Should you use points or pay cash for this stay?

A confidence-rated answer for any Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG or Wyndham booking — with resort-fee waivers, fifth-night-free, and hybrid co-pays already factored in.

Booking details

Loyalty program

$0 – $380USD
$0$1,000+
0 – 25,000pts
0200,000+

Nights

$
$
$

Show the full math

Every line, sourced

  • Cash room rate

    2 nights × $380

    $760

  • Taxes

    $45

  • Total cash cost

    $805

  • Cash benefit credited to your points

    $805

  • Points required

    50,000 pts

  • Your cents-per-point (CPP)

    1.61¢

  • Hyatt baseline

    Blended from TPG, Frequent Miler RRV, NerdWallet 2026

    1.70¢

What other calculators miss

Most points calculators show you a CPP and stop. We model the program-specific rules that change the answer — and we hand the decision back when it's truly close.

Resort-fee waivers, per program

Hilton, Hyatt and Wyndham waive resort fees on award stays — Marriott and IHG don't. We pull this through into the cash side automatically.

Fifth- and fourth-night-free, applied

Marriott's 5/Pay-4 is automatic for everyone. Hilton's requires Silver. IHG's requires the right credit card. We apply each rule before computing your CPP.

Elite-night opportunity cost

IHG award stays don't earn ENCs at all. Marriott's 2026 promos exclude awards. If you're chasing status, we surface what you're giving up.

Honest 'it's close' state

When CPP sits within ±10% of baseline we say so — and list the qualitative tiebreakers — instead of pretending we have an answer we don't.

Flexibility-aware

Comparing a refundable award to a non-refundable cash rate overstates the savings. Toggle the rate type and we add a flexibility premium to keep it honest.

Hybrid points + cash supported

Marriott PointSavers, Hilton Points & Money, Hyatt Points + Cash — enter the co-pay and we compute the right CPP on the points used.

How RoomPoints calculates the recommendation

  1. We compute total cash cost: room rate × nights + taxes + resort/destination fees.
  2. For programs that waive resort fees on award stays (Hilton, Hyatt, Wyndham) we subtract the resort-fee total from the cash side. For programs that don't (Marriott, IHG, Choice), the resort fee remains in both sides — and is paid out of pocket on the points stay.
  3. We apply fifth- or fourth-night-free where eligible to reduce the points denominator before the CPP calc.
  4. CPP = effective cash ÷ points × 100. We compare that to the program baseline and bucket into one of three recommendation states with a confidence rating.
  5. Optional adjustments: a 10% flexibility premium when the cash rate is non-refundable; an opportunity-cost call-out when you're chasing status and the program doesn't credit award nights toward elite tiers.

2026 program baselines

  • Marriott0.75¢
  • Hilton0.40¢
  • Hyatt1.70¢
  • IHG0.60¢
  • Wyndham0.75¢

Blended from TPG (April 2026 monthly), Frequent Miler RRV (2026), and NerdWallet (2026). Refreshed quarterly.

What this tool doesn't model

Personal preference for the brand, your specific cancellation timing, past experience at the property, the value of brand promotions outside the standard award/elite mechanics, and transferable-currency arbitrage (coming in V2 with Bilt, Chase, Amex, Citi, and Capital One transfer-bonus modeling).

Frequently asked questions

The questions every points-and-miles user asks at every booking.

We compute your cents-per-point (CPP) for the booking — the cash value you extract per point — and compare it to a per-program baseline blended from TPG, Frequent Miler RRV, and NerdWallet 2026 valuations. CPP at 1.5× the baseline or higher gets a high-confidence 'use points' recommendation. Below 0.6× of baseline, points are being burned and we recommend cash.

Our 2026 baselines: Marriott Bonvoy 0.75¢, Hilton Honors 0.4¢, World of Hyatt 1.7¢, IHG One Rewards 0.6¢, Wyndham Rewards 0.75¢. A redemption that matches the baseline is fair value; 1.5× or better is a strong redemption.

Yes — Hilton, Hyatt, and Wyndham waive resort and destination fees on award stays. Marriott, IHG, and Choice still charge them. The calculator factors this in automatically based on the program you pick.

Marriott Stay 5, Pay 4 is automatic for all members on consecutive 5+ night award reservations — the lowest-priced night is free. Hybrid cash+points and free-night-cert bookings do not count. Hilton offers a similar perk for Silver+ members (any cobranded card grants Silver). IHG offers fourth-night-free, but only to Premier/Premier Business/Traveler cardholders.

Marriott, Hilton, Hyatt, and Wyndham award stays all earn elite-night credits. IHG One Rewards award stays do NOT — this is the single biggest hidden cost of redeeming IHG points if you're chasing status. The calculator surfaces this when you toggle 'I'm chasing elite status.'

Always default to a flexible (refundable) cash rate. Award stays are themselves cancellable, so comparing them to a non-refundable advance-purchase rate overstates the savings. If you'd only book the AP rate, toggle 'non-refundable' — we add a 10% flexibility premium to the points side to keep the comparison honest.

We blend three published 2026 sources — TPG monthly valuations, Frequent Miler's Reasonable Redemption Values, and NerdWallet — into a single RoomPoints baseline. We refresh quarterly so the recommendation reflects current market value, not stale numbers.

Yes. Enter the cash co-pay total in the 'Cash co-pay' field and we'll compute CPP on the points used after subtracting the co-pay. Marriott PointSavers, Hilton Points & Money, and Hyatt Points + Cash all work the same way under the hood.