Is Marriott [Bonvoy] dead to us? Should it be to you?

[Steve Fatula]

YMMV. There are pockets of value. However, every time they devalue (and they will do it again) it increases the relative benefits of 2% cards and more flexible points currencies eg Chase Rewards. This is why airlines like United are wondering why people are not lining up for their cards and mileage runs anymore.

What sucks is with increasing Bonvoy devaluation velocity, points earned last year based on expected valuations made at the time, are now worth less when you have earned and are ready to use this year.

Bottom line: Need to evaluate against future devaluations not current valuations. (But not clear how to do that easily.) We are hanging onto our anniversary night cards for now but not actively collecting more points.

I understand your point of view, I just am nowhere near as negative on the value. The 2% card currency devalues as well, inflation. Perhaps at a different rate of course. But I don't see the devaluation you do. I do see if one had specific hotels they want to stay at in specific places, the devalue can be more impactful. But hotels go up in price too, so, not surprised it takes more points, just as it takes more cash.

When we drove to Ohio after Christmas, I was honestly shocked by hotel rates. Rates for hotels in the past 7 years for some of the cities we used to stay in on the way have doubled. We had not been on a road trip in a while where we paid for rooms. It's likely cheaper to fly now. So, using your 2% cash, you'd get half as much. I would think therefore, it should take more points to reserve the same rooms. I'm just not convinced that cash is any better really. I'm staying with points over cash, but, I do get your point. I agree ymmv.

I would have had to charge way more than I ever could to pay for the flights that were free last year, ~$4000 in flights, / 2% = $200,000 needing to be charged to pay for them. I don't charge that much in 15 years, lol.

 

[jerseyfinn]

Is Marriott dead to us? Should it be to you?

Well, you only die once & although we're now retired, we're not gonna check off death from our bucket list yet.

Business of America is business so it's not really a surprise that Marriott or any other travel company/airline periodically reevaluates their loyalty programs which function/behave in relative tandem to the larger economy around them. Especially so with the size & scope of this Marriott Bonvoy reorganization which brings in a bevy of hotel chains & tries to integrate them under the new company umbrella.

I think folks who use the Marriott Hotel /TS program as their main travel cache source are used to these periodic devaluations as we take it stride just as we do rising consumer prices. Folks such as road warriors who use multiple loyalty programs & those who are newly absorbed SPG folks might require more time to adapt to changes made by Marriott ( but how does one know what an independent SPG program might have done at this time?).

My own best guess here in TUG is those who conjoin their MVC/hotel program travels to Marriott's loyalty program find ways to satisfy their immediate destination travel needs & they shrug off the devaluations as beyond their control as they begrudgingly strategize their next trip. The one positive for MVC folks who own/travel over periods of many years is they're on track for one of the lifetime member tiers that don't require annual hotel night stays. Small things like guaranteed short notice reservation or late checkout are nominal perks that can sweeten up a random travel need. Not perfect of course, but at least a modicum sense of partnership albeit imperfect.

My own little issue with this Marriott/Bonvoy consolidation is it's gonna take years for me to incorporate the "bonvoy" part into my brain as Marriott & MR points remain fixed in my head. . Likewise I'm utterly overwhelmed with too much info/choices when trying to book a Marriott hotel via the web site. I still don't know all of the brands Marriott absorbs & if I would want to stay at one of them.

But that's the price of progress as time moves on.

That said, I do know that a Marriott hotel branded as an Elements by Westin is due to open here this week in Village of Oak Creek where we live within the red rocks of Sedona. Obviously we won't need to stay there, but methinks folks looking for a Marriott brand in Sedona might have to search a bit to figure this thing out with all of the Bonvoy verbage. But for folks who fly the Marriott flag, they do have a new choice.

travel safe,

Barry

 

[Quilter]

You’re right Barry....Bonvoy just doesn’t flow off the tongue like MR did.

I’m overwhelmed too with deciding what Points to use to book a room. We’re looking at a Cat 6 hotel for next February. Reservations won’t open until March. I looked at nightly prices for this year and it’s running $500-600 a night when taxes are added in.

Use Bonvoy or Chase travel? It may be a combo of both.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

Here is an example of points devaluation for a high end hotel in Europe we booked a year ago just prior to the Mar 2019 devaluation:

Feb 2019: We paid 60k pts night for a partial view room.

Now (before upcoming devaluation): 90k pts per night for a room with no view.

Points with next 2020 devaluation???

That's at least150% devaluation in only one year for a less desirable room.

This hotel is dead to us.

 

[jerseyfinn]

This hotel is dead to us.

I totally understand your angst & disappointment but I note you say you book a high end Europe hotel. We've done our share of Europe travels and I don't profess to be an expert. But in our own Europe Marriott travels we notice lots of disparities in Europe stays. Europe itself a totally different corporate animal.

Your message gets me looking at the Marriott Loyalty Program Terms & Conditions to educate myself about this newly entangled Bonvoy Web. It's a long document with all sorts of sub-categories outlining the latest "Loyalty Program" T&C. One might need a glass of wine ( or the whole bottle ) to slowly digest the Bonvoy lexicon.

In Section 3: Redeeem Points under 3.2d are words about property exceptions ( like I say, it's a long arcane read ). It's a short missive that states "select properties may have redemption rates in excess of the Cat 8 redemption rates".

I'm not trying to refute you or offer Bonvoy excuses, but a good question to ask is what category is your Europe hotel & might this account for at least a portion of the MR points devaluation you see since last trip. < note: T&C now appear to me to say they're now called "points" sans the "Marriott Rewards" >

Sorry to hear of your problem. But your message does wake me out of my Bonvoy coma where I actually look up the latest T&C of the "Loyalty Program" to see what's up.

I wouldn't urge immediately reading T&C, but it could be worthwhile to look at the Bonvoy T&C as there's lots of tidbits in there which explain some of the deeper workings of the programs. A nice section about T&C for TUGgers who've earned a Lifetime elite tier with reminders of how the guarantee program works when/if a stay goes awry and the process of applying for compensation.

Methinks I've got a headache saying Bonvoy too many times

IN any case, travel safe

barry

 

[jerseyfinn]

You’re right Barry....Bonvoy just doesn’t flow off the tongue like MR did.

I’m overwhelmed too with deciding what Points to use to book a room. We’re looking at a Cat 6 hotel for next February. Reservations won’t open until March. I looked at nightly prices for this year and it’s running $500-600 a night when taxes are added in.

Use Bonvoy or Chase travel? It may be a combo of both.

Yes, the dilemma of destination travel to eke out something extra. I call this "Quilter's Words of Destination Travel Wisdom".


----------------

A lot of destination travel becomes automatic as one travels more regularly. But sometimes you must do something different to assure a reservation or smooth out a trip.

We flew out 2019 to Ocean Pointe on Thanksgiving Day on an itinerary of PHX-DFW-PBI. Reservation made months ahead but the airline kept tweaking both aircraft & times . . . I suspect a scheduing consequence from the MAX issues with AAL as our DFW connect window kept shrinking.

The first leg ends up on a smaller plane where our usual 19 inch carry on might not have overhead space. This combined with a short DFW connection needing a monorail ride to different terminal for the second leg. I ponder issues with a checked bag on T-Day holiday missing the connecting flight.

Before moving to AZ we live in PHL where handlers regularly screw things up so perhaps I have PHL baggage-PTSD: . In any case we ship our big suitcase to resort the week before. An extra cost, to do so, but tracking confirms it arrived & we fly almost empty handed save for my computer/electronics & Carol's small granny bag.

And we did have a DFW snafu as on PHX take off boards it says our connecting flight is in same terminal as DFW arrival. When we got there, we learn it indeed is in another terminal . . . after we do the long walk to the PHX listed gate. A little monorail scramble & gate angst figuring out DFW with the clock ticking. Not having that carry on made life much easier.

TUG folks go with the flow.

barry

 

[csalter2]

I always fail to understand the complaints because ALL of these loyalty programs get devalued at some point.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

I always fail to understand the complaints because ALL of these loyalty programs get devalued at some point.

True. However it is the rate of devaluation in only one year that makes this unique compared to the competition.

Many posters cited high end hotels as great value. The example I gave was for a current category 8. I believe it was a 6 or 7 when we made the booking last year.

We have seen similar devaluations for high end hotels in Hawaii. We are finding very few good options to use our remaining points.

 

[csalter2]

True. However it is the rate of devaluation in only one year that makes this unique compared to the competition.

Many posters cited high end hotels as great value. The example I gave was for a current category 8. I believe it was a 6 or 7 when we made the booking last year.

We have seen similar devaluations for high end hotels in Hawaii. We are finding very few good options to use our remaining points.

‘Personally, I believe it’s all relative. My wife is a Hilton Honors Diamond level loyalty member. She currently has about 1.2 million points. We are looking to to go to Australia. We looked at a week in Sydney and for two of us it was 43,000 points per night at the Sydney Hilton and then 39,000 points per night at the West Sydney Curio. When I added my 6 year old daughter it went to 93,000 per night and 192,000 per night respectively. I couldn’t believe it! 651,000 points or 1,344,000? That was outrageous! Now I plugged in the same December 20-27 dates for the same area and the highest category 5 was 210,000 Bonvoy points. A category 4 was 150,000 points and category 3 was 105,000 points. The only difference was the Hilton property had a complimentary breakfast. That’s not worth all those points to me. Marriott’s location is prime too! We were not charged extra points for my daughter with Marriott either!

Again, to me all of the belly aching is ridiculous, especially for those of us whose company is flipping the bill in most cases. If they aren’t, then you’re getting freebies just for buying groceries or doing shopping or paying your electric bill like you would always. I’m going to look at Marriott’s Bonvoy program as a “nice to have” little perk that saves me gobs of money.

 

[AlmostRetired]

Two thoughts come to mind with reward points and Marriott loyalty. Points will always have some value even as it continues to diminish, the question becomes does this diminished value change behavior. Points stopped being a motivating factor to me the last re-swizzling. So my answer is no. I do nothing out of the ordinary to get them. I use my Chase Reserve for all travel including MF. The second thought is will it impact my loyalty to Marriott. I can't go beyond lifetime Platinum, so even a higher level is not longer a motivator. I do enjoy the brand and the status so that means something to me. I will continue check Marriott and compare with my corp discount, AARP, AAA and weekend rates I get at Marriott and other brands. The value of status benefits will be factored into price differences but the points value will not. Assuming the location to where I want to be is a wash and unless the price difference is too big to ignore, I will likely go with Marriott.

 

[bogey21]

Is Marriott dead to us? Should it be to you?

Back in my working days and traveling a lot I was Mariott all the way. I even sent my Son to a week's golf school using Marriott points. Today even though Marriott recently sent me a metal Lifetime Platinum Card I could care less. It is probably more a change of lifestyle issue than anything else...

George

 

[controller1]

I always fail to understand the complaints because ALL of these loyalty programs get devalued at some point.

True. However it is the rate of devaluation in only one year that makes this unique compared to the competition.

Look at the number of Marriott properties increasing vs the number decreasing and compare that with Hyatt. Hyatt's award changes are also coming in March. Of the 217 hotels changing award categories, 117 are increasing while 100 are decreasing.

 

[AlmostRetired]

‘Again, to me all of the belly aching is ridiculous, especially for those of us whose company is flipping the bill in most cases. If they aren’t, then you’re getting freebies just for buying groceries or doing shopping or paying your electric bill like you would always. I’m going to look at Marriott’s Bonvoy program as a “nice to have” little perk that saves me gobs of money.

In the last year there was a post on the Marriott Titanium Facebook Group by someone who said their company was changing the rules and reward points for their travels would be going to the company instead of the traveler. I do not remember the exact post. I was shocked on the number of people who gave an opinion. Most negative on what the company was doing. The tone of many were angry as if it was owed to them since some spend as much as 60% to 80% of their time traveling. Some felt it a salary hit and they were owed this as a reward to their family for sending so much time away.

I would not have felt that way but I found it interesting. Having traveled a bit for a while, no amount of points would have made it worth it if I didn't like what I was doing or I wasn't compensated enough to make the time away from family worth it. I wonder what the response would have been if I said, I do not travel for work much anymore but I did. Stop your belly aching and either be glad you have a job or quit..


I find your response interesting. One could say that the fact that the company you work for pays for your points so the cost to you is nothing. You couldn't understand belly aching because you will always be up in value with points with a zero cost basis. I know that would be unfair because there could be a cost of time with family to earning those points even if the company pays for it.

The fact is the program has significantly gone down in value and that is without question. Personally I do not get upset. While the points are not a motivator the status is a nice benefits. When the status is not, I can either be glad I have a job (continue to stay at Marriott's) or quit.

BTW, how would you feel if you did not get the points benefit of your work related travels.?

 

[csalter2]

In the last year there was a post on the Marriott Titanium Facebook Group by someone who said their company was changing the rules and reward points for their travels would be going to the company instead of the traveler. I do not remember the exact post. I was shocked on the number of people who gave an opinion. Most negative on what the company was doing. The tone of many were angry as if it was owed to them since some spend as much as 60% to 80% of their time traveling. Some felt it a salary hit and they were owed this as a reward to their family for sending so much time away.

I would not have felt that way but I found it interesting. Having traveled a bit for a while, no amount of points would have made it worth it if I didn't like what I was doing or I wasn't compensated enough to make the time away from family worth it. I wonder what the response would have been if I said, I do not travel for work much anymore but I did. Stop your belly aching and either be glad you have a job or quit..


I find your response interesting. One could say that the fact that the company you work for pays for your points so the cost to you is nothing. You couldn't understand belly aching because you will always be up in value with points with a zero cost basis. I know that would be unfair because there could be a cost of time with family to earning those points even if the company pays for it.

The fact is the program has significantly gone down in value and that is without question. Personally I do not get upset. While the points are not a motivator the status is a nice benefits. When the status is not, I can either be glad I have a job (continue to stay at Marriott's) or quit.

BTW, how would you feel if you did not get the points benefit of your work related travels.?

I guess to me it’s very simple. It’s oh, they offer this if I do that? Cool! Free stuff. I like Marriott so I stay at those properties. I stay there not for the benefits, but because I like the hotels. I am a high school principal so I don’t travel for work. However, my wife has to travel. She told me tat she would be disappointed if she did not get the points In fact, she said she’d be mad. However, she does recognize that her job does pay for her travel and the opportunity would not even be there without her job. It’s a freebie! You’re not entitled. That’s my point. The ENTITLEMENT that people feel the deserve this or deserve that. I am sure I am in the minority, that will not be the first time on this board. I also don’t understand why people complain about updates when they know going into them what they are going to experience when they have done them many times before. They’re so surprised that the truth has been stretched or misrepresented. They went for the gift, get over yourself. Just my take on it.

 

[Steve Fatula]

The fact is the program has significantly gone down in value and that is without question. Personally I do not get upset. While the points are not a motivator the status is a nice benefits. When the status is not, I can either be glad I have a job (continue to stay at Marriott's) or quit.

BTW, how would you feel if you did not get the points benefit of your work related travels.?

I personally would initially feel cheated if the company removed my "benefit" of points, but, then I'd settle down and realize it's their money really. So, I guess I'd feel both ways at some point, lol.

That being said, this statement is wrong:

"The fact is the program has significantly gone down in value and that is without question."

That is not without question. It depends on your usage! If the hotels I am using did not go up (yes, there are more up than down not the point), then, did it go down in value for me? No. It's actually possible (though less likely) the only hotels I use went down in value, did the program go up in value for me then? What if I don't use my points for hotels at all, but instead convert them to airlines miles (when they offer bonuses). Did my value go down? No! Etc.

If your statement meant to say the benefit to all users in aggregate has gone down, then, I would agree.

My status now gets me late checkout at MVCI resorts, I did not used to get that. Just used it for the 5th resort in a row at DSV2 this very week. I love late checkout at hotels, for me that's worth a ton as we are not early risers. It's torture otherwise. The lounge benefit, particularly overseas, is a massive benefit. I agree the status is worth a lot. United silver has paid off for me as well.

Am I personally pleased the categories changed? No. Nor am I pleased at the recent doubling of random hotel cash rates, at least the ones I stay at. I do continue however to find a *lot* of value in the program. ymmv.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

This is not belly-aching. This is arbitrage. It is the realization that this ride will not last and other rides are becoming relatvely more flexible and easier to book what you want when you want.

I enjoy having points currencies from multiple chains to arbitrage the most optimal spend because each program will offer pockets of value. Sometimes cash is better, sometimes bank points, sometimes hotel points.

However the hotel and air points were earned during lucrative points accrual opportunities so I am continually reviewing where the next points will be earned for spend. The answer is increasingly
becoming a 2% or Chase Rewards/Amex points card for us.

 

[rickandcindy23]

I made a reservation with 60,000 points at Ritz Carlton on Maui. Now we aren't using the night. We have made other arrangements. I went to cancel the confirmation for 2/22 and saw that I cannot cancel because it's supposed to have been cancelled on 2/1. I am not happy. I am going to go up there and see if they will let us cancel it. We are on Maui, so it's worth it to get my points back. This kind of irks me.

 

[Dean]

In the last year there was a post on the Marriott Titanium Facebook Group by someone who said their company was changing the rules and reward points for their travels would be going to the company instead of the traveler. I do not remember the exact post. I was shocked on the number of people who gave an opinion. Most negative on what the company was doing. The tone of many were angry as if it was owed to them since some spend as much as 60% to 80% of their time traveling. Some felt it a salary hit and they were owed this as a reward to their family for sending so much time away.

I would not have felt that way but I found it interesting. Having traveled a bit for a while, no amount of points would have made it worth it if I didn't like what I was doing or I wasn't compensated enough to make the time away from family worth it. I wonder what the response would have been if I said, I do not travel for work much anymore but I did. Stop your belly aching and either be glad you have a job or quit..


I find your response interesting. One could say that the fact that the company you work for pays for your points so the cost to you is nothing. You couldn't understand belly aching because you will always be up in value with points with a zero cost basis. I know that would be unfair because there could be a cost of time with family to earning those points even if the company pays for it.

The fact is the program has significantly gone down in value and that is without question. Personally I do not get upset. While the points are not a motivator the status is a nice benefits. When the status is not, I can either be glad I have a job (continue to stay at Marriott's) or quit.

BTW, how would you feel if you did not get the points benefit of your work related travels.?

I do not find it unreasonable for the one paying for the bill to get the points. I guess for me the line in the sand is they actually need to pay the bill, not just reimburse me for the costs. But if one is traveling routinely for work a significant amount of time, the company should provide a form of payment anyway though many don't. I'm reminded of the NBA officials scandal of years ago where they were turning in first class airline tickets for coach and pocketing the difference.

 

[AlmostRetired]

That is not without question. It depends on your usage! If the hotels I am using did not go up (yes, there are more up than down not the point), then, did it go down in value for me? No. It's actually possible (though less likely) the only hotels I use went down in value, did the program go up in value for me then? What if I don't use my points for hotels at all, but instead convert them to airlines miles (when they offer bonuses). Did my value go down? No! Etc.

I understand why Marriott devalues points. As with most business decisions it is not not personal and I do not take it that way. As with my timeshare ownership (since 1995), things change, you adjust, figure out how to make it work and move on. Marriott Reward points no longer motivates me. I am still going to accumulate them for stays and use them. My elite status has value and I enjoy the benefits (breakfast, late checkout and when available upgrades) ). I will still stay at Marriott's when it makes sense (and cents). My Chase Bonvoy card is now silent. As long as the value of a cat 5 certificate is more than the cost of a card I will keep it. I now use only my Chase Sapphire card for all aspects of travel. I would rather have the 4.5 % of travel spend to use for travel (you earn 3% for travel and when used for travel is is worth 4.5%).

I do not exchange for just miles. If you are saying that the reward points needed for airline miles has stayed the same since you joined the rewards program, then you are correct.

My exchange experience has been mainly travel packages. If you are correct, my devalue statement would only apply to hotel related stays like pure hotel stays and travel packages. Since 2001, I used 5 travel packages. The first was in July 2001. I got 4 round trip tickets anywhere AA or a partner went and 2 seven night hotel stays. No restrictions on flights or hotels (not sure if they had categories). It also had some deal with hertz that I used but will not count that because I have no clue what it was. We used British Airlines top go from NY to Paris with a 7 day stopover in London. Two seven night packages for a Cat 7 today would be 1.140M points with 200,000 miles. In looking at this trip (just NY to Paris and Madrid back to NY) using milesaver award points, the best round trip deal I can find starting in July and returning in July 3 weeks later is 348,000 miles. Lets us account for the 20% bonus and say I need 80% of 348,000 or 278,000 airline miles so I need 78,000 more miles. At 3:1 that is another 234,000 reward points (78000x3). So the total point cost today would be 1,374M points. That is 3.1 times as many points or 210% higher in 18 1/2 years. If did this with each of my packages, it would show the same thing most likely ( to a lesser extent). I got good value from those packages but it doesn't change the fact that it costs more and more points.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

We are currently staying at an SPG hotel. Would we be better off paying for incidentals with the 6x SPG card? Or Chase Sapphire Reserve 3x?

 

[bizaro86]

Former MR members and now starting to feel the same way former SPG members felt. We were loyal SPG hotel/credit card members prior to the merger, and the value isn't even close any more.

My personal example is the Westin/St Regis in Venice. We stayed there a few years back for 12000 SPG per night, or 48k for the 5 night stay with 5th night free. I spent 48k on my credit card in standard categories to earn this stay.

Now it is Bonvoy category 8. In the unlikely event you could find 5 nights without a peak night mixed in, you'd pay 340k in bonvoy points for 5 nights at standard prices. Or $170k in credit card spend in standard categories.

That is more than triple the cost. Inflation has not more than tripled during the past few years.

Other high end European/Asian properties where we used to say have been devalued in similar fashion.

That 170k in credit card spend would get you $3400 in cash back at 2%. Probably could find a hotel with cash for $700/night or less, and cash is more flexible (other brands, shorter stays, etc). By comparison, my SPG stay in the same building was under $200/night in foregone cashback.

 

[Steve Fatula]

My exchange experience has been mainly travel packages. If you are correct, my devalue statement would only apply to hotel related stays like pure hotel stays and travel packages. Since 2001, I used 5 travel packages. The first was in July 2001. I got 4 round trip tickets anywhere AA or a partner went and 2 seven night hotel stays. No restrictions on flights or hotels (not sure if they had categories). It also had some deal with hertz that I used but will not count that because I have no clue what it was. We used British Airlines top go from NY to Paris with a 7 day stopover in London. Two seven night packages for a Cat 7 today would be 1.140M points with 200,000 miles. In looking at this trip (just NY to Paris and Madrid back to NY) using milesaver award points, the best round trip deal I can find starting in July and returning in July 3 weeks later is 348,000 miles. Lets us account for the 20% bonus and say I need 80% of 348,000 or 278,000 airline miles so I need 78,000 more miles. At 3:1 that is another 234,000 reward points (78000x3). So the total point cost today would be 1,374M points. That is 3.1 times as many points or 210% higher in 18 1/2 years. If did this with each of my packages, it would show the same thing most likely ( to a lesser extent). I got good value from those packages but it doesn't change the fact that it costs more and more points.

If you have changed the discussion from discussing the new category changes to all time program changes, then yes, of course hotels cost more today. But like your example, not all examples are that way either. When you use the points is relevant. When we went to Fiji last year, the flights were very expensive. Very. Now, going to Fiji costs (forgot the United cost) say 60,000 points (could be wrong). At the time, flights were many thousands of dollars each. But one could also go to other places where flights might be $700 for the same number of points. So, the value of those miles changes massively depending on when and where, could be 5 times as much value per point. Bonvoy (or United) had run a promotion where you got more points than the 3:1, and that gave me enough United miles for the trip. Those were gold to me and were huge value per point, way over the points guys valuations.

Changed today as well is off season vs prime season hotel points costs. Are they still devalued all time? Yes, however, in some cases, if you are in fact going off season, it's cheaper than it was a few years back. Cheaper than many years ago? Almost certainly not of course.

I certainly would not argue that there have been many hotels with huge points increases. I know that. For travel packages, they are much worse than they used to be for sure. I've used many over the years and likely will not now, though, you do know travel packages provide a category hotel no matter the season, so, prime or not, it's the same cost. So, you can get a little better mileage out of them if you only use prime season where possible for them. At least you wouldn't suffer spending more points. That's one place where the value of the package can exceed it's component parts still.

All that being said, it's expected and it's far from dead for me. For some of you, it's not difficult to spend 170k on credit card charges. For me, that's probably 10 years of spending, lol. I continue to earn my points from presentations. And it's well worth it.

 

[rthib]

Upgraded (for free and without having to ask) to the Presidential suite tonight staying on my cheap corporate rate. Definitely not dead.

 

[CalGalTraveler]

'Free' travel can be a real gotcha. Here's when to say yes and when to run away.

There are three flavors of "free" in travel. There's dangerous, there's benign – and there's truly free. Here's how to tell the difference.

www.usatoday.com

 

[Steve Fatula]

On some hotels, perhaps only cheaper ones not sure, there is definitely value. I am headed to Tulsa tomorrow (love that city) for a surgeon appt (except for this). Looking at room, I saw Residence Inn there I have stayed at before, which I liked, cat 1. Rate/night is $141. Bonvoy points, 7,500. So, that's 1.88 cents per point, which actually is pretty good! I'll gladly trade 7,500 cheaply earned points for 1 night there. On a cash card, I'd have to charge about $7,000 for the same privilege. Whereas Bonvoy points come much cheaper for me. Just paying MF gets me a lot of nights there. Any time I can get more than 1 cent per point on Bonvoy, to me it's a good deal. Not as good as before most likely, but not worthless by any means.

Sadly, it too is going up to cat 2. But the Southern Hills Marriott is going down to cat2.