Marriott Cash & Points Redemptions – Are They Any Good?

Marriott Cash & Points Awards

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Recently, Marriott announced four changes to the Marriott Rewards program that are all, to one degree or another, a net positive for members. That’s a rare thing nowadays – we’ve definitely seen more devaluations than true enhancements over the past 18 months.

One of these changes has been the introduction of a true Cash & Points redemption option for Marriott Rewards members.

In the past, Marriott has had a type of Cash & Points redemption option available to Marriott Rewards members….it just wasn’t a very good one. Members could book a stay by combining nights paid for with cash together with nights paid for with points but there was no option to for a single night with a combination of cash & points.

From “early in 2016” (Marriott hasn’t given us a firm date yet), guest will be able to “mix cash & points to cover single or multi-night redemption stays.” Redemptions will start at 3,000 points + $45 cash for a single night.

The new award charts look like this:

Cash & Points Redemptions At Marriott Properties

marriott-cash-and-points-awards

The simplest way to look at how this system works is to think of it as if you’re purchasing the points to buy an award night.

For example:

In the case of a Category 3 hotel if you elect to pay with “cash & points” you are effectively “buying” 7,000 points (15,000 – 8,000) for $55. So you’re buying 7,000 points at $0.0079/point ($55/7,000).

I’ve put together a table to show what price you would effectively be paying for points if you use the cash & points option that Marriott have just brought in:

Screen Shot 2015-10-17 at 15.24.50This bring me on nicely to my post from yesterday which showed how I value my Marriott Rewards points. In that post I showed I how I valued my points at $0.007 so, using that knowledge, I can now see when I’m better off using the cash & points award option.

When using the cash & points option for Category 1 – 3 properties or Category 8 – 9 properties I’m effectively buying points from Marriott at over $0.007/point…so, to me, that’s a bad deal. Why would I buy points for more than I consider them to be worth?

On the other hand, if I use the cash & points option for Category 4 – 7 properties, I’m effectively buying points from Marriott below my own valuation (at a discount) which makes it good value for money for me.

This is good news because, as I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I tend to stay at mid-tier Marriott properties…. so the fact that I can get good value for cash & points redemptions at Category 4 – 7 properties is great 🙂

Cash & Points Redemptions At Ritz-Carlton Properties

Marriott also own the Ritz-Carlton brand and they’ve introduced cash & points redemptions for those as well:

ritz-carlton-cash-and-points-awards

Cash & points redemptions at Ritz-Carlton properties work in exactly the same way as they do at other Marriott properties so I’ve compiled another table to show the points costs here:

Screen Shot 2015-10-17 at 15.29.08

Bearing in mind that I value my Marriott Rewards points at $0.007/point there’s no obvious good option for me here. If I happen to be short of points for a redemption at a Ritz-Carlton property then the cash & points option would be an acceptable alternative for Tier 3 and, possibly, Tier 2 properties but elsewhere it’s an expensive proposition for me.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, different people will value their points in different ways so it’s up to the individual to find a method and price that works best for them. As long as you know what a Marriott Reward point is worth to you you’ll always know if you’re getting a good, bad or indifferent deal when dealing with Marriott award stays – and that’s what’s important.

Featured image courtesy of Marriott.com