How to Maximize Marriott Rewards Points Value

When redeeming Marriott Rewards points, you can compare the rewards earn rate of different redemption options to see if you are getting the most for your points. To estimate the rewards earn rate, divide the standard rate of the hotel stay by the number of Marriott Rewards Points required to redeem one night. Let’s look at three hotel stay redemption examples:

The Courtyard Milpitas Silicon Valley is a Category 3 hotel with a standard room rate starting $279/night. It takes 15,000 points to redeem, so each point is worth:

$279/15,000 = 0.0186, or 1.86 cents per point

Here is another example. TownePlace Suites Milpitas Silicon Valley is within the same neighborhood, and is a Category 4 hotel with a standard room rate starting at $299/night. It takes 20,000 points to redeem, so each point is worth:

$299/20,000 = 0.01495, or 1.5 cents per point

We can see that from these specific examples, when the category increased, the value of each point decreased. The per point value is higher for the category 3 hotel rather than the category 4 suite, in this particular comparison.

This is another Courtyard hotel, but category 5. The standard room rate starts at $289/night and takes 25,000 points to redeem, so each point is worth:

$289/25,000 = 0.01156, or 1.156 cents per point

Now let’s compare this category 5 Courtyard with the first category 3 Courtyard hotel. The point value went from 1.86 to 1.156, or decreased about 38% when the category went up 2 levels; these hotels are also within the same city, a few miles from each other.

When you redeem 4 nights with Marriott Rewards points, you get a 5th night free. So, the number of nights you redeem can change the point value as well. Let’s look at the details of our first hotel example:

The Courtyard Milpitas Silicon Valley is a Category 3 hotel with a standard room rate starting $279/night. It takes 15,000 points to redeem, so each point is worth:$279/15,000 = 0.0186, or 1.86 cents per point
If we stay 4 nights and get the 5th night free, the return value is ($279 x 5 nights)/(15,000 * 4 nights) = 0.02325, or 2.325 cents per point
With the free night, the point value increases by 25%

Calculating reward earn rates cannot account for all factors that go into making a hotel decision, but browsing around and comparing will definitely help you spot the better redemption options. As a general rule, a rewards earn rate above 1 cent is considered pretty good.

Have any further questions or comments? Contact Marriott Rewards customer support.