Value of Points (accommodation reward points dilemma)

[coriander]

Looking at accommodation for 10 days in New York in March next year I have three options:

• book and pay now through Qantas - non-cancellable: $3553 and 10,650 QFF points;
• book and pay now through Qantas - fully cancellable: $3808 and 11,421 QFF points;
• book now and pay in January 2016 through my TA - fully cancellable: $3553 and zero QFF points
• book now and pay in January 2016 through my TA - fully cancellable: $3680 (incl Amex surcharge and therefore 5350 QFF points)

I'm trying to weigh up the cost-benefit and am going round in circles doing my head in (mixing metaphors as well as probably me being a noob at all this, and not an accountant).
Sage (or in fact any) advice welcome.

 

[Spongbob]

Unless you are absolutely certain about your travel dates in NYC, I would not book a non-cancellable hotel option, particularly given the possibility of losing $3500.

 

[coriander]

I would not book a non-cancellable hotel option.

Yes, I tend to agree, I put the non-cancellable option in for completeness (is that a word?): options 2,3,4 are the ones causing me confusion (like "handing me 2 shovels and asking me to take my pick").

 

[NM]

Is there an option 5, to book directly with the accommodation provider and pay on arrival?

I would not be paying now and would not be taking a non-refundable option this far ahead of travel. I would be making a non-paid reservation now and keep looking for better options as travel gets closer. If no better option becomes available at least I have a reservation that I am happy with. If a better option comes up then I can cancel the other booking.

And I would be using a 1:1 points earning Visa or Mastercard rather than paying a 3.2% Amex surcharge. Or if its not in Australia then I would be using 28 degrees Mastercard and saving a further 3% in currency exchange fees and forgoing the QFF points. Money in my pocket is worth more to me than QFF points that I may or may not get to use for an unknown future value.

As far as QFF points earning is concerned, compare your options with a recent Epiqure offer of 5000 bonus points for a $179 spend where you get 3 nice bottle of wine as a bonus. So for spend of $358 would earn 10K points with 6 nice wines as a bonus. I won't pay any surcharge just to earn additional QFF points, especially a surcharge of 3.2% In your example 4 verses 3 its $127 for 5350 points with no wine bonus, or only 1800 points more than a 1:1 earning Visa/Mastercard would earn.

 

[dajop]

Is there an option 5, to book directly with the accommodation provider and pay on arrival?

I would not be paying now and would not be taking a non-refundable option this far ahead of travel. I would be making a non-paid reservation now and keep looking for better options as travel gets closer. If no better option becomes available at least I have a reservation that I am happy with. If a better option comes up then I can cancel the other booking.

This is good advice, particularly in relation to NYC, where prices move up and down all the time. For example, in NYC, I've booked cancellable accomodation at a Hilton chain property for around $180 USD++ in advance, and a couple of days out cancelled and rebooked same property for $130++. If the property is part of a major chain, and OP is a member of an Automobile Association such as NRMA, RACV etc then the major chains will often have good cancellable "AAA" rates for automobile association members, worth a look at.

Not sure what standard/rating the OP's hotel is, but $3553 AUD at today's exchange rate, for 10 nights, equates to a quoted rate of $236 USD + taxes (which amount to 14.75% + $3.50/night), noting most US websites quote prices not including taxes.

However, of course, there is an exchange rate risk here too. That's the other side of the equation.

 

[flightobserver]

Perhaps you should consider booking with your TA for now, then if you are able to confirm your dates later on or the price decreases you can book through Qantas for QFF points and cancel your TA booking.

On the other hand, if the asking price increases by $270 or more for your entire stay, you could still come out on top by keeping your TA booking and forfeiting the points (assuming a point has a value of 2.5c)

 

[kermatu]

Perhaps choice of hotel/location doesn't apply to you coriander - but for a recent holiday to NYC where I was staying 5 days (eventually stayed 6) I booked about 4 months in advance accommodation in 3 different hotels (refundable of course) in different parts of the city (wasn't sure where would be most convenient for visiting friends etc). Turned out well as I could see prices fluctuate and ended up staying in 2 of them over the 6 days (minor inconvenience of moving) but saved around $700 as a result and was settled about 3 weeks in advance. Booked direct with chain, earned points on spend and cc. I think for the price differential you have at the moment pre-paying for such a period is not wise, and the QF points differential should not outweigh direct $ saves in my view too.

 

[trippin_the_rift]

I'd be locking in something fully cancel-able (make sure your TA won't charge a cancellation fee AND that if cancelled you get a cash refund (ie: it's not stored as credit with your TA)).
Also any TA charging a surcharge for hotel bookings is worth ditching. They're making at least 10% + overrides. Surcharge on low fare economy flights I understand but not on high margin products.

Then spend the next 6 months trying to find it cheaper.
If it's with a starwood, hilton or hyatt brand hotel you can send the confirmation to StayAngel and we'll automatically search daily for a better price and alert you if/when something comes up.

 

[love_the_life]

Isn't it funny the way people's minds work. I wouldn't even think about booking through a TA. I tend to book direct with the hotel, at a flexible, no payment upfront rate, then if the stars align I will sometimes then cancel and do a prepay if the rate is cheaper.
Agree with Kermatu and have had multiple bookings in some places while I narrow down exactly where I want to be.

 

[ozbeachbabe]

What dates in March are you looking at? Can I ask what hotel it is you're looking at?

I generally book direct on the website of the hotel chain eg Hilton or sometimes directly on the hotel's own website.

Sometimes you can even ring the hotel direct and ask if they'll match a rate you've seen on sites like Expedia.

 

[featheast]

I'd be locking in something fully cancel-able (make sure your TA won't charge a cancellation fee AND that if cancelled you get a cash refund (ie: it's not stored as credit with your TA)).
Also any TA charging a surcharge for hotel bookings is worth ditching. They're making at least 10% + overrides. Surcharge on low fare economy flights I understand but not on high margin products.

Then spend the next 6 months trying to find it cheaper.
If it's with a starwood, hilton or hyatt brand hotel you can send the confirmation to StayAngel and we'll automatically search daily for a better price and alert you if/when something comes up.

What is the StayAngel thing?

 

[coriander]

What dates in March are you looking at? Can I ask what hotel it is you're looking at?

Hyatt Times Square, 10-20 March 2016: Qantas have a deal for AU$3553. Other hotel sites have ~$4000. TA says she'll match $3553, no surcharge, no cancel fee (she never has c harged extra), no payment till January. I usually book direct but this deal at the moment is much cheaper than elsewhere, hence I ask.

Actually it's just gone up to $3556 this evening :shock: !!

 

[trippin_the_rift]

Hyatt Times Square, 10-20 March 2016: Qantas have a deal for AU$3553. Other hotel sites have ~$4000. TA says she'll match $3553, no surcharge, no cancel fee (she never has c harged extra), no payment till January. I usually book direct but this deal at the moment is much cheaper than elsewhere, hence I ask.

Actually it's just gone up to $3556 this evening :shock: !!

Book with hyatt.com on a flexible rate and submit a best rate guarantee.
Hyatt will drop the price to whatever you can find online plus an additional 20% discount.

Additionally, you could register for the hyatt diamond challenge Hyatt Diamond Fast Track Returns - One Mile at a Time and once you do 12 nights (before april) you'll have Diamond status.

Win!

What is the StayAngel thing?

Reservation monitoring. We're closed to new members (unless you have top-tier status at a major chain) while we integrate version2.

 

[RooFlyer]

Isn't it funny the way people's minds work. I wouldn't even think about booking through a TA. I tend to book direct with the hotel, at a flexible, no payment upfront rate, then if the stars align I will sometimes then cancel and do a prepay if the rate is cheaper.
<snip>.

I do what you do, or rather my TA does it . Less commission for them, but they know that I could do it myself. It sometimes costs me in terms of hotel points (raspberry to Accor) but I'm well ahead overall.

 

[Alanslegal]

Hyatt Times Square, 10-20 March 2016: Qantas have a deal for AU$3553. Other hotel sites have ~$4000. TA says she'll match $3553, no surcharge, no cancel fee (she never has c harged extra), no payment till January. I usually book direct but this deal at the moment is much cheaper than elsewhere, hence I ask.

Actually it's just gone up to $3556 this evening :shock: !!

If your fixed on staying at the Hyatt Times Square, I would be looking at their Best Rate Guarantee where they will beat the best price you find by 20%.

Booking directly with Hyatt I see rooms around $4,000 for 10 nights, there are other websites I see rates of around $3500, so less 20%, you are looking at $2800 if approved.

 

[Mattg]

Using QF points to pay for accommodation is not generally considered a good use of points. QF just take the cash rate, and convert it to points at a rate of about 0.6-0.7 cents per point. Many other points redemptions offer considerably better value.