Hotel Award Calculator

Methodology

gross points = points per night × nights free nights = eligible ? floor(nights ÷ interval) : 0 points charged = gross points − free nights × points per night cash paid = fee charged ? resort fee per night × nights : 0 effective cents per point = (all-in cash price − cash paid) ÷ points charged × 100

The last line is the site's single cents-per-point formula from the cents-per-point calculator — this tool doesn't re-divide, it composes it, once the two hotel-specific terms above have adjusted the points and the cash paid. All-in cash price is what the identical stay costs paid in cash, room, tax and any resort fee included — the total a hotel's own search results already show under current all-in pricing disclosure rules, so it can be read straight off a cash search for the same dates.

Two terms, moving in opposite directions

A plain “points ÷ cash price” comparison on a multi-night stay drops two real amounts, and they don't point the same way:

• The nth-night-free benefit — reduces the points actually charged, which can only raise the true cents-per-point. Hilton gives every 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th consecutive night free to anyone with Silver status or higher — one of the easiest hotel elite tiers to hold. Marriott's Stay 5, Pay 4 does the same on any 5-night points stay with no status requirement at all, discounting the single cheapest night in the block. IHG discounts every 4th night, but only for holders of an IHG co-branded credit card — a card requirement, not a status one.
• The resort or destination fee — where a program still charges it on an award stay, it is real cash paid at booking that a plain comparison ignoring the fee would silently skip, overstating the redemption. Hyatt and Hilton waive it on award stays; Marriott and IHG generally don't, at the property's discretion.

On the worked example this page opens with — Marriott Bonvoy, 5 nights at 70,000 points a night against a $3,500.00 all-in cash price, with a $50.00-a-night resort fee — the plain division reads 1.00¢. Stay 5, Pay 4 knocks out one night, worth 0.25¢; the resort fee Marriott still charges on the award costs 0.09¢. The free night is worth more than the fee costs, so the properly priced figure is 1.16¢— higher than the plain division, not lower. That direction isn't guaranteed; it falls out of whichever amounts you enter.

Why this isn't a tax calculator

The backlog note for this tool worried that award stays are tax-exempt in some jurisdictions and not others, which would need a per-locality rule this site couldn't maintain accurately. Checked before building rather than assumed: Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and IHG all fold room-rate tax into the points redemption itself — none separately bills room tax at checkout on an award stay. So tax isn't a field here; the resort fee is the real, program-level variable, and it doesn't depend on where the hotel sits.

Policy defaults are hints, not rules

Selecting a program pre-fills the resort-fee toggle and, where applicable, defaults the night-free toggle based on how easy the benefit's gating is to meet — on, for Hilton and Marriott, since neither requires anything beyond a free account; off, for IHG, since its benefit needs a specific co-branded card most readers won't hold by default. Both toggles stay fully editable: an individual property can waive its own resort fee regardless of program policy, and only you know whether you actually hold the qualifying status or card.

What this tool does not do

• It does not verify your booking. Whether a specific property honors the program's stated policy, and whether your account actually carries the qualifying status or card, are both outside it. Every term comes from you.
• It only ships defaults for four programs. Hyatt, Hilton, Marriott and IHG have a checked policy in lib/hotel-award-value.js. Any other hotel program — Accor Live Limitless included — gets no default at all rather than a guessed one; both toggles start unset.
• It assumes a level nightly rate. The nth-night-free benefit actually discounts the single cheapest night in the block, which matters when a stay spans different room types or rate changes. Entering a blended points-per-night figure is an approximation, stated rather than hidden.
• It ignores what the money would otherwise have done. Cash spent on a hotel stay is cash not earning rewards elsewhere. The award vs cash calculator prices that term for the flight side of a trip; it isn't composed into this tool.

Sources

• Program policy pages 403 automated fetches — the same limitation already logged for American AAdvantage and Chase on other tools. Every policy below is cited to travel media that documents the program's own terms, rather than the terms page itself.
• World of Hyatt — NerdWallet, “Hyatt: How to Use Free Night Awards”: a Free Night Award booked entirely with points includes room and tax, and Hyatt does not charge resort or destination fees on award stays.
• Hilton Honors — AwardWallet, “Hilton Fifth Night Free”: resort fees are waived on award stays regardless of status; the fifth, tenth, fifteenth and twentieth consecutive night of a Standard Room Reward Stay is free for Silver-status members and above.
• Marriott Bonvoy — AwardWallet, “Marriott Bonvoy Fifth Night Free” and View from the Wing: Stay 5, Pay 4 discounts the lowest-point night in any 5-consecutive-night Standard or PointSavers points stay, open to any member with no elite status required; Marriott lets individual properties charge resort fees on award stays.
• IHG One Rewards — AwardWallet, “IHG Fourth Night Free”: every 4th consecutive night of a points-only stay is free, but only for holders of an IHG One Rewards co-branded credit card; resort fees are charged at the property's discretion and are not guaranteed waived on award stays.
• PointCents — points & miles valuation reference. The published range every result here is judged against, with each publisher's figure shown separately and dated.
• The worked example is a shape, not a specific stay. 5 nights at 70,000 points against a $3,500.00 all-in cash price is a plausible mid-range Marriott redemption used so the page opens on real arithmetic. It does not describe any particular property.

Last reviewed: August 2026