What Are Hotel Points
Actually Worth?

Most people have a rough idea of how many hotel points they have. Almost nobody has a clear idea of what those points are worth — and in 2026 the answer varies more than it ever has.

The industry split in two. After 2022, Marriott, Hilton and IHG moved to dynamic award pricing, where the points cost of a room tracks live demand. World of Hyatt refused, and still publishes a fixed category chart. That single decision is why one Hyatt point buys about four times what one Hilton point buys.

Here is what the independent valuations say, what the sweet spots still are, and — the part most guides skip — how to decide honestly whether to use your points or convert them.

What each currency is worth in 2026

These figures draw on The Points Guy's July 2026 valuations, NerdWallet's May 2026 analysis, and Frequent Miler's redemption data. They cluster tightly, which is unusual and worth trusting.

Two things to take from this table. First, the ranking is stable — Hyatt on top, Hilton at the bottom, and it has been that way for several years. Second, the spread between average and sweet spot is widest at Hilton. That matters more than it looks, and we come back to it below.

A worked example, because the percentages hide the scale. A 500,000-point balance sounds identical whichever programme it sits in. In Hyatt it is about $7,750 of hotel value. In Hilton it is about $2,000. Same number on the screen, nearly four times the difference in the real world.

World of Hyatt: still the best, but it got more expensive

Hyatt's fixed chart is the whole story. When the cash rate at a property spikes for a holiday weekend or a conference, a dynamically priced programme raises the points cost in step — you can never capture the gap. Hyatt's categories hold, so the gap is yours.

That said, on 20 May 2026 Hyatt overhauled the chart, moving from three pricing tiers to five and raising the top end by as much as 67%. It was a genuine devaluation and holders of large balances felt it.

The five-tier structure cut both ways, though. It introduced a new "lowest" band beneath the old off-peak floor, so a Category 1 property can now price from around 3,000 points on quiet nights. Those bands appear in low season, midweek in business cities, and dates away from school holidays and local events.

Where Hyatt points still shine:

• Category 4–6 properties at roughly 15,000–25,000 points a night. The most consistently good value band on the chart, and where most people should be looking.
• All-inclusive resorts — Secrets, Dreams, Zoëtry, Miraval. Points cover meals and activities that would otherwise be cash, which quietly doubles the effective value.
• Standard Rate availability. If a standard room is available at the standard cash rate, it is bookable on points. There is no separate award inventory to exhaust — a structural advantage no other programme matches.
• Category 1 hotels from around 3,000 points on lowest-tier dates.

The catch is footprint. Hyatt has around 1,300 properties against Marriott's 9,000-plus. A high per-point value is only useful if there is a Hyatt where you actually go.

Marriott Bonvoy: reach, not value

At 0.77–0.8 cents, Bonvoy sits second. Its practical ceiling under dynamic pricing is around 1.2 cents, and reaching it takes deliberate work on dates and destinations.

Marriott's real advantage is coverage. With more than 9,000 properties it reaches markets where Hyatt has almost nothing — Southeast Asia, Africa, secondary US cities — and that is where redemptions at 0.9 to 1.0 cents tend to appear. A decent redemption at a hotel you can actually reach beats a theoretical 3 cents at a resort with no award space.

Where Bonvoy points still work:

• The 5th night free. Five consecutive award nights, cheapest one free. Automatic, no status required, roughly a 20% uplift. This is the easiest win in the programme and most people ignore it.
• Ritz-Carlton and St. Regis on compression dates, when cash rates spike faster than the award pricing keeps up.
• Free night certificates before points. If you hold co-brand certificates, burn those first — they expire sooner and are harder to replace.

Hilton Honors: the widest gap between average and best

Hilton is the cheapest major currency, at 0.35–0.5 cents. The Points Guy raised its figure from 0.35 to 0.4 cents in July 2026, a partial recovery after the 2025 devaluation cycle, while Frequent Miler holds at 0.35 and Upgraded Points at 0.5.

This is why Hilton balances look enormous and buy less than expected. Hilton's earning rates are the most generous in the industry — which is exactly why each point is worth the least.

Where Hilton points punch above their weight:

• The 5th night free on all-points bookings — a standing 20–25% uplift.
• Waldorf Astoria and Conrad resorts, which reach 1 to 2 cents per point. The Waldorf Astoria Maldives is the headline: a five-night stay at 150,000 points a night costs 600,000 after the free night, against a cash bill starting around $15,000. That is roughly 2.5 cents per point — Hyatt-grade value from the cheapest currency in the industry.
• Big-city hotels on compression dates. Less glamorous, far more bookable. A Manhattan Waldorf over a peak December week beats the average handsomely.
• No resort fees on award stays for 100% points bookings — real money at US resorts, and absent from the headline per-point figure.

The honest caveat: award space at the Maldives property is genuinely scarce and pricing has swung between roughly 150,000 and the 250,000 cap since the devaluations. When you see 150,000, book first and plan the rest afterwards.

IHG One Rewards: watch the twelve-month clock

IHG points sit at 0.5–0.6 cents. Its near-complete conversion to dynamic pricing produced a currency that is unusually consistent and unusually capped — you rarely do badly, you rarely do brilliantly.

IHG's best redemptions are the ones nobody talks about. Six Senses and Regent are IHG brands, and they comfortably beat the programme average. Pair them with the IHG Premier card's fourth-night-free benefit — a four-night award stay charges points for three — and you have a standing 25% discount that is the single strongest reason to hold IHG points at all.

Expiry: the number that catches everyone

Every major programme expires points after a period of inactivity. Most people know this vaguely and almost nobody knows their own clock.

IHG is the one to watch. Twelve months is half what everyone else allows, and it catches out people who built a balance through a card bonus and then simply did not travel for a year. A balance that took years to accumulate can be gone in twelve quiet months, and no programme will give it back.

The fix is trivial — any small transaction resets the clock. A partner purchase, a points-plus-cash booking, a single night. Set a calendar reminder and it never happens to you.

Should you use them, or convert them?

Most articles on this subject are written by people who only make money if you keep collecting. We buy points, so we have the opposite bias — which is exactly why we would rather be straight about when not to sell.

Keep and redeem if:

• You have a specific trip in the next 12–24 months at a property in that programme. Not an aspiration — a trip.
• Your points are in Hyatt. At 1.5 cents and up, a well-chosen Hyatt redemption beats what any broker can pay. We tell people this regularly.
• You can actually book a sweet spot. If the Waldorf Maldives has space on your dates, take it.

Consider converting if:

• You hold a large balance with no concrete plan. Under dynamic pricing that balance loses value quietly every month, and the expiry clock is already running.
• Your points are in Hilton or IHG and you rarely stay with them. Lowest per-point values, and in IHG's case the shortest clock.
• You have been chasing a sweet spot for a year without booking it. Be honest about how long you have been trying.
• There is no property in that chain where you actually travel. A high theoretical value that expires unused is worth precisely nothing.

The test that cuts through all of it: what would your balance fetch in cash, versus what would it fetch as hotel nights you would genuinely book? Not the suite you will never get round to. The real trip.

Frequently asked questions

How much is a hotel point worth in 2026?

It depends entirely on the programme. World of Hyatt points are worth roughly 1.5 to 1.6 cents each, Marriott Bonvoy around 0.77 to 0.8 cents, IHG One Rewards 0.5 to 0.6 cents, and Hilton Honors just 0.35 to 0.5 cents. A Hyatt point is worth about four times a Hilton point.

Why are Hyatt points worth so much more?

Hyatt still publishes a fixed award chart, while Marriott, Hilton and IHG price awards dynamically. Under dynamic pricing the points cost of a room rises with the cash rate, so you can never capture the gap. Hyatt's fixed categories mean a room whose cash rate spikes still costs the same points.

Do hotel points expire?

Yes, all four major programmes expire points after a period of inactivity. Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt allow 24 months; IHG allows only 12. Any earning or redemption activity resets the clock, but simply logging in does not count.

Is it better to sell hotel points or redeem them?

Redeem if you have a specific trip in the next 12 to 24 months at a property in that programme — a good redemption beats what any broker pays, especially in Hyatt. Sell if you hold a large balance with no concrete plan, particularly in Hilton or IHG where per-point values are lowest and expiry is closest.

What is the 5th night free benefit?

Marriott and Hilton both make the fifth consecutive award night free on all-points bookings, an automatic 20 to 25 percent discount. IHG offers a similar fourth-night-free benefit to holders of its Premier credit card. These are the most reliable way to lift your effective value per point.

The short version

Hyatt points are worth about four times Hilton points, and the reason is structural rather than marketing — a fixed award chart against dynamic pricing. Every programme expires points after inactivity, and IHG gives you half the time everyone else does. The sweet spots are real but they require award space, and award space at the headline properties is scarce.

If you have a trip, book it. If you have been meaning to for two years, that is information too.

We buy hotel points across all four programmes — Marriott Bonvoy, Hilton Honors, World of Hyatt and IHG One Rewards. Free valuation, no obligation, and we will tell you if you are better off keeping them.