Marriott is offering points with the biggest bonus we’ve seen – you are effectively prepaying for stays at a discount.
A 60% bonus on purchased points, that began May 18, was set to end June 30. This has been extended to run through July 15. The best previous deal I’m aware of was a 50% bonus, though of course Marriott points aren’t worth as much as they used to be either. They’re willing to sell you points at a cost per point of $0.0078.
Prior to the latest round of hotel category changes I valued Marriott points at 7/10ths of a cent apiece. I would probably now value these points around $0.0065 each.
It’s possible to get more value out of these points than Marriott will be charging, especially if you need to top off for a specific award and for some of the chain’s most expensive and least expensive hotels. If you’re redeeming for properties in the middle though you aren’t likely to get much more value out of these points than what you pay for them, and you’re effectively prepaying through a points purchase.
Buy now in trust and see shortly 200k per night redemption’s for Courtyard properties
If I’m going to prepay any travel expenses right now, these needs to be at fire sale prices. A 30%-40% discount ain’t gonna cut it. Point discounts are better than an outright prepay (I think) but what the left hand giveth with a point discount, the right hand can taketh away with inflated award prices and category changes.
No need to bite now, especially considering that travel demand (and cash prices will remain soft for quite awhile.)
Don’t do it. Marriott has been devaluing points at a much faster rate than other chains