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Why I booked 6 upcoming Marriott stays with cash instead of points
Katie Genter is a digital nomad who has traveled full time since June 2017. She writes and edits stories about points and miles, and loyalty programs, often letting her personal experiences color these stories.
March 10, 2021 • 10 min read
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Quick summary
Many hotels are offering unusually low, flexible cash rates for stays in 2021 and early 2022, making paid bookings especially attractive.
Recent analysis shows that redeeming points for Marriott stays often yields less value than paying cash, except in select high-rate markets.
Flexible paid rates can be locked in now and canceled or rebooked if plans change or prices drop, providing flexibility for travelers.
Award redemptions can still offer strong value at certain properties, particularly where cash rates are high and point valuations exceed TPG's 0.8 cents per point benchmark (as of June 2021).
What to consider
Some offers and promotions referenced may no longer be available.
Flexible rates often include perks like free cancellation, breakfast or upgrades, but these vary by property and booking channel.
Redemption value should be calculated for each stay, as cash rates and award pricing can fluctuate significantly.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed breakdown of when to use points versus cash for Marriott stays, including real-world examples and redemption value calculations.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Over the last couple of months, my husband JT and I have ramped up our travel bookings for trips in mid to late 2021 and early 2022. After all, we're hopeful that frequent international travel without quarantines will become feasible and responsible for fully vaccinated travelers later this year. And once it does, we plan to return to living out of hotels as global digital nomads.
I've booked a lot of hotel award stays recently with Hilton Honors and IHG Rewards points. After all, it's easy to get great value from your points in these programs right now. In particular, our current award bookings in these programs are yielding 1.24 cents per IHG point and 0.7 cents per Hilton point. Both of these redemption rates are above TPG's valuations, but our IHG Rewards redemption rate is an outstanding 2.48 times TPG’s valuation.
I'm also booking a lot of Marriott Bonvoy stays. After all, our elite status goals to each earn Titanium Elite status in 2021 mean we'll need to stay with Marriott for at least 27 nights this year. But even though we have plenty of Marriott Bonvoy points, most of our Marriott bookings for stays later this year are paid rates. So, today I'll discuss why I'm mostly booking paid Marriott stays right now as well as the Marriott stays I've booked.
Why now is a great time to book paid Marriott stays
A bungalow at one of my favorite Marriott properties, the Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay. (Photo by JT Genter/The Points Guy)
Thanks to low occupancy, it's been easy to find inexpensive hotel rates during the coronavirus pandemic. Many of my New York-based TPG colleagues have utilized excellent rates at New York hotels during the pandemic for staycations. And I was able to snag excellent rates on mid-pandemic Marriott stays last year in Istanbul, Turkey and Boulder, Colorado.
Even if you aren't ready to travel yet, you may be able to snag low, flexible rates for stays in mid to late 2021 and early 2022. For example, I recently booked the "flexible rate without breakfast" for $56 per night at the Four Points by Sheraton Bogota for stays in June and August. I don't mind the no-breakfast rate since, as a Platinum Elite, I'll get lounge access (if the club lounge is open) or breakfast daily as an elite perk. But even non-elites could book a rate that gives buffet breakfast daily, two cocktails upon arrival and 20% off dinner for just $65 per night.
Likewise, some Marriott hotels offer inexpensive Work Anywhere Stay Pass rates that allow free cancellation until a day before arrival. For example, the Four Points by Sheraton Bali Ungasan in Bali, Indonesia, offers rates as low as $41 per night into fall that include a free upgrade to a Signature Deluxe Bay View room, private workspace, 6 a.m. check-in, 6 p.m. checkout and breakfast daily.
It's still worth pricing out both paid and award stays and calculating what your redemption rate would be, though. As I'll discuss in a later section, redeeming Marriott Bonvoy points still makes sense for some stays. But even with off-peak pricing and PointSaver pricing, the Marriott Bonvoy award chart doesn't allow for significant drops in award pricing. As such, it's not surprising that cash rates typically provide better value than redeeming Marriott Bonvoy points right now.
We have several trips booked to Bogota, Colombia, this year. (Photo by Ilyshev Dmitry/Shutterstock)
As I mentioned above, many Marriott Bonvoy hotels currently offer lower-than-usual flexible paid rates. So, as JT has jumped on flight deals (such as Delta One from New York City to Bogota for 12,000 SkyMiles) and rescheduled flights, I've booked flexible hotel rates.
Our hotel reservations frequently change as we book, cancel and reschedule trips. But currently, we have the following paid Marriott stays. For these reservations, I also calculated the cents per point we would've gotten if we'd redeemed Marriott points. I used the lower of our reservation cost and the current best flexible rate for this calculation. Here's a summary of our upcoming paid Marriott stays:
Courtyard Jacksonville Airport Northeast for two nights this month
Our reservation: $202
Current best flexible rate: $236
Current points cost: 40,000 points
Cents per point: 0.51
Fairfield Inn & Suites Columbus for one night this month
Four Points by Sheraton Santiago for two nights in May
Our reservation: $172
Current best flexible rate: $157
Current points cost: 20,000 points
Cents per point: 0.79
Four Points by Sheraton Bogota for three nights in June
Our reservation: $170
Current best flexible rate: $170
Current points cost: 37,500 points
Cents per point: 0.45
Four Points by Sheraton Bogota for seven nights in August
Our reservation: $396
Current best flexible rate: $396
Current points cost: 75,000 points
Cents per point: 0.53
As you can see, we'd get below TPG's valuation of Marriott Bonvoy points (0.8 cents per point) on each of these bookings if we redeemed points. I typically aim for higher than TPG's valuations when redeeming points, though. So booking paid flexible rates for these stays was an easy choice for me.
Plus, on the first two stays mentioned above, I'll utilize a Marriott Bonvoy promotion to earn up to two free night awards after two eligible paid stays. Specifically, after these two stays, I'll earn two free night awards that are each redeemable for a night costing 35,000 points or less. Plus, thanks to an Amex Offer on my Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card for $50 off a Marriott Bonvoy transaction of $200 or more, my first stay will effectively cost me $152. I'll also earn double elite nights and points on this stay, thanks to another Marriott promotion.
As it becomes clearer which trips we'll take and which we'll cancel or reschedule, I may cancel some of our paid stays in South America to use expiring free night certificates instead. However, I'm happy to have these low rates locked in for now.
Protea Hotel Kruger Gate for five nights in September
Our reservation: 52,500 points (worth $420 based on TPG's valuations)
Current points cost: 50,000 points
Current best flexible rate: $974
Cents per point: 1.95
Courtyard Kuwait City for three nights in October
Our reservation: 35,000 points (worth $280)
Current points cost: 35,000 points
Current best flexible rate: $818
Cents per point: 2.34
Protea Hotel Kruger Gate for five nights in January 2022
Our reservation: 55,000 points (worth $440)
Current points cost: 55,000 points
Current best flexible rate: $974
Cents per point: 1.77
The Protea Hotel Kruger Gate was the last hotel we stayed at before returning to the U.S. last March as coronavirus lock-downs loomed. As such, returning to the property and beautiful Kruger National Park is a priority for us. I'm not sure whether we'll return in September or January (or both), but I'm happy to have these stays on the books.
Meanwhile, Kuwait City hotels belonging to my primary hotel loyalty programs all carry high rates for our October trip. As you can see, we're getting a massive 2.34 cents per point redemption value on our booking at the centrally-located Category 2 Courtyard Kuwait City. This redemption rate is impressive, especially considering our stay is too short for Marriott's fifth night free on award stays perk.
With low paid rates in many markets now, it makes sense to book flexible rates for upcoming trips. These inexpensive paid rates and low occupancy translate to lower award night costs in dynamically priced programs like Hilton Honors and IHG Rewards. But the best way to take advantage of these low rates at Marriott Bonvoy properties is to book flexible paid rates.
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
