The answer to this question depends on how you earned the points
and how you intend to use them.
One way to
determine the value of a point is to calculate what the points cost you. Many
owners, at some point, turn their timeshare in for points in any given year.
The cost of these points is the amount of your maintenance fee plus the $104
fee to trade your week into points. Take this cost and divide it by the number of points you received to
determine a per point cost.
Example:
Your maintenance fee is $996. You paid $104 to turn your week into points. Your
cost for that year is $1,100. You
received 110,000 points for your trade. $1,100/110,000 equals 1 cent. This is
the cost of 1 point.
Let's say
you are looking to stay at a Category 3 for one night. Should you pay or should
you use points? The Category 3 will cost you 15,000 points. The cost of the
points is 15,000 X 1 cent = $150.00. If the cost of the room is less than
$150.00 (including taxes) then the better value for you is to pay for the room.
Save your points for hotel stays where the cost to pay exceeds the cost of the
points required.
The value of your points can also be calculated by the benefit you
derive from using them. For
example, using your points to fly Business Class to Europe and then staying 5
nights at a luxury hotel like the Marriott Hotel Champs-Elysees in Paris
tremendously increases the value of your points. The cost to pay for this trip
for one person is approximately $6,125. The points you would need for this trip
using a
Travel Package are 280,000. $6,125/280,000 equals 2.19 cents. Now your points have a value of 2.19
cents per point. This is more than twice the value as in the example above.
As you can see, you can value a point by what it cost you to earn or the value it derives. Always strive to obtain the greatest value and you will experience amazing vacations virtually-free!
