Background: first year plat member with MR, and made plat already for next year. Previous year I was nobody: like 2 stays with maybe 10 nights total. This year, 80+ nights with another 20-30 to go. In case your wondering, I moved in to a new position at the company. So the travel thing is new to me. I travel enough that the staff at various hotels that I frequent remember me by name and my eating (and drinking) habits. Fortunately those habits aren't bad<g> I stay at Marriot properties because, well, I do I don't have to, but i picked a courtyard near where I often frequent, I liked the staff there (they were oh-so-nice and down to earth), and I ended up returning (often).

Ok, so that's out of the way. So I require some travel for my job. I hit 83 nights this year so far, though 20 of them were due to the summer double (well, 19 actually,though how you can hit 19 out of a double is math beyond me <g>). I see lots of folks asking what's better: MR or (HH, SPG,<other rewards>). But I'm a bit befuddled, some of it out of "newbie" ignorance.

So the big thing I see mentioned is free nights at a the various hotel properties. But the one thing I haven't seen mentioned is what I consider the "non-stay" reward. I just got a catalog in the mail that had all kinds of stuff from flat-screen TV's to iPod's that i could exchange my MR points for.

So please excuse my ignorance as this is my first year as a MR PLAT <or any kind of travelere, period> . I think the stuff offered in the MR catalog is pretty, well, hot dog! Shoot, ok, maybe I've got the "newbie rewards" blinders on, but heck, these rewards seems pretty good to me. I've seen some posts that mention things about "points being worth less than they were before", and again, please excuse the ignorance as this is my first year with MR status, but I'm pretty happy

So educate me, please. Are the SPG things that good? Note: I did create my SPG account this year, and will be accruing some nights because Marriot doesn't have property everywhere I go (I have ~10 nights at SPG properties and a few more planned before the end of the year). But is Starwood that close? Are the "other' benefits (from SPG, HH, etc) that good?

To clarify: I have ~200K points this year, and I just added the MR signature visa, so I should get a lot more points. Are the points I could accrue at other properties really (i.e. SPG) worth that much more? The stuff I saw in my MR catalog were, as I mentioned, well, gosh! I was happy But I can pretty much stay anywhere I want, and I want to get the most "bang" for my buck..

thanks for the feedback,
-pk

Well, in my opinion, MR and SPG are two totally different animals. If you have the Starwoods Amex and you are a Platinum, the going in good at *woods. They do treat their Plats pretty nicely. Marriott has gone downhill the past few years and completely alienated it's Elite members. I used to be MR Plat as well as *woods Plat, so this is from my own personal experience. As for the awards, yes many of the MR rewards you can "buy" with your points are pretty cool. Not really sure they are worth the cost in points though. If you intend on using your points for travel, the SPG Cash+Points option is very, very attractive at many luxury properties where rooms often run $300+ a night. In the end, it all depends on what you are planning to use the points for. If your goal is to not travel on your free time because you've had too much travelling for work, then perhaps spending your points on products from the MR catalogue is the best thing for you. If you are looking for recognition while travelling and upgrades, etc.. then *woods is probably your best bet.

Thank you for elucidating this difference so well. Yes, I travel a lot for work, and I do not want to travel more But, I do like the room upgrades for "work" travel when I do have to travel. My stays are often multi-day stays (3-5 days), and the upgrade is nice. I often stay at courtyards or FS marriot properites where I get a suite upgrade which is nice when you're away from home for a long time. I prefer not to travel more than I already have to for work, so the "free"/extra nights don't mean all that much, though the "toys" redemption is cool. In fact, I usually use my "free" nights for for my family (sister/brother) so they can come visit. I have a large family (4 kids) so staying at a property at this stage of my life is difficult. Last time I went on vacation, marriot wouldn't give let me redeem points for a room for 6 (2 queens + sleeper), I had to purchase it. So for marriot anyway, the points are most useful for "toy" purchases (i.e new TV, etc..) The toys are cool though

Does *wood have the same "points for toys" program, or is it for free stays only?

thanks a ton, I appreciate it
-pk

SPG does not have such a program but IC does. In my (and I'll take the liberty of saying most folks here) opinion the merchandise reward catalog is great if you have 2 million points and never plan to use them for hotel stays but that's about all. You get a MUCH better bang for your buck by using them for hotel stays but hey, if you don't plan on using them for nights, go for it.

While I haven't seen Starwood offer "items" like the Marriott points purchase program, they do have an auction program. Every few months, maybe quarterly, I see where they auction off tickets and back-stage passes to certain events. They sometimes offer tickets to certain plays or event "parties" as well. They just offered FT members the ability to purchase a number of concert tickets at venues across the US.

In general though, for both Marriott and SPG, as has been mentioned, you will get much more "value" from using your points for hotel stays. So if you want the most "bang for your buck", then using points for hotel stays will be your best option. For the Marriott "toy" purchases, you probably are going to spend around 100K points for every $150-$300 of value. That same 100K points, even with the recent devaluation, will get you a 5 night award at a Cat. 5 hotel which if you were paying would probably be around $125-$200/night (upwards of $1000 for that 5 night stay.)

I realize you may not want to spend more nights in a hotel, but as you mention, you may have family members that do. Or you may want to try and take the family on that once in a lifetime trip somewhere you could never afford to pay for out of your own pocket.

First off PatK welcome to Flyertalk. You have found a new home with lots of great people.

Now as to those"hotdog"redemptions for merchandise these are most often a
VERY poor value when you compare the value on might receive when cashing these in on a travel package.

I know some folks think"gosh-I travel for a living and have to stay in cookie cutter hotels half of my life!The last thing I want to do is do this on holiday!"

But trust me-there will come a time when you want to use points for personal travel where the rates are outrageous.Those points become VERY attractive then and will make you very thankful that you did not spend 150k MR points on that digital camera that you could buy at Bestbuy for $67 (just an ever so SLIGHT exageration-but not too far off the mark)
In other words-save your points.

Now since you have already qualified for Plat with Marriott please think of looking to gain top status with another chain.Never hurts to have a backup.

Personally I value my SPG points much more than I value my MR points.I like to stay in really interesting/luxe hotels on my vacation.Starwwod has far more than those than Marriott does.

I'm with Bug Guy on this one. Yeah, the merchandise is swell stuff, name brands like Callaway and Sony. But when you do the math, you are only getting maybe a half a penny of value per point. It isn't hard to get 1, 1.5, or even 2+ cents per point of value on hotel redemptions and travel packages.

Shucks, you can even get $1000 of Marriott gift cards for 130K points iirc. Even that is not a great value, but better than the gift catalog.

I'm w/Big Guy on this issue as well.

I too looked at that catalog and was (briefly) swept away at some of the items I could "buy" but then quickly did the math and realized just how much the items actually cost!!!!!

I chose a travel job because of the travel it allowed me and my husband over the past 7 or so years. Actually, I wouldn't bother with a travel job if they took points away from me (or made me use a corporate credit card, or made me stay at a place I didn't want to stay, etc.). But because I have the freedom to chose a hotel, so long as I stay within per diem, I choose the one that will give me gov't rate and also, has the most locations out of the country. For the first ten or so years of our marriage (18 years on 10/31/09), we went mostly on cruises--11 to be exact. Only two were 7 day cruises--most were 14+. Then when I started my travel job (Oct 2001), we were on the road to doing land vacations and that is when the points started to fit into the travel plans.

Just by points alone, my husband and I have traveled to Rome, Sorrento, Ireland, London, Barbados, Budapest, Amsterdam, Cancun, Cabo San Lucas (x 3)....these properties have been with Hilton (points), but I am now w/Marriott because it was getting harder and harder to get a gov't rate out of them. But in less than two months, we'll spend two weeks in Australia...all at Marriotts....mostly w/points.

I'm not saying we would not have been able to travel--but I can say this--w/out using points, we would not have traveled in the manner that we have...the perks are wonderful and when you get to exchange free nights for points, that is sweet. Some of the places we stayed were going for $700+ a night--I can tell you this, we would NOT have been able to pay out of pocket for those types of accomodations!!! Also, we seldom go anywhere for less than two weeks....so it really has enhanced are personal travel immensely.

You might not be able to use your points right now....but you may have a special anniversary coming up or some special age that you want to celebrate and you may just take your wife to a country that she's always wanted to go to and for FREE!!!!

Maybe 10 nights in Paris! Or 10 nights in Budapest, or London! Somewhere really special and expensive--that's how you get the best use of your points.

BTW, my Hilton days are numbered. I will lose status in a few months and I hope to maintain Plat w/Marriott. I'll be comparing the two properties from experiences OUTSIDE of California because when I travel for leisure, it is never in the USA--we figured we'd save those trips for when we get older and grow plain ol' tired of the 10-14 hour plane rides!!!

Welcome to Flyertalk.

Dawn

My HH days are past me but with over 1M in pts still, I keep at least gold by using the Amex HH CC. Its even easier now then ever by simply ordering 20k in $1 Coins, which is worth 60k in pts to boot

That way I still get access to a Lounge if they have 1.

I end up using HH mainly when Im flying Intl and need a Hotel by an Airport either when 1st arriving or the night before returning, saves $$$ especially in Europe

I agree with most in the toys are too expensive. Save your points


My work travel has slowed quite a bit (And I'm looking at a transfer that would cut it even further) so I'm trying to hold as many points as I can. Gold last year and this year (use to make plat easily)

I will take a minority position here. I am in the position of patk in that I earn points faster than I can burn them. Elite benefits mean MUCH more to me that award travel to me.

I actually DID use MR points to buy my first digital camera. My no-cost (using points that are otherwise sitting there) camera gave me enough experience to know what I wanted in my next digital camera.

The merchandaise redemption gives a truer actual value of MR reward points. True, there are the occasions you can score a $400/night (rack rate) room with points, but the hotel is actually being reimbursed a relative pittance my MR for that award night.

I don't know if people realize it, but the MR program is actually a profit center for Marriott - hotels (and partners) buys the points from MR at a certain amount, points are redeemed by MR paying at a cash level less than what they were bought for. Anyone remember Green Stamps?

Use 'em for what you want - just be sure you use 'em and don't let them just sit there as a "bank".

patk,

Welcome to FT!

I agree with Big Guy, gardener, kymbakitty, and annerj on this one.

Spend 319,000 points for a Sony KDL40V5100 that would cost you $869.99 at JR.com including shipping.

OR

Spend 320,000 points for 10 nights at a Category 8 Hotel like Paris Marriott Hotel Champs-Elysees or Renaissance Chancery Court London which would otherwise cost you $6377 or $4175 (Global Break rate) respectively.

I think you get the picture. 0.27�/point for the TV vs. 1.3-2�/point for the hotel stays.

I understand keeton's position too, but with only 200K points you hardly qualify as having points to burn. Now if you don't plan on traveling, or traveling enough, for pleasure to hotels where you would better benefit using points then by all means use the points for merchandise, cruises, rental cars, etc. It is very easy to make the determination for yourself. Evaluate your options and do the math.

Thanks for the feedback folks.

So after reading this, my wife will kill me if I buy any toys We haven't had a "real" vacation in years, due to the kids. Now that the kids are all in school, she's been pushing me, hard, to take her on a European vacation. Especially now that I'm traveling so much, leaving her at home with the kids by herself. With the 50K pts bonus this fall (I easily have 25 nights before Jan. 15) + paying for the stays with the MR Visa, I'll have that 320K pts and then some, which pretty much takes away any excuses I have left. I had not realized the difference between the stay at the hotel vs the toys. Big difference, thanks for pointing it out! Now I need to work on the airline miles to get the airfare covered. I've been flying domestic on F9, but they don't do TATL,so it's time to switch airlines. Thanks for the tips, we've got something to look forward to now

Craz--I would completely agree with you with the exception that last year, the only guarantee of lounge excess is to be holding a Diamond card! There are scores of folks that have Gold cards that have been excluded (many cases where Diamond card holders were excluded because the lounge was too crowded). But a few changes were implemented last year that would only guarantee lounge excess if you were Diamond. And access is a huge part of the reason we enjoy Diamond/Plat. No, we don't eat our meals up there and only one of us drinks alcohol (that would be me), but to have a nice place to go to relax and unwind, or maybe have a drink before dinner, that is NOT in your actual hotel room, is a huge bonus for us. And usually, if the property is really nice, you may have a $1,000,000 view!

I do need to check my AMEX to see if I have spent anywhere near $20k this year.....which I may have because of our new floors.....so at least I can maintain the Gold.

Is that calendar year on the AMEX? I know there is an AMEX where you pay a yearly fee, but I just can't do it. I'm already paying for the MR Visa and I swore I would NEVER pay for a credit card--ha! So paying for one card is about all I can handle (emotionally).

Thanks!!!

Dawn

Thank you so much for doing that. That is what you need to actually see to make sense of it.

Excellent job of some "real-time" data/information to put that in perspective. If I ever even consider buying something out of one of their books, I will pull up this post and read it again because that's all it takes to make a believer out of anyone conteplating.

Dawn