I am raising the value of SPG point to 1.5 cents

Once again, this is only my personal opinion. Your value may be lower or higher, and that’s perfectly fine. However, in this post, I wanted to explain my reasons for this change. You may have heard about adjustments in SPG categories. A lot of people felt it was a relatively mild devaluation, with  some properties, particularly Hawaii, feeling most of the impact.

My value of an SPG point was 1.3 cents, due to transfer to AAdvantage because I didn’t see any hotel redemptions that would interest me. However, recently, I had  a chance to look at some properties and was very pleasantly surprised.

Quite a a few decent hotels have dropped from category 3 to category 2 or even 1. The lowest categories is what I am mostly interested in the SPG program. You can get a hotel night for 2,000 and 3,000 points on weekends vs. 7,000 for a category 3.  No, they are not fancy properties, but some are located in popular tourist spots and would probably appeal to quite a few middle-class families. Let me list some of them for you.

1) Sheraton Lake Buena Vista resort. It dropped from category 3 to category 2, which means it costs 3,000 points on weekends and 4,000 SPG points on weekdays. The paid rate is 122 dollars or more per night. I have never actually stayed at this hotel, but we did pass it on the way to Magic Kingdom and it’s located within an easy drive of the parks.

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Photo taken from hotel’s website.

2) Four Points by Sheraton Orlando Studio city 

An update: This hotel was once again put in Category 2, which means it costs 3,000 points on weekends.

This is another decent choice in Orlando, especially if you are visiting Universal Studios. It  was actually category 2 previously and dropped to category 1. So it will cost 2,000 points on weekends and 3,000 on weekdays. A good deal, if you ask me. Paid rate varies according to the season, but during Spring Break, it’s 159 dollars per night. I would never pay that amount, but the SPG redemption sure is an attractive option.

Photo taken from hotel’s website.

3) Four Points Niagara Falls

This is currently a category 2 hotel, formerly category 3. It seems like a very good deal for a popular destination. Paid rate per night in June (the start of a tourist season) is over 100 dollars per night.

Photo taken from hotel’s website.

4) Four Points by Sheraton San Diego

This hotel has been recently renovated, and the website claims it to be family-friendly. It’s a good, central spot to explore San Diego, which boasts one of the best zoos in the country. It’s a category 2 hotel, so it would be a very good deal, especially with paid rate running at 143 dollars per night.

Photo taken from hotel’s website.

These are just a few examples that would represent a tremendous value for a regular family. Even if you had to get two rooms, and we frequently do, it would still be a good deal. For a category 2, it would only cost you 6,000 points on a weekend. You can check the SPG program hotels and corresponding categories by clicking HERE

So, in light of these recent changes, I think it’s only fair to raise my value of SPG point to  1.5 cents. Honestly, even that seems a bit low, but I am very conservative when it comes to value of miles and points. There is no question that SPG is the most  stable type of currency in this hobby, mostly because it’s very hard to earn.  I would call this adjustment appreciation rather than devaluation!

P.S. Today you should be able to book new IHG PointBreaks hotels HERE

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