Follow these tips to be saving money while staying in nice hotels such as the Clarion Collection Hotel Havnekontoret in Bergen, Norway! Photo by: Evan Berman

I’ve written about how transferring credit card points to hotel programs (especially Chase to Hyatt) is a great way to save on travel. Some people; however, are uncomfortable with the idea of opening many credit cards or do not want to get into the nitty-gritty of the points and miles world. And that’s their prerogative!

All hotels and airlines sell their points or miles. While most airline miles are extremely expensive compared with their value, it can often be a good deal to buy hotel points for a specific purpose. Let’s dive into 2 ways you can purchase hotel points and get great value, purchasing points in lieu of paying for a room and usings points and cash. For more information on this, check out my reviews of Choice hotels in Norway. I describe how I purchased points at a discount to save on the total cost of lodging!

Purchase Points, not a Hotel Room

Let’s say you have a trip planned to New York, a place with famously expensive hotels (and everything else, for that matter!) You might suck up the fact that a night in any relatively safe location costs well over $300. Instead, you might be better off purchasing the requisite amount of points and use them to book a night instead. This is particularly true with Hyatt, Hilton, and Wyndham. Choice Privileges and Marriott Bonvoy both charge resort fees on points stays but the other three waive all fees. That can be a $60+ per night savings!

Here’s an example– note that this is not exclusive to Hilton. Their points are the easiest to use mathematically but know that the same deals are available for Marriott, Hyatt, IHG, Choice, or Wyndham. You read my article about December in New York and want to see for yourself the magical time of year in the largest US city. Looking at hotel options for the 2nd Friday of December, you find a nice Hilton property near Midtown Manhattan called Distrikt Hotel New York, a part of the Tapestry Collection by Hilton. Here are the prices:

Ignore the 2 Double Beds option. The other two price at 90,000 points per night and are charging at least $600 a night for the room. (The “more rates from…” section are non-refundable rates). 90,000 points is a lot but you can purchase that amount. Almost every other month there is an offer to purchase Hilton points with a 100% bonus. Since the points are sold a 1.0 cents per point, that means you can frequently buy at 0.5 cents a piece. While the most recent offer expired on May 9th, it is likely that there will be a new offer in June or July. At that price, you could buy 90,000 points for $450. That simple transaction can save you more than $150 in this case!

Here is the link to buy Hilton points. Don’t buy now, wait until there is another special for a 100% bonus on purchased points!

Using Points and Cash:

This next example will not save you money compared to paying cash for the hotel room. However, it is worth noting for another reason. Let’s say you want to find a hotel in Warsaw, Poland before heading to Krakow to see the concentration camps and Wieliczka Salt Mine. You frequently stay in Marriott hotels and find a hotel that meets your needs, the Warsaw Marriott Hotel. Here is the pricing:

For reference, 1 Polish Zloty is equal to 0.24 USD as of this post. That means you can redeem 31,000 points for a night OR 15,500 and $56.95. That is essentially allowing you to purchase Marriott points at 0.37 cents per point. The best price I am aware of for purchasing Marriott Bonvoy points is occasionally with bonuses, they are sold for as low as 0.81 cents per point. That’s not even half of a good price for these points!

Astute readers will notice that the standard price is $159.26 for a night. If you need to purchase the 15,500 points for this stay and assume you can do so at 0.81 cents per points, that would cost you $125.55. Add in the $56.95 and the total is over $200, well more than the cost of the paid night, before adding on fees to the Cash & Points method. That being said, it’s a great way to get much more in value from your points if you already possess or can easily accumulate these points. Here is the link to buy Marriott Points.

Summary:

Whether or not you care about points and miles, it’s great to know that sometimes the best course of action is to purchase hotel points rather than pay the cash rate. Always check the price each way and see which deal is better. Remember also that sometimes you are better off saving your points and using Cash & Points as a means of acquiring the points cheaply. I showed examples from Hilton and Marriott, but once again these tricks can be used with just about any hotel loyalty program except those with fixed point values, such as Accor. Arbitrage can be your friend here!

Evan