Interesting Sales presentation - Vacation club is worthless, it’s all about Bonvoy points.

[n42]

I compare to the best rate available to me (AAA, Amex, etc.) and if the points don't come out to at least a full cent I pay the cash rate instead.

Sounds like you are a Marriott ninja.

I don't like to accumulate too many points. I try to spend points at roughly the same pace that I earn them. It's only a matter of time before they are devalued.

 

[dioxide45]

I'd take the Bonvoy Points if I was in your situation. That said, 400 points can get you 2 nights in a 1BR in San Diego (completely worth it), 1 night in the SF Pulse (probably not worth it), or 2-3 nights in Palm Desert (I've never stayed in Palm Desert). It can also get you 2 nights in an OV Parlor at KBC on Kauai which is very nice.

400 points can also get you a lot of nights in Hilton Head in the winter.

 

[ljmiii]

I compare to the best rate available to me (AAA, Amex, etc.) and if the points don't come out to at least a full cent I pay the cash rate instead.

Same here.

 

[ljmiii]

You can do much better if you can book five night stays since the fifth night is free when using points.

Very true. I've hit the magic 2.00+ cents a point redemption about half a dozen times and it's always been on 5-7 night stays.

 

[n42]

Delete

 

[Fasttr]

We have two single night Bonvoy award stays coming up. One is about $0.06 per point and the other is about $0.09 per point. We mainly use our points to fill in single nights between timeshare stays. You can do much better if you can book five night stays since the fifth night is free when using points.

Are you really getting 6 and 9 cents per point, or were you trying to say .6 cents and .9 cents per point?

 

[Dean]

I generally don't get a full 1¢ PP but I usually get around 0.8¢ PP or more. I'm not as stringent in this area as I once was due to progressive devaluation over time. If I had millions of points I'd be even less stringent than I am currently. I'm not afraid to pay cash for a given stay that doesn't make sense to use points. But I often book then follow the prices and find that not uncommonly they fluctuate by 40% or more over time.

 

[dioxide45]

Are you really getting 6 and 9 cents per point, or were you trying to say .6 cents and .9 cents per point?

Whoops Missed a zero in each one. I updated my post.

 

[ljmiii]

I don't like to accumulate too many points. I try to spend points at roughly the same pace that I earn them. It's only a matter of time before they are devalued.

I have not found this to be true at all. A 'penny a point' has remained more or less constant for more than half a decade.

It is true that X number of points only gets you into a Courtyard now...but it's also true of Y dollars.

Now I do miss the arbitrage opportunities that fixed Marriott hotel categories allowed. And Air + Hotel packages. And Starwood for that matter.

And I share the complaint that the MRP/Bonvoy value of MVC weeks has gone into the toilet. But that is more a Marriott Vacations Worldwide issue than a Marriott Int'l one. They could fix that tomorrow (or at least make it not so egregious) with a wave of their magic wand. And in fact have done so for some prime weeks (e.g. Hawaii and Surfwatch).

 

[jmhpsu93]

I compare to the best rate available to me (AAA, Amex, etc.) and if the points don't come out to at least a full cent I pay the cash rate instead.

And remember if you're titanium and using a Bonvoy credit card you're getting back ~23 points on the dollar for most of the brands.

 

[n42]

I have not found this to be true at all. A 'penny a point' has remained more or less constant for more than half a decade.

I'm a little surprised by your experience, given that Bonvoy points have been devalued multiple times in recent history. This has been widely reported. Your experience is definitely in an extreme minority. It's cool that you are still able to extract so much value from Bonvoy points.

I am unable to post links, but according to TPG, the last time Bonvoy points were devalued was in 2025:

Jan. 27, 2025 - Marriott Bonvoy has significantly increased some award costs
This marks a serious devaluation for its members who save up points to take hard-earned vacations.

 

[n42]

View attachment 110554

 

[ljmiii]

I'm a little surprised by your experience, given that Bonvoy points have been devalued multiple times in recent history. This has been widely reported. Your experience is definitely in an extreme minority. It's cool that you are still able to extract so much value from Bonvoy points.

I am unable to post links, but according to TPG, the last time Bonvoy points were devalued was in 2025:

I've read many such articles...including the 2025 TPG one. But TPG's methodology is inherently flawed because it assumes that you *have* to spend Bonvoy Points instead of using cash. So if a bunch of redemption opportunities that were 'poor' go to 'bad' and the ones that were 'bad' go to 'really bad' it pushes the TPG number down from 0.8 to 0.7. But...so what?!?

As I wrote upthread, it *has* become more difficult to hold the line on only using points when they yield 'a penny a point'. But as I also wrote my recent 1.57 and 2.00 cents a point redemptions were post-devaluation.

As for the future it is always uncertain. For about a year and a half after March 2020 I don't think I redeemed a single Bonvoy point because when travel came back Marriott was basically giving away hotel rooms for cash but not Bonvoy points. And looking ahead from today, leisure travel spending could crater. Or the opposite. The dollar could crater. Or the opposite. So I have no way of knowing if a year from now what a hotel reservation in Europe or Asia will cost and if it will be 'cheaper' to pay in Bonvoy points or cash.

And so I find it useful to maintain a reasonable balance of Bonvoy Points to be able to capitalize on good redemption values. And in fact had to cancel a couple of mere 'penny a point' reservations (after making sure the cash price hadn't skyrocketed in the meantime) to get my Kyoto one for 2.00 cents a point. Obviously, YMMV.

 

[Fasttr]

I've read many such articles...including the 2025 TPG one. But TPG's methodology is inherently flawed because it assumes that you *have* to spend Bonvoy Points instead of using cash. So if a bunch of redemption opportunities that were 'poor' go to 'bad' and the ones that were 'bad' go to 'really bad' it pushes the TPG number down from 0.8 to 0.7. But...so what?!?

As I wrote upthread, it *has* become more difficult to hold the line on only using points when they yield 'a penny a point'. But as I also wrote my recent 1.57 and 2.00 cents a point redemptions were post-devaluation.

As for the future it is always uncertain. For about a year and a half after March 2020 I don't think I redeemed a single Bonvoy point because when travel came back Marriott was basically giving away hotel rooms for cash but not Bonvoy points. And looking ahead from today, leisure travel spending could crater. Or the opposite. The dollar could crater. Or the opposite. So I have no way of knowing if a year from now what a hotel reservation in Europe or Asia will cost and if it will be 'cheaper' to pay in Bonvoy points or cash.

And so I find it useful to maintain a reasonable balance of Bonvoy Points to be able to capitalize on good redemption values. And in fact had to cancel a couple of mere 'penny a point' reservations (after making sure the cash price hadn't skyrocketed in the meantime) to get my Kyoto one for 2.00 cents a point. Obviously, YMMV.

I agree, there are decent values out there....and as mentioned, getting the 5th night free helps. I have a stay at the Moxy Banff in late June. The AAA rate paying cash is currently $1,002 Canadian per night, which is approx $717 USD. So 5 nights of that would be $3,585 USD. I am using 185K Bonvoy, so getting a value of approx 1.94 cents per point.

 

[Steve A]

I mainly use Bonvoy points for airport hotel stays although I will be using a large number for the Renaissance resort in Orajestad before I check into the Aruba Ocean Club. I’m old, with lots of points from cc use, and I can’t be bothered doing the math. I just use them as it serves my purposes.

 

[rthib]

Another issue is that you can't even convert all your Abound Club Points to Bonvoy Points every year. Here is the breakdown. This makes conversion of Club Points to Bonvoy even worse. You then also have to find another use for the Club Points that you can't convert.

Owner & Select - Up to 50%
Executive & Presidential - Up to 65%
Chairman's Club - Up to 75%

I recall him mention something about when the hotel night was implemented, they would also allow you to convert more points. He never really mentioned it again so don’t recall what it was since unless it was in writing I assume it is a lie. It may have been the first rep who did mention that the only advantage of moving up was converting more points so maybe that was it, though he never did offer me enough points to move up. So maybe I am mis remembering.
As for the value, for me I never redeem for less that 1 penny a point and usually get between 1-2.
The pitch from the sales rep was the superior value of the Bonvoy villa and homes reservation which allow you to get a house in Hawaii for just 22k point the same as a Fairfield inn.
It was hard to hold my thoughts about how ridiculous this all ways but didn’t see any point on arguing, I was just there to get my apparently worthless abound points

 

[Tucsonadventurer]

If they know you aren't going to buy developer, that's the angle they go to. We had a presentation through Trading Places that tried to get us to buy Bonvoy points from them. They said you own 5 timeshares resale so I know you don't want another. Not sure their affiliation with Bonvoy but we of course had no interest

 

[jellen613]

Even 20-25 years ago, when the numbers were far more favorable than they are now, it was my opinion that it was a poor choice. I know some here disagreed at the time. It's only gotten worse from there.

When I bought my week in May 2008, I got 100K bonvoy points, and then was told I would get 25K points every 6 months for the life of the loan (I did finance my week, it was a Marriott resale week). So was promised to rack up extra 50K points every year. He showed me lots of the Marriott hotels and resorts that I could go to. I did use 270K points for a 5 night stay and 110K United miles in 2022 (when they still had the 5 night certificates for owners). Stayed in Italy 5 nights in a $650 a night beautiful resort with full breakfast overlooking Tuscan mountains, which was fabulous.
However, I only got the 25k bonus 2 times because of the financial fallout of the fall of 2008.
I have only one time exchanged Abound points for a small amount Bonvoy points to add to what I had (at the end of covid when I had extra Abound points to use), to be able to stay at the Cotton House Hotel in Barcelona, again an amazing property, full Spanish breakfast every morning, and upgraded room.
All this to say, there are still times when Bonvoy points though devalued can get you a decent deal. If it hadn't been for excess points due to covid, I likely would not have traded my abound points. I would rather earn the points via purchases, and getting 40-50K for sales presentations. I do miss that they don't give 75K in points anymore, however they were stricter in how often you could go to a presentation.

 

[jwalk03]

I have a really good redemption success I have to share- Going to Cleveland for a concert at Huntington Bank Field in August. Staying at the Westin downtown which is 1/2 mile easy walk from the stadium.

Booked 2 nights for 74,000 points. The cash rate for those 2 nights is $2,347!! So I'm getting just over 3.17 cents per point for that one!

Now I would never pay that cash rate of course- I would have found something else but still a heck of a redemption win for me! (and one of the nights I actually just used a 35K certificate + 2k points for)

 

[Dean]

When I bought my week in May 2008, I got 100K bonvoy points, and then was told I would get 25K points every 6 months for the life of the loan (I did finance my week, it was a Marriott resale week). So was promised to rack up extra 50K points every year. He showed me lots of the Marriott hotels and resorts that I could go to. I did use 270K points for a 5 night stay and 110K United miles in 2022 (when they still had the 5 night certificates for owners). Stayed in Italy 5 nights in a $650 a night beautiful resort with full breakfast overlooking Tuscan mountains, which was fabulous.
However, I only got the 25k bonus 2 times because of the financial fallout of the fall of 2008.
I have only one time exchanged Abound points for a small amount Bonvoy points to add to what I had (at the end of covid when I had extra Abound points to use), to be able to stay at the Cotton House Hotel in Barcelona, again an amazing property, full Spanish breakfast every morning, and upgraded room.
All this to say, there are still times when Bonvoy points though devalued can get you a decent deal. If it hadn't been for excess points due to covid, I likely would not have traded my abound points. I would rather earn the points via purchases, and getting 40-50K for sales presentations. I do miss that they don't give 75K in points anymore, however they were stricter in how often you could go to a presentation.

I know there are rare situations where the points work out reasonably but IMO there has never been a time in history where it was reasonable (from a financial standpoint) to exchange for points hoping that it'd work out and it's only gotten worse. When you exchange for points there are no guarantees and even on a good day about the best one can routinely do is break even. You may get a one off that makes sense but that's about it. The other issue is that most people compare to the rack rated of what they are looking at using points rather than looking more broadly at other options like other hotel systems and private rentals of timeshares, condo's, etc. About the worst approach is buying planning to exchange for points routinely. This approach comes under the "knew or should have known there were great risks" category.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I'd take the Bonvoy Points if I was in your situation. That said, 400 points can get you 2 nights in a 1BR in San Diego (completely worth it), 1 night in the SF Pulse (probably not worth it), or 2-3 nights in Palm Desert (I've never stayed in Palm Desert). It can also get you 2 nights in an OV Parlor at KBC on Kauai which is very nice.

Are you in a higher MVC Elite tier because of your Vistana ownership? If so (and if the "Last-Minute" discount applies to Bonus Points...which I don't know) you might do better to focus on reservations 1-60 days in advance because you would effectively have 571 points.

We are Select.

We are also Plat Elite on hotel side.

Does that give us 60 day discount?

 

[ljmiii]

We are Select.

We are also Plat Elite on hotel side.

Does that give us 60 day discount?

Sadly, no. Executive Owners (7,000 - 9,999 Club Points or enrolled week equivalents) get a 25% discount at 30 days or less and Presidential or Chairman's Club owners get a 30% discount at 60 days or less.

 

[rthib]

I'm a little surprised by your experience, given that Bonvoy points have been devalued multiple times in recent history. This has been widely reported. Your experience is definitely in an extreme minority. It's cool that you are still able to extract so much value from Bonvoy points.

I am unable to post links, but according to TPG, the last time Bonvoy points were devalued was in 2025:

Most of those articles are looking at average rates. I too never use points unless I am getting over a penny point and find it pretty easy. Plus with dynamic pricing, keeping an eye on your reservation and rebooking when it goes down can make for even better value.

It takes more work now and nothing like the days of 5 day travel package, especially back when you could use those points transfer to get you the Southwest companion pass.