I believe I saw posts a year or 2 ago, valuing 1 Marriott Point to approx. 1 cent. Talked to a couple Marriott Plats, and they think the current conversion should be 1 Marriott Point to approx 0.7 to 0.9 cents. Thoughts?

The value, for me, is based on what my personal use of the points is. If I use points for a stay that would have cost $xxx, then that's the value to me; same for a travel package. I think most agree that with reward availability and reclassification of various properties that the overall value has eroded lately.

As bkramt1 implies, the value of a Marriott point is very dependant on your use of those points. Here are a few threads that might help you out(both are about a year old and there are many more than these. I did a search using the words "point" and "value".):

What are MR points worth to you?
What is the Value of 310,000 Marriott Reward Points?

This is an interesting topic.

I tend to stay in much nicer places with points then I would with my own $. So when I do the math I figure it based on where I would have stayed if I was paying.

Same for flights. If my first class reward costs $5,000 but the coach seat I would have bought was $450 I value those miles at $450 instead of the 5k as I would never have spent the 5k.

Maybe I'm just different that way

Points only have potential value until redeemed.

Points and miles never redeemed have no value.

7 nights at a Ritz-Carlton for 250,000 Marriott Rewards points is likely to have a much higher value than 0.7-0.9 cents/point. 250,000 points would have a value of $1,750 - $2,250. There are not many Ritz-Carlton properties available at $250/night by any consumer travel strategy.

There are many opportunities for a traveler to get a much higher value than $2,000 with the 250,000 Marriott Rewards points.

I wrote about my thoughts on hotel points exchange rate theory in a blog post from February. Feel free to comment on my blog. I like discussion.
I would like to read a variety of opinions and thoughts on the topic.

I developed the theory based on the hundreds of discussions here on FlyerTalk over the years concerning the value of a mile or point and combined with my own experiences of spending several million miles and points.

http://loyaltytraveler.blogspot.com/...te-theory.html

I believe the penny per point conversion was what hotels paid out for compensatory points offered during a stay. At least that is what the ratio was when I worked at the Irvine Marriott, although I have read recently that this has increased to 2cents/point.

Well, that part of the post is definitely true!

The rest is just a crapshoot. I have used cat 7 Stay Anytime award when the hotel was having a $150 weekend special. Poor value for points? Well, I had a great time and I kept several hundred dollars in my pocket so it was priceless.

For those with only 50,000 points in their account and potentially two vacations coming up, it would be very prudent to use the points at a more expensive vs. point property. This does not put any absolute value on the points, however.

Some people here treat their points as a "bank" and manage it as some kind of asset fund which is silly for the reason in the quote.

Asking this question is like asking, "What is the value of an unredeemed lottery ticket?"

If you listen to their timeshare sales pitch, its .03 per point.

I agree with annerj, this is an interesting topic - - - not as to specific monetary values, but as to "thought concept" values.

My point stays are divided between:

higher end places (that I normally would not spend the $$$ on). In those areas I am opposite of annerj in that I think of the points as having the difference of what I would normally be willing to pay with what the property I am staying in costs.

trivial, low end stays - perhaps having to be at the airport at 6AM - will search to find a Cat 1 or 2 with pointsavers - saves me a hundred or so, uses minimal points.

family stays - either as gifts to others, or for myself when we go visiting. a boring use, but a lot better than coming home with hundreds of dollars on the credit card for a boring use!

my concern with "saving them' as a retirement benefit is that categories will continue to rise, in effect making the points I have earned of less value.

heck, I figure I'm getting great training for a post-retirement part time job as a front desk clerk or a CL attendent - surely they get some kind of dicsount!

I agree with the philosophy that point value is based on when and where they are used. I have used points often over the last 3 years, but 2001-2004 I paid for stays since rates were low (relatively). With the current recession I have already already found great rates for next year's ski season, which I haven't seen for 3 years so I booked paid stays.

This summer I am using points in Paris and London, at 3.75� and 1.4� per point respectively. 1.4� per point for London is below my point price value, but it is the 3 day portion of a 7-night Euro Hopper so the value if I had used separate awards makes up for it. For ski season stays I use points at a rate of 2.9� per point. A lot depends on your travel pattern. I also save points for years solely with the idea of using them in places like Paris where hotel prices are ridiculous. YMMV.

But then you'll have to deal with unwanted advances by young travelers......

I got plenty of practice with that when I was younger, thinner, and blonder - nowadays they are opening the door, offering me their seat on the rental car bus, and calling me "ma'm". sigh......................

Oh did this make me laugh ^

Depends in part on how many points you earn - I believe some of the very high point rewards are of great value - probably 3 cents/point or higher.

Considering you can buy points for 1.25 cents/point, if you can get better value than that I'd say you are doing well.

Of course, Marriott reserves the right to change the program which certainly could devalue points as well.