mbece

I prefer to use miles/points for flights than for hotels. I prefer to stay in hostels, short term apartments or small B&Bs because I spend over 200 nights a year in a Marriott, so I want something different when I'm on vacation (different type of lodging and different in flight experience vs regular domestic economy).

So far, I've gifted my hotel points to friends and family along with some miles. This has allowed them to visit places they really want cant afford (like Paris). I assume at some point I'll use points on paying for my lodging ; so far, using them for airfare has been better.

Of course, I don't think id ever get on a plane just because it's first class without any intention of exploring the destination. That's just not something id enjoy.

kpowed

I think of miles and points as a way of attaining something that isn't as easily attainable using cash. An around the world ticket in F/J with multiple stopovers on an Asian carrier easily cost >$10k compared to two credit card sign up bonuses.

cricfan777

At the end of the day, what others are doing with their miles doesn't matter. What matters is how you want to use your miles to enjoy your travel experience- whether that be a luxury hotel or a business/first class ticket or just taking your family of 4 to Hawaii. A person who is single might be able to use their 120,000 miles for a business class ticket to europe in an A380. That might be the ultimate luxury for them. However,a parent's ultimate luxury vacation could be taking their family to Hawaii in coach using the same 120,000 miles. Sure the business class ticket has a more cent/mile value, but they both would've had an equally wonderful experience.

Having said that, you have to make sure to not use miles below their minimum valuation which is at least 1cent/mile for airfare. If you can't afford a ticket but have the miles to do so at less than 1c/mile then again it's about the experience and not the $ amount.
Miles can be earned via cc sign ups and MF, but experiences and memories can be once in a lifetime.

Ragnarok

For me, I prefer to burn for flights more than hotels.

I do not even want to take the trip if it means 10-15 hours on a UA747 that doesn't even have Personal TV in Y.

So I would burn the points for a J ticket.

On the other hand, I have no trouble falling asleep in a Red Roof Inn.

The only times that I have considered burning points for hotels is if there is something going on in town and all hotel rates are very high.

pkerr

I use my points for Hotel or Flight when I don't want to pay or don't have the money. Pretty simple.

pinniped

I generally attempt to use points in their native form. Airline miles for flights; hotel points for hotels. It's never crossed my mind to think "Should I be using my United miles for hotel stays?" I know it can be done, but at a big penalty in terms of value.

Exceptions:

- Marriott Travel Packages. I'm happy to trade approximately one-third of my total Marriott balance for airline miles at 1:1. I do that every time I have a need for a 1-week Marriott stay and sometimes when I just *think* I might have a need for a 1-week Marriott stay.

- I've done a couple of emergency SPG transfers over the years, mainly to top-up an airline account to redeem a large award.

- When I was flying near-EXP-level on AA and also accumulating so many VDB credits that I rarely redeemed pure awards, I used to do the old AA-for-Hilton redemption. I considered it a rare "equal swap" at 1 AA to 2 HH, as you used to be able to squeeze over a penny out of an HH point.

The only place I perhaps am effectively making a flight vs. hotel decision is with CC usage. There I still fall on the side of the hotel cards, although with every year's worth of category creep I get closer and closer to looking at other cards.

GetawaysRus

It's primarily about making my wife happy. She puts up with the time I spend at the computer learning this stuff, and she has learned to accept the credit accounts I set up for her and the time and effort for a trip to Wal-Mart or CVS.

So if a particular redemption (air or hotel) is going to please her and make our travels more pleasant, I'm all for it. And if I've got plenty of miles squirreled away, I'm OK with using airline miles for an occasional hotel redemption if necessary.

darthbimmer

I've looked a few times at spending my flight miles on hotels. It's never been worth it. For example, it costs 20k miles for a hotel I can book for $150. Those miles are worth at least twice that amount when used toward flights.

I've done the reverse several times-- converting hotel points to airline miles-- though only through Marriott's travel packages. That's a worthwhile conversion as it comes at a 1:1 rate, and 1 mile is worth more than 1 hotel point.

ctuttle

The reason I always read these posts is to get an idea how to best use the points I have accumulated. There is no right or wrong way to use points. I have used miles and points in all the programs for things all over the spectrum, including merchandise and gift cards. While these gift cards might not give you the best use of the points vs some sort of hotel or airfare it saved me from spending real cash for something I was going to purchase anyway. While a airline ticket might have been a better value I did not have the immediate need for a ticket, and I did for the gift card. Burning miles/points to save real actual cash is the ideal way to use points/miles. I also got a gas grill, and get a lot more satisfaction using that in the past year than looking at a few thousand points sitting in the account.

I also have enough miles and points where say 20,000 points did not even start to make a dent in my balance. It also doesn't make sense to hoard points in these programs, as they are not cash, terms can change, award options can also change. In my opinion keeping them like you would put money in a savings account is foolish, unless you are close to retirement and plan to start cashing in the miles/points when you will have plenty of leisure time. I don't zero the account every year, but when balances get into the mid and upper six figure area I think it is prudent to use at least some of them for something.

I'm sure I would have a different opinion if I had say 50,000 miles in my account and the wife had been hinting at going on vacation somewhere. In that case two saver tickets would be worth much more than a gift card or a gas grill.

Also those 5,000 or 10,000 points/miles you have in programs with hotels or airlines you no longer use should also be used. Since many do expire, and especially if there are no real rewards for small balances like this, point conversions, or magazine subscriptions are a great way to burn these points.

They really don't have any value until you use them, and any of the programs could either eliminate the program, or modify it in such a way that you couldn't get actually get an award that you really wanted when you wanted it.

Bttc

This is exactly it for me. It's easy to get a lot more $$ in free flights than in hotels. I get the hotel points I can, but ofttimes it's the airlines where the credit cards land.

Firewind

+1, except when I have to do otherwise. Coincidentally, here we are at the end of the year, and I got behind on using ChoicePrivileges points. Sitting on a lot. (Stupid, but I've always been better at earning than burning.) It galls me to convert anything because of the penalties, but it's nice that there's an alternative to kissing them goodbye. Alas, now it's down to: => Which airline?

toomanybooks

"If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy."

Kagehitokiri

not all points transfer to airlines well

starwood / membership rewards / virgin atlantic - have some high value hotel awards

leading hotels of the world - has some high value hotel awards earned via stays not points

when i say high value i mean thousands of dollars per night

glennaa11

But Starwood points transfer to most airlines 1:1 plus the 5K bonus for transferring 20K points. That makes them arguably better suited to transfer.

And then you also have things like Ultimate Rewards points or Membership Rewards which are flexible enough to be usable for some airlines and some hotel programs. So when deciding where to put those have to figure out what suits you best.

pduck01