is the air/hotel packages. For 235K points you get 120K miles in a host of different airline programs and a 7 night stay in a cat 1-5 hotel. You don't have to use both at the same time/trip.
Using the points this way - I value marriott reward points at least 1.5 cents per point and sometimes 2 cents or more.
Using the points this way - I value marriott reward points at least 1.5 cents per point and sometimes 2 cents or more.
#8
FlyerTalk Evangelist

Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: Freeload Univ. Where are you sitting?
Posts: 14,818
According to MarriottConcierge, the hotel portion of a travel package can be extended indefinitely (a year at a time). I have one I've extended twice already.

