Rigged an upcoming trip to have an over-night stay at Newark instead of red-eyeing it through Philly. I've got 50K in hotel points so I thought this would be a no-cost option. The hotel wanted either 35k points or $220 (this includes taxes). This comes out to be $0.0063/point or put another way 2/3'rds of a penny per point. My rule of thumb has been to get a full penny per point when booking reward travel/lodging. With everyone from Southwest to Hilton devaluing their rewards programs what's a good break-even point for spending cash v. points? Oh, and that no-cost overnight'er at Newark ([use your most optimistic, naive inner voice for this part] we'll take the train into Penn Station, get a dog from a street vender, and just enjoy the lights and excitement of Times Square. Yeah, that's the ticket!) is going to end up adding $1,100 to this summer's vacation bill after theater tix, dinner, and a taxi back to Newark. Not complaining - the kids literally might pee in their pants when we tell them about the detour (I'm thinking of loading them up on OJ then telling them at the gate before we board). Just another example of mission-creep.
I just burned through around 850,000 American Express Membership Rewards points prior to canceling the card, so I am familiar with going exchange rates. Almost everyone from Amazon.com to WineEnthusiast.com was giving $.0070 per point. I always held out for $.010 per point, but it looks like that exchange rate is now gone.
