Starting in early 2016, Marriott is adding a Cash + Points redemption option which will allow your points to go further! This is extremely exciting news and a huge enhancement to the program. This is something that almost all the other hotel chains have in place, so I am glad Marriott is finally jumping on the bandwagon.
Cash + Points Marriott and Ritz-Carlton Chart
While another redemption option is great, there are some hotel categories that make the Cash + Points option better then others. With any Cash + Point option (at Marriott or any other hotel program), you can think of it as if you are purchasing points for the difference between the “Points” portion and if you were using full points. For example, take a Marriott category 5 hotel. It either costs 25,000 points or 14,000 points and $65. This means you are paying $65 for 11,000 points (the difference between 25,000 points and 14,000 points).
Analysis of Cash + Points
As I mentioned above, the amount you are paying for the difference in points vary per hotel category. The lower the “cost per point”, the better.
Marriott “cost per point”
- Category 1: 1 cent per point
- Category 2: 1 cent per point
- Category 3: .79 cents per points
- Category 4: .67 cents per point
- Category 5: .59 cents per point
- Category 6: .6 cents per point
- Category 7: .64 cents per point
- Category 8: .94 cents per point
- Category 9: 1.29 cents per point
Ritz-Carlton “cost per point”
- Category 1: .77 cents per point
- Category 2: .74 cents per point
- Category 3: .71 cents per point
- Category 4: .93 cents per point
- Category 5: 1.05 cents per point
The Best Value for Cash + Points
As you can see from the chart above, the values range from .59 cents per point to 1.29 cents per point. A fairly large range in my opinion! Most people value Marriott points at .75 cents per point, so “purchasing” points for less then this amount is a good value. “Purchasing” points for more then this is not worth it. Of course, this can change based on how you typically redeem your points.
Categories with a Great Value for Cash + Point:
- Marriott Category 4: .67 cents per point
- Marriott Category 5: .59 cents per point
- Marriott Category 6: .6 cents per point
- Marriott Category 7: .64 cents per point
Categories with an OK Value for Cash + Point:
- Marriott Category 3: .79 cents per points
- Ritz-Carlton Category 1: .77 cents per point
- Ritz-Carlton Category 2: .74 cents per point
- Ritz-Carlton Category 3: .71 cents per point
Categories with a Poor Value for Cash + Point:
- Marriott Category 1: 1 cent per point
- Marriott Category 2: 1 cent per point
- Marriott Category 8: .94 cents per point
- Marriott Category 9: 1.29 cents per point
- Ritz-Carlton Category 4: .93 cents per point
- Ritz-Carlton Category 5: 1.05 cents per point
As a rule of them, always use Cash + Points at the great value categories and never use Cash + Points at the poor value categories. The OK value might depend on the number of points you have any how you redeem your points
Overall
While Cash + Points is a great added benefit to the program, availability is capacity controlled. Unlike full point options, even if there is a standard room available that doesn’t mean that the Cash + Points redemption option is available. Also, the date of when you can start redeeming Cash + Points is still TBD.
I am thrilled for this added benefit!
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