Marriott & Hilton NYC Hotels
Today, we’re comparing two popular hotel programs for a New York City weekend in December before time runs out on upcoming transfer bonuses...
Amex MR Points → 30% bonus to Hilton (expires October 14).
Chase UR Points → 70% bonus to Marriott (expires October 15).
First, let’s start with Hilton and a sample search like this:
We utilized Hilton’s map feature to search by area and found a property in a good location for 85,000 Hilton points per night (170,000 points total):
Remember though, Amex MR Points transfer to Hilton at 1:2 ratio - so the transfer bonus means only 66,000 points are needed:
66,000 points (or 33,000 points per night) for a weekend in the Big Apple? Not bad, especially when cash rates are over $1,700 for two nights!
$1,755 / 66,000 points = 2.66 CPP
Shifting gears to Marriott now, where we ran a similar search on their website:
We located a comparable property for two nights at 171,000 points total, nearly the same point price as our Hilton example.
Cash rates are $2,191 for two nights - but with a 70% transfer bonus, only 101,000 points in total are needed (plus $70 in taxes and fees).
($2,191 - $70) / 101,000 points = 2.10 CPP
Marriott and Hilton catch a lot of heat in the points and miles space for devalued currencies, but the math speaks for itself in today’s examples.
If cash rates are high for peak weekends and transfer bonuses are available, then using both of these hotel programs can be a smart move.
Check your point balances, run the numbers, and then let us know what you book…
Nic and I love hearing success stories from turning unused points into travel experiences!