Do you find good deals in Marriott Cash and Points reward nights?

Marriott Rewards introduced a true ‘Cash and Points’ reward night redemption option one year ago in March 2016.

Good news is the number of points and cash copay have not changed since Marriott Rewards originally published tables October 2015.

http://www.marriott.com/marriott-rewards/use/cash-and-points.mi

My last Marriott Rewards redemption was for a hotel stay at Fairfield Inn in Tehachapi, California at the category 1 reward rate of 7,500 points Thanksgiving 2016 week. There were no Cash and Points reward night choices for my date. Ended up canceling teh Marriott Rewards free night anyway when Holiday Inn Express Tehachapi went on IHG Rewards Club PointBreaks list for 5,000 points per night.

Marriott Rewards Cash and Points Limited Availability

I find relatively few hotels I search offer Cash and Points reward night availability. They generally have standard reward night availability.

For me, lack of available rooms with Marriott Rewards Cash and Points nights is the true limiting factor to Marriott Rewards Cash and Points value.

 

Two features of Marriott Rewards Cash & Points tables to notice.

1. The percentage of points needed for each hotel category level is a higher proportion of standard reward points cost. Marriott Rewards category 1 hotels at 3,000 points require only 40% of 7,500 points standard reward night price. This proportion increases to 62.2% for 28,000 points when redeeming Cash and Points for Marriott Rewards category 9 room night with a standard reward price 45,000 points.

Category 1 = 3,000 points (40% of 7,500 points standard reward)

Category 2 = 5,000 points (50% of 10,000 points standard reward)

Category 3 = 8,000 points (53.3% of 15,000 points standard reward)

Category 4 = 11,000 points (55% of 20,000 points standard reward)

Category 5 = 14,000 points (56% of 25,000 points standard reward)

Category 6 = 17,500 points (58.3% of 30,000 points standard reward)

Category 7 = 21,000 points (60% of 35,000 points standard reward)

Category 8 = 24,500 points (61.25% of 40,000 points standard reward)

Category 9 = 28,000 points (62.22% of 45,000 points standard reward).

Ritz-Carton Hotels Points portion of Cash & Points reward

Tier 1 = 15,000 points (50% of 30,000 points standard reward)

Tier 2 = 20,500 points (51.3% of 40,000 points standard reward)

Tier 3 = 26,000 points (52% of 50,000 points standard reward)

Tier 4 = 32,000 points (53.3% of 60,000 points standard reward)

Tier 5 = 38,000 points (54.3% of 70,000 points standard reward)

Ritz-Carlton Cash and Points reward levels are far more equitable across the five tier levels with a range only 50% to 54.3%for proportion of Standard Reward points needed.

2. Copay amounts offer the best points purchase value at category 3 to 7 Marriott Rewards Cash and Points reward nights.

Cash and Points reward nights are equivalent to the option to buy Marriott Rewards points at a discount price compared to the normal purchase rate $12.50 per 1,000 points through regular Marriott Rewards Buy Points link.

Category 1 = $45 saves 4,500 points ($10 per 1,000 points)

Category 2 = $50 saves 5,000 points ($10 per 1,000 points)

Category 3 = $55 saves 7,000 points ($7.86 per 1,000 points)

Category 4 = $60 saves 9,000 points ($6.67 per 1,000 points)

Category 5 = $65 saves 11,000 points ($5.91 per 1,000 points)

Category 6 = $75 saves 12,500 points ($6.00 per 1,000 points)

Category 7 = $90 saves 14,000 points ($6.43 per 1,000 points)

Category 8 = $145 saves 15,500 points ($9.36 per 1,000 points)

Category 9 = $220 saves 17,000 points ($12.95 per 1,000 points)

Ritz-Carton Hotels

Tier 1 = $115 saves 15,000 points ($7.67 per 1,000 points)

Tier 2 = $145 saves 19,500 points ($7.44 per 1,000 points)

Tier 3 = $170 saves 24,000 points ($7.08 per 1,000 points)

Tier 4 = $260 saves 28,000 points ($9.29 per 1,000 points)

Tier 5 = $335 saves 32,000 points ($10.47 per 1,000 points)

Cash and Points Value?

I find few hotels with Cash and Points reward night availability in my searches. And even fewer hotels where the redemption rate for points spent is worth over $10 per 1,000 points redeemed for category 1 to 7 range hotels.

Berlin, Germany

Hotel am Steinplatz, Autograph Collection

• Category 7 Standard Reward = 35,000 points.
• Category 7 Cash and Points = 92 EUR + 21,000 points.
• Standard rate = 219 EUR.

Spending 92 EUR ($98.35 USD) buys 14,000 points for purchase rate = $7.03 per 1,000 points.

Redeeming 21,000 points saves 127 EUR ($135.77) for a redemption value $6.69 per 1,000 points.

Unless you are trying to conserve points, there is little reason to pay more to buy points than redemption value of those points.  

High Category 8 and 9 hotels have high $145 and $220 copay

Marriott Rewards Category 8 at $145 copay + 24,500 points and category 9 hotels $220 copay + 28,000 points are relatively high copay amounts for Cash and Points nights.

There are no doubt some good Marriott Rewards Cash and Points deals somewhere. I simply can’t seem to find any good value Marriott Cash and Points examples for this article.

Maybe you have had better luck finding Marriott Rewards cash and points good deals?