The hotel stay alone is worth $5,600+, making the Starwood points worth almost nine cents each.
Last month, FCF wrote about The Good of Transferring Starwood Points to Marriott Rewards with Marriott’s Travel Packages. We covered travel packages that allow airline miles in one of the 48 different airline partners AND offer seven nights free hotel accommodations at dozens of Marriott Brands including JW and Ritz Carlton.
See screenshot from Marriott’s site with basic travel package offer:
The travel packages vary in point-cost based on the type of hotel category (or tier) available at a given mileage level—and the airline program offering the miles—but right now there are ways to get really good value for your Starwood points.
Limited-Time Opportunity, Long-Term Deal
United’s 25% bonus for converting hotel points into MileagePlus miles makes this very sweet deal over the next month even sweeter—but it’s still a good deal even if you don’t bite now.
Convert Marriott Reward points from now until Nov. 30 and receive up to 20,000 bonus miles with United. Translation: Instead of receiving 132,000 miles with Marriott’s Travel Packages, you receive 152,000 United miles, plus seven nights hotel stay.
Curious About the Math
So many so-called “deals” come across my desk but barely even 1 out of 100 is worth pursuing. But a Marriott RewardsPlus Hotel + Air package using United & Tier four and five hotels caught my eye as I’ve happily stayed at many Ritz properties. So I was curious to see what the math might look like, if only because on my task list is making a booking for a trip I have to New York next month— plus, I love the Central Park location, having stayed at the Ritz Carlton there before.
Sample Marriott Travel Package
THE DEAL: Transfer 180,000 Starpoints—otherwise equal to 225,000 airline miles with the Starwood bonus—and get 540,000 Marriott Rewards points. You can redeem them for 152,000 United miles (enough for three domestic round-trip Business Class tickets and just 8,000 miles short of a First Class award to Europe, Asia, or the South Pacific), plus you get a tier 4 or 5 hotel free for seven nights.
Here are the various ways I looked at this opportunity:
Perspective #1:
Ritz Carlton Central Park for 10,400 Airline Miles
or 8,500 Starwood Points Per Night
The Ritz Carlton Central Park for seven nights cost me 73,000 airline miles—225,000 airline miles (I could otherwise received) minus the 152,000 United miles I received—equivalent to 60,000 Starwood points. That comes out to about 10,400 airline miles per night (73,000 divided by 7) or 8,500 Starwood points (60,000 divided by 7) per night. Looking at it this way made me feel more comfortable with the SPG investment.
Perspective #2:
Ritz Carlton Central Park Savings over the St. Regis
The St. Regis NYC runs about 26,000 Starpoints (30,000 per night with the fifth night free). So, I am getting seven nights at the Ritz Carlton Central Park for 60,000 Starwood points, or about 8,500 per night, or 67% less than with a top Starwood hotel, and I am on Central Park.
Perspective #3:
A Ritz Carlton Central Park (RCCP) Return of Nine Cents per Starpoint
$800+ per night at RCCP is $5,600 for seven nights. So, another way to look at it is that the RCCP for seven nights cost me 60,000 Starwood points, which yields a point value of about 9 cents ($5,600 divided by 60,000). The chart below illustrates my point.
Potential Return on Marriott Travel Package Investment:
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Perspective #4:
Ritz Carlton Central Park for 73% Off
I can often buy the 73,000 airline miles I am giving up for the hotel for $1,500 or less. If you book hotels in tier one to three, the mileage cost is even less: 23,000, which only requires 140,000 Starwood points (equal to 175,000 airline miles).
So, that’s like $214 per night ($1,500 divided by 7) for the Ritz Carlton Central Park, a saving of about $586 (73%) per night.
Perspective #5:
When Not to Use Points for a Tier-5 Hotel
When you’re not staying in a high-priced city like New York. Take The Ritz-Carlton South Beach, a tier 5 hotel but with an average nightly rate of about $300. The return is only about three cents per night ($2,100 divided by 73,000). Pay the rate and keep the SPG points.
Marriott’s Other Packages
Offering Miles with Many Other Airlines
Net Hotel Nights for 700 Miles (or less)
Take Marriott’s Hotel + Air Package 1 (see screenshot below), which includes such airlines as Air Canada, Alaska, American, British Airways, Delta, Iberia, and Virgin Atlantic. With this option, you can transfer 100,000 Starpoints—equal to 125,000 airline miles with the Starwood bonus—and get 300,000 Marriott Rewards points. The points can then be redeemed for 120,000 airline miles (to the airlines mentioned above), plus you get a category six hotel free for seven nights. That comes out to a cost of 5,000 airline miles for a seven-night hotel stay (or about 700 airline miles per night). Marriott’s Hotel + Air Package 2 only gives you 85,000 airline miles, so not recommended.
Conclusion
[aside headline="Fine Print for Marriott’s Travel Packages:" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]Travel Package awards means consecutive nights at the selected hotel. Unused nights are forfeited, meaning no refund. Allow up to six weeks for United bonus (20,000) miles to post to your frequent flyer account; the 132,000 miles posted in one day.[/aside]
Use points for high-priced hotel stays—with Marriott Tier four and five. (Same logic FCF applies for high priced Business and First Class tickets.)
The best way to get good value on the airline miles you are giving up is to check the hotel price, based on your travel dates, then do the math based on the hotel tier: 4 and 5 costs 93,000 miles, but during the transfer-deal it’s 73,000; tier 1 to 3 costs 43,000 miles, but during the transfer-deal it’s 23,000.
Like this special report? Want to hear about other ways to get high-end hotel deals? Write me today at mr.upgrade@firstclassflyer.com.