I tried searching Milesbuzz for this topic, but could neither find related threads nor get a detailed search to actually work.

I have airline miles and would like to exchange some for hotel points. I know a literal exchange is not possible. If I would offer an airline award in exchange for a hotel award, is there a good rule of thumb to follow for valuation? Should the miles/points be exchanged on a 1-to-1 basis, or on the potential dollar value of the award? Or is there something else to consider?

Thanks in advance for any bits of wisdom you can provide. I have never done this before.

Just because someone will ask -- see the webflyer mleage converter

Looks like you'll be negotiating a trade in Coupon Connection

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Which airline? Which hotel program?

It really depends as different hotel program points are valued very differently.

In some cases, literal exchanges are possible. AA->HH is a fairly common one that actually doesn't punish you too bad on raw value, assuming you have a strong near-term use for the HH points lined up.

I won't argue for or against bartering or selling points/miles here, but if you were to do that you'd have to assess the rough dollar value of your award vs. the value of whatever you are getting back. Every one of these 'currencies" is different, and I can't think of any hotel award that are 1:1 exchange for their point to an air mile.

Here is a tCC thread where we debated this:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=604570

... & here are someone giving me more authority than I deserved, others disagreeing, & my fine-tuning of my formula in response:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=606378

Thanks for the info everyone. My air miles are on NW, which is not included on the converter, nor can they be transfered to any other programs. The threads from CC are defintely helpful Not yet sure which hotel program I would need. I will know that when I decide on a destination.

Well, I think that this alone answers your question. The fact that NW is not listed on the converter means that there is no way to transfer them out, period.

Mike

Obviously it is difficult to generalize as orphan miles that may be useless to one person may be quite useful to another to top off a high value award. Similarly a trade may be quite beneficial to someone with a surplus of air miles but no hotel points. And generally speaking, a trade that permits redemption for high value awards, i.e. business class seats or 6-night resort stays will be more beneficial than domestic coach or 1 night stays.

That being said, off the top of my head, and with the usual caveats, I would think the following rates would be competitive for a trade:

Airline miles - 1:1 for UA/AA/DL/NW, perhaps less for CO nonepass miles which are hard to redeem at saver levels (but easy to launder via Amtrak at 1:1)

Hotel points - 1:1 for Hilton-Marriott-Hyatt, 2:1 for Hilton/Marriott-SPG or IC-Hilton/Marriott.

Airlines to Hotel: 1:2 for UA/AA/DL/CO/NW to Hilton/Marriott/Hyatt, 1:1 to SPG (SPG points can be converted backwards at this rate, or even better as 20K SPG = 25K airline miles).

WN: $15 per credit, or $250 per RR roundtrip ticket (maybe a little generous these days given the limited RR inventory for popular dates/times/flights). Converting to points, that would be 1N at an expensive hotel (i.e. SPG Cat 4, Cat 5-7 at Hilton/Marriott) or maybe 15-25k airline miles.