Brian62979

Does anyone know the value difference between Hilton Points and Starwood points. I am a Hilton Diamond and use the point bonus (10+5) so I get approx 21 points per dollar with the Platinum bonus. I am getting a status match with Starwood for platinum. How does the value of Starwood points with the platinum bonus stack against that?

Thanks

SanDiego1K

Hi Brian, and welcome to FT.

I value Hilton points at roughly 1/3 to 1/4 the value of Starwood points. Others have done very elaborate financial calculations; hopefully they will weigh in. I base my ratio both on the points that I earn per stay and the points that it takes for a top tier property.

best

Several times of HH or IC.

MilesTalk

I personally value 1 SP = 3 HHonors.

A cat 4 seems similar to me in both programs and they are 10,000 and 30,000 pts respectively.......

It may be too simple a calculation for some here ;-)

jgxtrav1

IMO: 1 Starwood point = 3 to 4 Hilton points depending on the hotel/s selected, etc.

I find (overall) that Starwood points while more difficult to earn are much more valuable than Hilton points.

However, it's always nice to have both as there seems to be a larger selection of Hilton branded hotels in most areas I visit.

If I could only do one of the programs, I would have a great deal of difficulty choosing one over the other.

Marriott (3rd) and then Priority Club (4th) are my next choices.

stevens397

FWIW, I think yo need to add to the equation where you get your points from. If it's from a credit card, then there is nothing to talk about - Starwood rooms go for much, much less.

CPRich

A comparison on a point basis isn't very meaninful as they are earned on a different basis. A better comparison is cents per point or stay-equivalents per award night.

I value SPG points at 2.7 cents each. Most others are 2-3, with 2.5 a very popular number.

Steve23

Since it's hard to figure out which hotels are comparable, I go based on how much it costs to transfer to airline miles (as a kind of universal currency).

SPG: 1 point = 1 mile, but 20 K points buys 25 K miles. 2 points per dollar spent at the hotels. = 2.5 miles per dollar spent.

Marriott: 25K miles 70K points. 10 points per dollar spent. = 3.6 miles per dollar spent

Hilton: A little complicated because of double dipping, but let's say you go all points and get 15 points per dollar spent. One coach ticket within the continental US (usually costs 25K miles) - 100K points. = 3.75 miles per dollar spent

dbuckho

The 1 HH to 4 SPG is about right. I base this many years of evaluating redemption opportunities for my 500k+ Hilton points (how many points I need to use vs. the best available rate at the property I am considering). The best I can ever seem to do at Hilton is get the value of an award (mostly pointsavers and few CAT 1) slightly above $.01 per point when I compare it to the lowest rate. Whereas with SPG it is often over $.04 per point and sometimes can be above $.05.

damon88

Points can be worth even more if you take advantage of promotions like 5th night free. The first time we ever spent our *points was Oct 2004. We had about 140K -- we stayed 5 nights at the Danieli in a junior suite, 5 nights at the Excelsior in Florence in a penthouse with terrace room and 3 nights in an Executive room at the London Park Tower (1 in Butler room)

I added it up at the time and the rooms would have cost us at least 15K US (Much more according to the rate cards in the lobby) We would have had even more value if we had been able to stay 2 more nights in London (using the free night) But they were easily worth 10 cents on that trip.

In the fall we are using points in Vienna and the value is approximately .07
based on best price we could get on a revenue stay.

SportsTech

SPG points can be even more valuable in out-of-the-way places that don't cost quite as much. Example: I just booked a room at the Sheraton Bolzano for 3000 points, lowest cost I could find was $128. That's 4.3 cents per point, and that's before any possible upgrade (which I'm fairly likely to get, based on the fact that the hotel isn't heavily booked that week).

There are quite a few threads dealing with "best value" (the Thailand resorts seem to be the general consensus, but I have no personal experience). My experience says that a 3-1 HH-SPG conversion is normal, but can easily get to 5-1 in markets where Hilton isn't well represented. Of course, the reverse is also possible...

kunphuzn

I concur. Just today I booked five nights at Princeville in an ocean front for 54K. At the $600 + tax the room is listed during that period, I figure my 54K points saved me around $3350. I also booked the previous 5 days on Maui at the Sheraton but my out of pocket savings there is only $2250 since the rate was $200 less per night. So, my 108K points are valued at a 1/2 penny per and since every one of those points was earned by holding company meetings at Starwood properties, that $5,600 savings is especially sweet.

Boy am I looking forward to those 10 days in the islands.....

gregorygrady

1 SPG pt = 4 HH pts.

IMHO, SPG = 2 cents
and HH = 0.5 cents

yanxfann

... or at least that's what they sold for on Flyer Talk assisted auctions (note that the seller states, "Thank you Randy Petersen and the staff of InsideFlyer Magazine and WebFlyer for assisting with this item") on ebay, see:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6622315901

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...tem=6622316231

There were a total of 5 auctions for 5K *points each, they sold on average $224.10 per auction.

satori

Your point value will depend on the average rate of the room you book since the platinum 500 point amenity is a fixed rate regardless of the room cost. Also the platinum amenity is earned on award rooms which adds more value.

$125 room rate x 3 points/$ + 500 points platinum bonus = 875 points/$125.
= 7 points/$1.

The uncertainty factor is the promotion bonus. My experience over the past few years is that I will generally earn between 700 and 1,000 points per stay due to promotions on top of the room rate points and platinum bonus .

For example I am in a promotion to earn 2000 bonus points per stay this summer.

My stay tomorrow night will earn $109 room rate x 3 points + 500 points platinum bonus + 2000 points SPG promo = 2,827 points for a $109 room.

I gave up Hilton diamond status after five years of loyalty to Hilton. I found I just couldn't earn at the rates I do with Starwood. I can pay for the expensive rooms with high category values and use points to redeem for many nights in rooms that I can redeem points for 2,000 to 4,000 points/night.