Reference

Hotel Point Values, July 2026

The baseline each calculator prefills, alongside the two program rules that move the math most: whether award nights still owe fees, and how fast paying cash earns points back. Override any baseline with your own number on the calculator itself.

Program	Baseline value	Fees on award nights	Base earn, paying cash	Notes
World of Hyatt	1.70¢ / pt	None — resort fees, taxes and surcharges all waived on awards	5x at Hyatt hotels & resorts, 2.5x at Hyatt Studios	Post-devaluation figure; raise it if you consistently do better	Calculator →
Marriott Bonvoy	0.75¢ / pt	Resort and destination fees billed on awards at every status level	10x at most brands, 5x at extended-stay brands, 4x at StudioRes	Reflects the 2026 devaluation; the older 0.89¢ figure is stale	Calculator →
IHG One Rewards	0.50¢ / pt	Resort and destination fees billed on award stays	10x at most brands, 5x at Staybridge and Candlewood	IHG's frequent 100%-bonus point sales put a soft ceiling near 0.5¢	Calculator →
Hilton Honors	0.45¢ / pt	Waived on all-points and certificate stays; billed on Points & Money	10x at most brands, 5x at select-service brands, 3x at LivSmart	The weakest currency here; 2026 valuations land around 0.4–0.6¢	Calculator →
Wyndham Rewards	1.00¢ / pt	Go Free covers room and local taxes — except Caesars properties, which bill resort fees	10x at most brands (1,000-point per-stay minimum), 5x at WaterWalk	Holds up better than Hilton or IHG; estimates run roughly 0.9–1.3¢	Calculator →

How these are derived

A point's value is what it saves you, not what a chart says. Each baseline starts from what redemptions actually deliver in that program — the cash cost of the stays points typically buy, net of the points a cash guest would earn back — and is sanity-checked against two hard anchors: what the program sells points for (a ceiling, since you could just buy them), and what its frequent point sales imply the program itself thinks they're worth.

That's why the numbers spread so widely. Hyatt still publishes an award chart and waives every fee on award nights, so its points clear 1.7¢ with room to spare. Hilton prices dynamically, devalued repeatedly through 2025, and sells points cheaply — 0.45¢ is honest, not pessimistic. The right way to use the table: take the baseline as your floor, and if a specific redemption beats it on the calculator, book it.

Baselines are reviewed when programs change their charts or terms — each program page shows its own verification date in the footer.