Rewards Points or Vacation Club Points?

[ptprism]

I am attending a Marriott "90-minute" presentation in the near future. (This is not open to discussion please). And one of the payoffs is a choice of either 50,000 Marriott Rewards points OR 650 Vacation Club Points (I am also an owner/member).

I know the differences in usage but am just wondering which one tuggers think is a better choice? Does anyone have some advice or experience regarding this offer?

(The VC points are good for 24 months and cannot be extended, banked or swapped.)

 

[Fasttr]

The DC points are worth between $350 and $400 based on current rental price range. The question is, can you get that value, or more from the 50,000 MR points. I believe the Points Guy values MR points at 0.9 cents a point, so he would value the 50K MR points at $450. You can likely do better than 0.9 cents a point if you use the points as part of the purchase of a 5 or 7 night travel package. It all depends on your usage, and points needs. If it were me, I would take the MR points and be quite happy. Either are very generous offers.

 

[davidvel]

Most consider MRP to be worth about a penny(or less as they devalue), and DC points about 60 cents, so it's fairly close using those measures. I'd look at a specific hypothetical trip and see what you could use for (ie add on days etc.) It really comes down to hotel vs mvc, but midwek you'd likely do bettter (and nicer) in mvc.

 

[ptprism]

The DC points are worth between $350 and $400 based on current rental price range. The question is, can you get that value, or more from the 50,000 MR points. I believe the Points Guy values MR points at 0.9 cents a point, so he would value the 50K MR points at $450. You can likely do better than 0.9 cents a point if you use the points as part of the purchase of a 5 or 7 night travel package. It all depends on your usage, and points needs. If it were me, I would take the MR points and be quite happy. Either are very generous offers.

 

[ptprism]

Great answer. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks!

 

[ptprism]

Most consider MRP to be worth about a penny(or less as they devalue), and DC points about 60 cents, so it's fairly close using those measures. I'd look at a specific hypothetical trip and see what you could use for (ie add on days etc.) It really comes down to hotel vs mvc, but midwek you'd likely do bettter (and nicer) in mvc.

 

[ptprism]

Thank you for your suggestion. It makes perfect sense to me. Now I have to decide where/when I would want to use them. I have used the VC points for add on days at MVCs in the past and they worked very well--assuming we want to stay there longer. But the MRPs can allow us to stop along the way in different areas and expand our total vacation experience. So Many ideas spring to mind. More for me to think about!

 

[TravelTime]

In addition to Fasttr’s analysis, I would also make the decision based on what I need more of and consider that DPs expire and MR points do not.

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Marriott Reward Points can be used forever (as long as your account has activity once per year) whereas Destination Club Points always expire within a set time frame (usually two years).


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[jimf41]

Trying to see which is better by looking at the cash value is overly simplistic. Take a look at Singer Island in Florida. Marriott has two TS's and one resort right in the same spot on the same stretch of beach. Using MRP's 50K will get you 1 night in the hotel in a 1bd hotel room. 35K will get you 1 night in Ocean Point in a 1bd lock-off unit. Essentially a the same as a hotel room but a little smaller. 50K will get you into a full 2bd villa with 2 baths and a full kitchen at Oceana Palms.

Looking at what 650 DC pts you can't use them in the hotel. At Oceana Palms you could stay two nights during the week in the full villa with 50 pts leftover or be about 75 pts short for 1 weekend night. At Ocean Point the world is your oyster. You could stay 4 nights in a lock-off or 1 night in a 3bd OF unit or anything in between.

The value in either is not the cash value but how many nights you get and in what type of room and in what location. IMO using 650 DC points ($400 value) to stay 3 nights in a 1bd w/ full kitchen/separate bd rm is way better than 50K MRP's ($450 value) for 1 night in a hotel room.

I used June 2019 for the comparison and I chose Singer Island as I'm familiar with the area. I'm sure the comparison works as well in many other locations.

 

[davidvel]

Trying to see which is better by looking at the cash value is overly simplistic. Take a look at Singer Island in Florida. Marriott has two TS's and one resort right in the same spot on the same stretch of beach. Using MRP's 50K will get you 1 night in the hotel in a 1bd hotel room. 35K will get you 1 night in Ocean Point in a 1bd lock-off unit. Essentially a the same as a hotel room but a little smaller. 50K will get you into a full 2bd villa with 2 baths and a full kitchen at Oceana Palms.

Looking at what 650 DC pts you can't use them in the hotel. At Oceana Palms you could stay two nights during the week in the full villa with 50 pts leftover or be about 75 pts short for 1 weekend night. At Ocean Point the world is your oyster. You could stay 4 nights in a lock-off or 1 night in a 3bd OF unit or anything in between.

The value in either is not the cash value but how many nights you get and in what type of room and in what location. IMO using 650 DC points ($400 value) to stay 3 nights in a 1bd w/ full kitchen/separate bd rm is way better than 50K MRP's ($450 value) for 1 night in a hotel room.

I used June 2019 for the comparison and I chose Singer Island as I'm familiar with the area. I'm sure the comparison works as well in many other locations.

Great real-world example. As I said above, these best way to evaluate this is to do exactly what you did: spend a few minutes with a real comparison of various places based on what you would use them for.

There are so many variables, a generic estimate isn't really helpful, but more like what time share sales people try to get you to do. The real world comparison always blows their cover.