Howdy,
[list=1][*] I'm Hhonors Diamond - selected the 50% point bonus instead of airline miles (due to my stay record the points are worth more to me).[*] Most of my redeptions (more than 50% have been for HHW 6 night Alon stays (so far 4 total at 100k points each).[*] Hilton upgraded me and took care of me like a king on these stays (yeah - I got lucky).[*] Priceline stays would not have cut it I think (in terms of upgrades, etc...). The cheapest rate I found was $209.00 - which with taxes would come out to around $1500.00.[*] This award cost me 100,000 points. To get this, I recieved:

• 10 points per dollar spent base.
• 5 points per dollar spent Diamond Bonus.
• 5 points per dollar spent 50% bonus points selected in lieu of airline miles.

[*] $5000.00 I spent to earn the 100,000 points. Which given my average room rate works out to 33-38 nights.[*] My value per point is .015 dollars (or 1.5 cents) per point. But - I'm getting a few more points than I would with some programs.[/list=a]

All in all - I look at it as (NightsISpendInHotel vs RewardIGet); so for me I stay 30 some odd nights - and get a room in Hawaii. For my $5000.00, I'm getting back a value to me of around $1500.00.

Just my two cents http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Keep the faith,

Pakse

Edited for a typographical error.

[This message has been edited by Pakse (edited Mar 02, 2004).]

I have to admit, both of the Hiltons in Hawaii treated me like a KING on award stays. HWV put me in a huge room on the top floor of their ocean tower and had a bottle of complimentary champagne waiting for us in the room. (It was our honeymoon - that's why the champagne was there.) Free breakfast, lounge, etc. all included. HHV gave me a very nice high-floor ocean view room and free breakfast certs (no lounge tho). All as a Gold... Those were truly great 100k awards. My total spend at HHonors properties to get them in 2001-2002 was about $2000. (Roughly 20 nights.)

Of course, now the awards are 175k, you don't get 54k in bonuses for every 4 paid stays, and I've heard that those two Hawaiian properties have "tightened up" the benefits they give on award stays (at least to Silvers/Golds).

But still, the ALONs of 2001-2002 deserve an entry in the "Best Awards Ever" thread. Buy 8 Hampton nights -> Get 6 Hawaii nights free!

OK - this from the awards section of the AMEX Membership Rewards brochure:

2000 points = 333 Starpoints
2000 points = 1000 Marriott Rewards points
2000 points = 1300 HHonors points

So according to AMEX, the ratio *wood:MR:HH is 1:3:4

YMMV

From Diner's Club:

2500 DC -> 750 SPG
2500 DC -> 1500 MR
2500 DC -> 2000 HH

DC points are earned 2 per dollar, so these levels represent $1250 in spending, not accounting for bonuses/promotions.

As a baseline, $1095 spend -> 2190 DC -> 1000 FF.

So Diner's values 'em at 1:2:2.66. I personally tend to find Amex's values more in line with reality.

Both times I have cashed in Starwood for top cost hotels (Lanai and Key West), the hotel has offered much lower rates if we would pay instead of using points. I find that annoying since now what I considered my big point buy is deflated. When I cashed in Lanai for Manele Bay, the website was quoting almost $400/night. When we arrived, they offered us the room for $250/night. I would not have cashed in so many points for a normal $250/night hotel in their chain. Also, the Sheraton in Molokai would not give us the same rate walking up as had just been posted on the internet. Staff was adament. We could have driven 30 miles to town to use a computer and come back but what was that about? I complained to Starwood and got a letter of apology from the manager. That and 2 bucks gets you a latte. So I am not that impressed with Starwood. We have been twice to HWV on Gold and been treated like kings. I like the 2 fors from Hyatt but find their lack of hotels in general and definitely their not having a lower cost hotel in their chain are problems for retirees like my husband and me. Marriott is out of the question - too many nights. But in my husband's heyday in marketing, it was his chain of choice. AND, in my view, Priceline counts. Why use an award when you have a reasonably good chance of getting a decent hotel on Priceline for less than $100/night? Using www.biddingfortravel.com is an excellent way of knowing what you can get. I have found it has been remarkably accurate. Marriott Riverside Bangkok for $44/night vs $130 on Marriott's website. Next week. It would make no sense to use points. Plenty of cheap places, inc the hotel, for breakfast. So, since we are retired, I investigate all possible ways to get a room in any given city. Factor in points, lounge access, etc. Keep the HH Gold either by some cockamamie promo or by joining Senior HHonors which allows 8 stays for seniors. Gold is good. And good enough.

[This message has been edited by Karen2 (edited Mar 16, 2004).]

That's interesting about Starwood trying to coax you out of using an award. Obviously Starwood places some internal value on an award night and "credits" that hotel something less than $250/nt. for the stay.

It wouldn't bother me too much. For $400/nt on Key West, I'm guessing you are talking New Year's Eve (or similar). It's still a GREAT use of hotel points because Priceline would likely yield NOTHING and even junk like the Fairfield Inn wants $175/nt.

I have done 2 New Year's trips to Key West. Once we stayed in a BAD room at the Marriott (which is no longer a Marriott IIRC) for $259/nt. and the other time we stayed in a little cottage we found on the Internet for $180/nt. The little cottage was wonderful, and we realized that Key West is a good place to forget about the chains UNLESS you are redeeming an award.

Whoever you talked to at Molokai sounds like a mean-spirited person. I don't think that's a reflection of the entire chain. I've run into nasties at the front desk of all of the big chains. FWIW, the Molokai hotel will no longer be a Starwood soon, according to some threads here on FT.

I concur with the dual valuation method.

I do not have sufficient business travel (or choice) to limit myself to one chain, and I attempt to use priceline for leisure travel whenever possible. As a result, my points are spread out over several programs and are not sufficient to redeem multiple night awards.

So the key question is: What is the value of a single night at a Category 6 Hilton, Starwood, Hyatt or Marriott? (No reason to use points at lower value hotels which usually have cheap rates anyway).

Since I can often obtain a 4* priceline room for <$100 in most major cities (see http://biddingfortravel.com), that would be the low end valuation. However, there have been times when priceline bidding is unsuccessful or unavailable for a particular location. In those instances, the value of one night (particularly in Europe) can easily exceed $200.

So in sum, I would value the one night awards at $75-$200 - about the same as a transcon upgrade. The upgrade is actually more valuable -- assuming you don't have unlimited upgrades -- as you still get the miles for your trip (vs. no points for free hotel stays).

I don't think a per point valuation is particularly meaningful for airline or hotel points. A business class ticket is far more valuable than an economy ticket on a per mile basis. The same logic applies to hotel rooms, i.e. a top-category room in Venice or Maui is far more valuable than San Francisco (much less LA) where 4* priceline rooms are in abundant supply.

I would agree with most that the best program by far is SPG due to the lack of capacity controls. I am sick and tired of being told by airlines and hotels that I cannot use the points that I have earned. Maybe 3 HH = 1 SPG in redemption value, but factoring in the lack of capacity controls (I do not know how you do that) makes SPG the clear winner.

As to affinity credit cards, SPG Amex is far and away the best.

Value of Points
 

Just used 25,000 HHonors points for two rooms, three nights at a property with the cheapest room going $250 a night. No problems with availability and because I was Diamond, even though I was not with family members they upgraded the room. I value HHonors points at $.005 per point in deciding to pay for a room or use a reward. In Norway 10,000 HHonors points at a Scandic Hotel gets me a room priced at $175 to $200 per night, great value there.

Forgive my ignorance on Scandic. I read about these hotels a lot on the HH board but I know nothing about them.

My question is this: if it weren't for hotel points, and you were traveling to Norway (or anywhere Scandic Hotels are present), would you consider these hotels desirable, charming places to stay? Would you pay $175 to stay in one of these hotels, or would you rather spend significantly less to stay in a boutique hotel? Or go ahead and spend a little more to get a more interesting 4* hotel?

I don't doubt that Scandic is a great place to spend 10000 HH points. Heck, even if you only feel they are really "worth" $100 per night, that's a penny a point on a small award. Very good! I'm just curious if anyone has experiences staying in Scandics and if they really, really prefer them over other hotels - or just like them because of the HHonors award.