Obviously, I can see the benefits to both types of redemptions, given that I m redeeming points for

Miles and points are great.   I think this is something we re all happy to agree on, given that miles and points help us take trips for free that we d ordinarily have to pay for.  However, in this frequent flyer world, it seems like there s this constant state of friendly bickering over the best awards and the right way to redeem points.  (Okay, it s usually  friendly!).
Rewards come in two basic forms, each with a group of loyal supporters.  The first type of reward is using miles and points to book the same travel arrangements you d normally buy with cash, such as using miles to book coach tickets vacation cruise packages and hotel points to book basic hotels like the Hampton Inn.  That s the category of awards I ll be using this weekend.  There are a few advantages to this strategy, with some of the more common ones being you re using less miles so you can take more frequent trips, you re using less miles so you can bring more people with you, and the fact that those travel arrangements are adequate for you, so waste additional miles and points?
Camp #2 brings us a group of travelers who love to use their miles and points to book awards that they d never be able to afford if they had to pay cash out of pocket.  This type of reward is using miles to book first-class tickets on world-class airlines and using hotel points to stay at luxury hotels such as an overwater bungalow in the Maldives or a Ritz Carlton in expensive cities.  I m happy to say my December trip will fall into this group.  There are a few advantages to this strategy, as well primarily that you re spending a few days of your life living like the rich and famous without the $30,000 price tag but I like to use the more responsible vacation cruise packages descriptors such as getting a good night s sleep on a red-eye flight or choosing the hotel with the region s most perfectly-located hotel.  Yes, that s just to make me feel less guilty, but you are sure getting a lot of value from each point when you redeem this way (at least when you value it by sticker price).
Obviously, I can see the benefits to both types of redemptions, given that I m redeeming points for both types of awards.  Other people vacation cruise packages stick to only one type of award, and that s okay too.  I m not actually here to argue for one type of award or another, only to get you to take thirty seconds and figure out which group you re in or want to be in.
Why?  Because different goals = different strategies .  Someone who wants to redeem hotel points for a night at the Holiday Inn in order to save $125 shouldn t be going out of their way to dine at restaurants affiliated with Priority Club (unless you d eat there anyway) or mattress running for the sake of snatching up a ton of hotel points.  On the flipside, someone who wants to redeem for a $750 night at the Grand Hyatt might do well to spend 2 nights at their local Hyatt Place at $80/night to rack up the points.  They re still hundreds of dollars ahead and are getting an upgraded experience for a reasonable cash outlay.
That s not to say that basic rewards aren t valuable: there are definitely coach tickets that will yield more than 2 cents per mile redeemed (in other words, your 25,000-mile ticket would have cost you over $500 cash).  I m searching for Avios availability to Chicago vacation cruise packages : that 9,000 mile redemption would save me $400+, or roughly 4.4 cents per mile , even if it isn t particularly glamorous.  Basic hotels, in some notoriously vacation cruise packages expensive places, can cost $200-300/night again making a great redemption value even without upgrading to a five-star experience.  The reason vacation cruise packages these redemptions get a bad reputation from others is that it s harder to find these great values compared to using miles on a first-class seat, where you ll almost always be seeing rates of 5-10 cents per mile in value.  If you re smart about it, using miles and points for these basic but expensive types of rewards is truly a great rate but if you find yourself using 25,000 miles for a ticket that would have just cost you $300 to book outright, you should think again and find a credit card with 2% cash back and then just use cash rewards to buy the ticket.  Of course, that s not as much fun *wink*.
Unsurprisingly, strategy works both ways and someone who wants to redeem their rewards for a top suite at a fancy hotel should choose a program accordingly.  Priority Club won t upgrade you to suites on reward nights, even if you re a top-tier elite member, so you ll be stuck in a basic room at a beautiful hotel.  Maybe that s good enough for you (it is for me!), but it might be a let-down for other people who have tried so hard to get that incredible experience.  Delta won t let you use miles to book first class seats, so if business-class won t quite cut it for you, look for a different vacation cruise packages program.  For most of us, miles and points are the only way to afford these top-tier experiences: a $22,000 plane ticket is probably out of reach if you have to use cash rewards to save up.
For the most part, I think I fall into group #1 on hotel stays, using my points for basic hotels when they are expensive, either due to location or special event.  I don t spend a ton of time at the hotel, so spending double the points for a more luxurious room doesn t seem like a good value to me.  However, I m transitioning more and more into group #2 for flights, since there s really no way to get comfortable on an airplane during long flights.  If I m going to be stuck on an airplane for 10 hours, I might as well enjoy it.
We do some of both. We are a family of four and need to go on the cheap at times to stretch the points. That s when I use my southwest points vacation cruise packages (with companion pass) and stay at a country inn suites on the points I reached up through their big promos. But I have a decent AA account vacation cruise packages that I ve been saving up in for awhile. Those are for our families first trip to Europe when I plan to go in style. I ll use Ultimate vacation cruise packages Rewards, Hyatt reward nights, and/or Hilton points to find a great hotel. So we are in both camps.
For air, I redeem both for (1) business class trips overseas, and (2) coach and first domestic where the value approaches 2¢/mile, the total dollar outlay for a paid ticket seems high and/or the miles to be earned are low, I have the ability to redeem for a one-way award, and/or the trip is speculative and I want the ability to cancel without fee (I m 1K). I ll consider first class only if a meal is served.
Agree with Up Away, we do a mix of both. Though, I can see the tides turning a bit as out daughter starts to leave the world of infants and toddlers and turns more into a pre-schooler. I can see a future where we do focus more on trips we otherwise wouldn vacation cruise packages t be able to afford since she will soon be old enough to go on some of those adventures.
A mix of #1 and #2. We do what makes the most sense (the best deals), vacation cruise packages and have no problem staying at domestic Choice hotels or the Park Hyatts as long as we believe the use of points/awards is justified.
I m with Jimmy I m a combination of 1 2. When my husband and I are traveling alone I go for the premium cabins at the milesaaver level. When we re traveling with the kids, sometimes we go premium but more often economy.
I redeem my miles for economy tickets to far flung place with inconvenient airports (like Cambodia). While I m not sitting up front, those awards are aspirational vacation cruise packages because it s not in my budget to buy a $1700 plane ticket to Asia.
Miles and points also enable me to go on more frequent long weekend getaways. I used to take one or two trips a year, and now I travel pretty every long weekend. While my flights and hotels vacation cruise packages aren t luxurious, the ability to jump from New York to the Caribbean for the weekend in February is.
I'm just a girl in her 20s with a huge case of wanderlust. I want to see the world - and I need a little help from discounts and promotions to make it happen! This is my quest to earn free travel in a realistic way. I'll grab the easy airline miles and hotel points for award redemptions, and look for ways to save money while paying vacation cruise packages for the rest. I'm ready to get out and explore, vacation cruise packages and am looking forward to all the adventures waiting for me! It might be softcore miles, but it's definitely hardcore travel.