Marriott Rewards - estimated values ?

[hvsmith2]

Not strictly a Timeshare question [@ mods: if this is not appropriate to this forum or sub-forum, please move or delete by all means].

I was just wondering if others with more experience could add to my understanding of the value of Marriott Reward points that I have.

I have a LOT ! We were given a chunk on purchasing our weeks, and having traded weeks for MR points as well (plus the odd paid-for stay at Marriott hotels !) I have 1.5million points - I assume that is a lot, anyway.

How do people value them ? I also have (or have in the past had) large balances of BA airmiles and Virgin Flying Club points and I always have in my mind a value for these [I think US$ 0.02 per mile in the case of the airlines]. In that case, I base it on the better-value routes and I travel enough on long-haul to be able to wait til I can use them at good value.

How about MR points ? I see one can BUY them for US$12.50/1,000 so US$0.0125/MR seems a cap on the value.

More to the point, is there any way to monetize them ?

At the moment, my best plan is to occasionally stay in Marriott hotels when I need to but I don't get all that many chances in truth.

 

[larue]

Not strictly a Timeshare question [@ mods: if this is not appropriate to this forum or sub-forum, please move or delete by all means].

I was just wondering if others with more experience could add to my understanding of the value of Marriott Reward points that I have.

I have a LOT ! We were given a chunk on purchasing our weeks, and having traded weeks for MR points as well (plus the odd paid-for stay at Marriott hotels !) I have 1.5million points - I assume that is a lot, anyway.

How do people value them ? I also have (or have in the past had) large balances of BA airmiles and Virgin Flying Club points and I always have in my mind a value for these [I think US$ 0.02 per mile in the case of the airlines]. In that case, I base it on the better-value routes and I travel enough on long-haul to be able to wait til I can use them at good value.

How about MR points ? I see one can BUY them for US$12.50/1,000 so US$0.0125/MR seems a cap on the value.

More to the point, is there any way to monetize them ?

At the moment, my best plan is to occasionally stay in Marriott hotels when I need to but I don't get all that many chances in truth.

It depends on how you use them, but they can be very valuable. In 5 day increments, where you pay for 4 and get the fifth free, for example, you could stay at the Marriott Champs Élysées in Paris for nearly 2 months in a room that would run 500 or more euro per night. You could also max the value by using them for plane and hotel packages as a Marriott owner and get a 1 for 1 exchange for frequent flier miles.

 

[swaits]

I put them at about $0.005/point, or a half-cent, about 200 points to a dollar.

You might check out the MR 5 night travel packages offered to MVCI owners. They run from 165k to 300k, depending on Hotel Category, and include airfare. There are also 7 night packages available.

 

[BocaBoy]

I value them at a minimum of 1 cent per point, but many uses for them (e.g., the 5-day and 7-day travel packages) give you a lot more value than that.

 

[hvsmith2]

I value them at a minimum of 1 cent per point, but many uses for them (e.g., the 5-day and 7-day travel packages) give you a lot more value than that.

I find this fairly believable although I am probably not that well placed to exploit the extra value.

The main use I have made is to stay at the Marriott Park Lane in central London - a category 8 hotel. 40,000 per night, where the cash rate would be say £250 per night - that translates to almost exactly 1 US cent per point.

Admittedly, I would choose a cheaper cash-paid hotel, or find a better deal for cash so it is a slightly flattering conversion.

 

[rthib]

I use .01 for my, Points vs $ question.

The best "value" for points is the travel package.
If you value miles, it is an easy way to get some miles and you also have a hotel stay.

You could take all your points and turn it into 720,000 Miles and (6) 5-night hotel stays in Category 6 hotels.

On my last trip, my travel package worked out to about .017 per point
(Airfare and Hotel rate).

 

[MALC9990]

This is a question raised several times both here and on FlyerTalk. My base value is 1.25 cents a point - that's what Marriott sells them for and so if you can beat that then you are ahead of the game.

As already stated - the travel packages are the way to go to aim for maximum value.

My best value 1 night stay was New Years Eve at the Marriott County Hall - 40,000 points for a room that was selling at £650 Plus taxes. Having said that the 5 nights for the cost of 4 nights points is good value but again you need to beat the 1.25 cent per point which means the room cost has to be more than $300 per night.

The really good value can be had when you combine a travel package with an airline offer or benefit. In my case I tie the travel package with my BA exec Club Amex Card benefit of a 2-4-1 voucher which gives 2 Frequent Flyer award seats for the points required for 1 seat. So exchange MR points for a 5 night package - only available to Vacation Club owners. Take the BAEC AVIOS and use them for a First Class award to wherever you want to go (availability dependent) and then work out what two First Class seats would have cost you - deduct the taxes and Fees that have to be paid and work out what 5 nights in the hotel you chose would have cost and add that back in and see what you got for your MR points. My best was 15 cents per point for 5 nights in a cat 6 Marriott (Son Antem) and 2 First Class returns to Sydney from London. I needed to add some existing AVIOS to the transaction but still got amazing value for my MR points.

Another option - not such good value is to do a straight trade of MR points for BAEC Avios or miles in another tier one airline partner FF program. For me the best value there comes when BA have an offer on where they give a bonus award of avios for the exchange - my best was a 30% BONUS when I traded 750000 MR points for 390,000 AVIOS.

Using a Travel package together with an airline bonus gives really good value. Taking a 5 night package at a cat 6 hotel gets you 5 nights accommodation and 120,000 BA Avios for 250,000 MR points. If you time it when there is a bonus for exchanging MR points from the airline then you get even better value. i timed it once to a 30% bonus and got 156000 AVIOS for the 5 night package - since a 5 night stay at a CAT 6 hotel would cost 120000 MR points - that means the 156,000 AVIOS required 130,000 MR points which is a great rate of exchange.

There is one other use for MR points that I use a lot. When using II to place an exchange request, it is often the case that the exchange can take quite some time to come through. So in order to get the best flight deal you need a back up for the vacation accommodation. For this I use my MR points to book a hotel stay and then go ahead and book the flights for the best rates I can get. Then when the exchange comes through - I cancel the MR points hotel reservation and get my points back into the account. For this reason I never let my MR points balance fall below 400,000 so that I have enough to make the required reservation. I have never ever need the MR points reservation since the II trade has always come through so far.

 

[jeff76543]

I find this fairly believable although I am probably not that well placed to exploit the extra value.

The main use I have made is to stay at the Marriott Park Lane in central London - a category 8 hotel. 40,000 per night, where the cash rate would be say £250 per night - that translates to almost exactly 1 US cent per point.

Admittedly, I would choose a cheaper cash-paid hotel, or find a better deal for cash so it is a slightly flattering conversion.

Keep in mind, however, that if you stayed 5 nights in the category 8 Marriott Park Lane Hotel, you would only use 160,000 points (the 5th night is a free bonus in a 5 night stay), so using your calculation, 160,000 points would be worth £1250, or roughly $2000. This would give you a value of arount 1.25 US cents per point.

 

[hvsmith2]

I take it there is no way to sell points per se ?

I looked and did not see / find a way to do this so far.

 

[larue]

I take it there is no way to sell points per se ?

I looked and did not see / find a way to do this so far.

Closest you will get to monetizing your points will be to use them for shopping, which is an option (e.g. 230,000 points for an Ipad 64 gb 4g), or get a Marriott gift card and use it for meals at restaurants in Marriott Hotels. There is a Roy's Hawaiian Fusion restaurant in the San Diego Marriott Marquis, for example. You can get a $1,000 gift card for 204,000 Marriott Reward points.

 

[hvsmith2]

Closest you will get to monetizing your points will be to use them for shopping, which is an option (e.g. 230,000 points for an Ipad 64 gb 4g), or get a Marriott gift card and use it for meals at restaurants in Marriott Hotels. There is a Roy's Hawaiian Fusion restaurant in the San Diego Marriott Marquis, for example. You can get a $1,000 gift card for 204,000 Marriott Reward points.

Helpful - thanks.

 

[newportbeach]

Have you looked into a room reservation for a guest? I would be surprised if Marriott requires you to necessarily occupy the room, but it would not be the first time my logic failed. There are a lot of boards which list Marriott
timeshare points for sale so why not Marriott Reward Points.

 

[hvsmith2]

Have you looked into a room reservation for a guest? I would be surprised if Marriott requires you to necessarily occupy the room, but it would not be the first time my logic failed. There are a lot of boards which list Marriott
timeshare points for sale so why not Marriott Reward Points.

Actually I think this would work; I once used my points to book for my father to stay [he has no connection with my MR account]. In the end, he could not travel and so we cancelled the booking, but I fully expected this to work.

So in theory, that could have been for anyone. Possibly a bit much hassle, though, for a 3rd party to go through.

 

[rthib]

I take it there is no way to sell points per se ?

I looked and did not see / find a way to do this so far.

In case you are wondering
From T&C:

Reward Certificates are void and will not be honored if bartered or sold for cash or other consideration.

 

[pwrshift]

The value of your MR points is set by Marriott to buy them at $0.0125'per point. If you don't do the calculations on their best hotel rates, you could find that you don't get a room for any less than what the points are to buy, so why bother? Pay cash, get credit for stays and earn Points.


The only real value now is for enough packages to fly business class to Europe or Australia (with a stopover in Japan) where tickets could sell for $6,000 each. So much you probably wouldn't buy them! Treat yourself...you earned them. That's really the biggest deal you can get with MR points.

By the way, the points die with you so spend now and enjoy the memory of a luxury trip.


Brian

 

[Dave M]

By the way, the points die with you so spend now and enjoy the memory of a luxury trip.

With one exception, per the T&C:

Points are transferable to a legal spouse or domestic partner in the case of documented death of the Member.

 

[pianodinosaur]

We accumulate Marriott Rewards through our Visa and hotel stays. Our first first redemption was for five wonderful days at the JW Guanacaste in Costa Rica. The Visa awards a complimentary night at a level 1-5 hotel annually. We will soon be using ours for a hotel stay in Ft. Lauderdale just prior to a cruise vacation. The Marriott Courtyard has complimentary shuttles to the airport and cruise terminal.

The value in Marriott Rewards is only realized when the rewards are used. We are stll learning how to use the program and plan another redemption in the near future.

 

[hvsmith2]

With one exception, per the T&C:

You clearly have a very solid grasp on the details !

 

[pwrshift]

With one exception, per the T&C:

Thanks Dave...I forgot to mention that point. Often wondered what the legal position would be for those points a member 'buys' but trading in his week for points. I guess I can see them probably taking back points 'given' for stays, but purchased points may be treated differently. Good to hear from you again.

Brian

 

[larryallen]

I use a penny a point as my estimate.

There are times I get less value ($1,000 Marriott gift cheques for 135,000 points) and times I get more value (travel packages). However a penny is my estimate. On average I am probably being generous to give them that much value.

 

[larue]

I think that Larryallen is correct on an average but if you spend the points wisely there is no reason for you to settle for that level of value. My family went on a vacation to Europe for example, and we used a total of 320,000 points for 5 nights in the Paris Marriott Champs Elysees followed by 5 nights in the Rome Grand Flora, junior suites in both locations. Those ten nights, which were in mid and late June, would have cost us over $9,000 plus tax had we paid cash. So, though you will only get about 1 cent per point if you spend without some advance planning and consideration of best use, there is no reason why you should not be able to do much better. We figured our points were worth just short of 3 cents per point the way we spent them last summer. Similar values can be had by 1, always ensuring that you stay in 5 day increments, which costs the same as 4, and spending on frequent flyer mile conversions through vacation packages available to owners, as you get 1 point for 1 mile on exchange.

 

[Michigan Czar]

I value them at .02 a point, I always make sure to get at least that back in value. I use my points for travel packages, rooms in Louisville during the Kentucky Derby, etc.

 

[csalter2]

I am not sure how you come up with your caluculations

I feel that I get a whole lot more value with my MR. First, I pay all of my expenses, bills, and entertainment that I would have to do anyway on my Marriott visa. My wife does the same. She in addition flies a great deal with United.

We have gone to Europe, Japan, and the Carribbean to name a few places on those MR points. Not one dime cames out of our pocket for accommodations or airfare.

I only get 85,000 points for my Ko Olina 2 bedroom which I think is way too little, but it is what it is. However, if I were to trade for MR points and use all my other points to go to Europe, Australia or South America I would still be getting a great value.

The key is to gain points buy buying your normal stuff. It does not take long to accumulate those points either. This becomes almost no cost to you and the value goes high. Granted it may take some discipline that some may not have, but it is very, very effective. I believe Marriott does not like people like me because I am truly rewarded by them.

 

[thinze3]

If you can't use them for

My magic number for using Marriott points for stays has been $.017 each. This has to do with points earned for a stay, using a Marriott credit card, and an my elite status when paying dollars for a room.

For turning points to dollars, you may have to lean to shopping from Marriott's website. Unfortunately shopping only gives you a value of less than half a cent per point : .003-.005 OUCH!

For instance:
Apple Ipad 4g 16gb costs 184,000 MR points or about $680 cash. (.0037)
Home Depot $200 gift card for 46,000 MR points. (.0043)

The website does occasionally offer 'sales' or 'discounts' that give better value.

To maximize you spending power, you can also book hotels stays for others using your points and simply adding their name to the reservation as the primary guest.

 

[Mr. Vker]

I have really focused on using them for Travel Packages them and premium international airline travel. Therefore, we have been able to convert them to thousands of dollars in stays and tickets. (Although, I don't disagree with others' comments.)

We get the 50% platinum bonus & max out Megabonus which help build our point totals.