How do you value upgrades and amenities?

[ChrisC]

Bit of a think piece rather and credit and debit piece really.

There are lots of posts (mainly by Rob!) on the value of IHG points when buying and people post about the the odd redemption booking but that’s trickier now with dynamic pricing but I’ve never seen a post about valuing things like upgrades and welcome points.

I was checking the IHG app and I’ve been upgraded for my 5 night stay on le continent.

The £ / night for cash rates is £25 difference between the room I paid for (a room of which I’m more than happy with otherwise I wouldn’t have booked it) and the upgraded room. I guess the hotel have taken the decision that they aren’t going to sell the room for €€€ so might as well give it to me and hope someone buys my original and cheaper room.

If you were keeping a ledger on this would you stick in £125 or some other value? If so what?

I value the 500 welcome points at an HI as 1p per point as a pint is roughly a fiver.

Maybe a quid each for a four finger Kit Kat each bottle of water.

Do you place a value on these things if so what?

[Rich_A]

I tend to value these things at ‘what would you pay in cash if you were offered the upgraded room at check in?’. It may be less than £25, it may be zero, or may be more. But that’s how I try to think of things – rather than what the notional price difference is.

I keep a record of what cold, hard benefits Amex Plat has given me over the years. I tend to be a bit conservative, but I generally value a decent breakfast at £10 – more than I would usually spend on a coffee and pastry at a cafe, but less than the list price – and a late checkout at £15 if it has genuinely been granted to a useful time.

I rarely know if I’ve actually been upgraded at a hotel, since the room descriptions are so opaque, but I valued an Avis upgrade at £30 last month – I certainly would have paid that if asked.

[Clem Fandango]

A lot of this is down to who you’re with when staying. If I’m on a solo business trip, room upgrades and free water etcetera are basically worthless as I’m a) not in the room much and b) most other things are covered by expenses, including breakfast.

But if I’m with my family it’s very different. Free breakfast becomes worth around £10-15 each per day as normally I’d have to take the fangettes out somewhere close to the hotel before they start to chew our arms off. Room upgrades are more “nice to have” but getting a suite upgrade is great because it gives us somewhere to chill out in the evening and watch a film without having to crowd around one bed. So I’d happily value that at an extra 15% of whatever the room cost in the first place.

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