Converting that certificate to a new one was a massive hassle, but in the end I booked a week at the S. Regis Bal Harbour for this January. I also booked several other reservations in January using points at the S. Regis Bal Harbour while it was still a category 7 bargain.
In the meantime, while calling to cancel one of the point stays, a Marriott rep cancelled the travel package stay. As there were no points rooms left, they couldn’t rebook it either. The hotel did have the same category room for sale, but while under SPG there were no capacity controls, Marriott #Bonvoyed that and allows hotels to limit rooms available for points. The hotel refused to allow the reservation to be reinstated and Marriott said there was nothing they could do.
OK, I figured. I’ll just refund the travel certificate as I wasn’t going to be able to use it by March. The original travel packages had the following refund values:
- Category 1-5: 45K
- Category 6: 75K
- Category 7: 105K
- Category 8: 135K
- Category 9: 165K
- Tier 1-3: 195K
- Tier 4-5: 315K
As it was an old tier 4-5 certificate that converted into a new category 7 certificate, it should have had a 315K point refund value.
I called to do that, but the rep said they saw nothing about a 315K refund value and the only option they had was a 5K refund value. Additionally the certificate couldn’t be extended as it was extended when it was converted from the old certificate to the new certificate.
DDF members have been told the same line about a 5K refund.
I HUCA’d the Titanium elite line a few more times and got the same response.
I tried my luck on Twitter, but also hit a brick wall after being told lies:
I also tried reaching out the Marriott Lurker team on Flyertalk, but that didn’t help either:
So, I took things to the top and wrote an email to Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson. I’ve done that in the past with various corporations by trying out firstname.lastname@corporation.com or lastname.firstname@corporation.com. In short, I expressed my displeasure over the whole situation and asked how this was acting in accordance with the golden rule?
I received an email back from Mr. Sorenson’s office asking for a conversation. The representative said that she looked over all of my correspondence and was sorry to say that I had been misinformed by everyone.
While it’s true that the new travel packages only allow for a 5K point refund if you don’t use the hotel portion, if you purchased the old travel packages they could be converted back to the old packages and refunded for the original amount, in my case 315K.
She also agreed that as they cancelled the wrong reservation and as I wouldn’t be able to rebook that hotel as it was not a category 8, she would convert my category 7 certificate into a category 8 certificate at no cost and would wait to do so until it expires in March so that I’ll have more time to use it.
It took a lot of time and effort, but that was a happy ending for me!
Have you used the hotel portion of your old travel package or have you tried to get a refund? Share your experience in the comments!
I have used many and have to call a few days in to each stay because they end up taking points from my account. This has happened the last two weeks and probably 30x over the last year and a half. I have emailed and called with no success of getting the problem fixed. They also don’t give anything for my time having to call over and over.
Marriott is so frustrating.
So what was the email address?
I pretty much spelled it out, no?
First-last, or last-first? Marriott or bonvoy?
Nice ending!
Now we need her contact info please
I am sure it helps to be Dan. And not Joe Schmoe.
She said the policy applies to everyone. the problem is that Marriott reps are woefully undertrained.
just reading this is stressful
What a mess! And I am not surprised one bit! SPG has it together compare to all this. Glad it worked out for you
I sure miss SPG.
Good to be Dan! I wonder how many others are in a similar situation and gave up after a bunch of tries.
As always, persistence is key.
Yep 😉
They didn’t offer any compensation for all the trouble you had to go thru for something that should have been seamless?
Marriott? Compensation?
LOL
If you asked the office of the CEO, you may have gotten…
I was offered 30K, but turned that down and asked them to trade by category 7 for category 8.
And they said?
read the post?
got to tell you. just stayed at a residency inn and wasnt offered a welcome gift. Emailed Marriott and got $50 as I am platinum elite. So they might bonvoy a lot of things but this time no issues
What a great article. This is what makes Dan, Dan. Way to go!
Thank you for the valuable post. I don’t have any travel packages, so this issue doesn’t affect me personally, bit this the type of post that separates you from the rest of the bloggerverse.
So, are you able to indefinitely extend certificates? I don’t think I got that part clear.
It will be good for a year from when its exchanged.
Thanks, so it can only be extended once. That’s what I thought.
It’s so messed up. I’ve moved my cash stays for work over to Hyatt or no brand about a year ago because of this. What a joke.
Yup, luckily Hyatt is a great option.
Not everywhere, for example in LA they (Hyatt) are woefully underrepresented.
I have been offered 5K. I booked the reservation and canceled and ask them to reinstate the certificate and it got me another year to use it.
Hi dan I am having the same problem as they canceled my reservation for the the Ritz Carlton bel harbor and they don’t want to give me the 315,000 points that the rep said they would give they pulled the call and said they can’t help me and when I ask them to put the original reservation back
They said they can’t do that as it’s a category 7 in our category 8 certificate
What could I do now
Write to the CEO?
thanx dan i got my 315,000 points back
Awesome!
How many points did you use to purchase this package originally and how many miles did u receive
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/milespoints/bonvoyed-heres-tier-4-5-travel-package-certificate/
Dan, I bought a travel package/certificate in Aug 2018. In March 2019, post merger, I called to change the certificate to the new Bonvoy program certificate (as the previous one was invalid). The new certificate has an expiration of March 2020. Now I am calling to extend and they are saying I already “extended it once.” I would have extended this in July or Aug 2019 to have the longest possible period but they are counting the conversion from the old cert to the new as an extension-is that right?
I am hoping to use this certificate in April…Any suggestions?
Does what someone suggested below (book a stay, cancel, have the cert reissued really work?)
Good luck getting upgraded at the St Regis.
As Platinum under SPG stayed there 19 times and always upgraded.
Was there last week and they pulled blatant lies and trickery on me to avoid upgrading. (Long story).
Was told the entire staff had been replaced by Marriott people.
It’s a whole new world.
Ouch
did you attach all your correspondence to the email or did the rep actually take the time to look it up?
I had many frustrating experiences with Marriott and always found the way to getting stuff resolved is, just keep calling. Take HUCA to a new level. OMAHA has decent reps. and eventually someone should know how to do something. I had many times I was told no and eventually took a rep a few seconds to do it.
Their systems are just so old that the reps really have to know how to work it.
It’s frustrating that a company can be this consistently awful to those that are still somehow actually loyal to the program. One would hope that the office of Marriott’s CEO having to respond to what should be a simple inquiry would motivate them to get better, but what motivation do they have when they’re one of the only games in town?
I have a new category 1 to 4
Hi Dan, are you able to answer this question? I have a new category 1 to 4 7 day certificates. If I’m not going to be able to use it before it expires. Am I able to get points instead? if so how many?
Did you buy the old package and convert it?
yes
Then read the post for the amount
Dan, sorry maybe you missed my post above? Is what they are telling me correct about the conversion – that it is supposed to count as my one extension?
Unclear, but you can try writing to the CEO if you feel that’s unfair.
Anyway to move out my former SPG, now Bonvoy points to another card? Any reason to do so and is this a good idea?
You can transfer the points to dozens of airlines. The points remain even if you cancel the card.
if I forgot to use package and never converted it is there anyway to get it extended at this point?
Is your package expired?
I completely forgot that I had one. Yup, mine expired already… Is there any recourse to recoup any points?
You can try doing what I did…
@dan had the same thing a month ago and they only wanted to give me 5k tried HUCA nothing helped so I gave up and used in a hotel which I didn’t want but was better then 5k
I had an old cat 1-5 that was extended then converted to 1-4, at which point is expiring next month. As most of you have stated, when I call, they said I have extended it already. What are the odds that HUCA will result in getting it extended one more time?
same situation, expiring 02/08, just called & no luck. went ahead & book so wouldn’t waste it. at least will help me get to 50 nights, yeah nobody is doing that these days.
Dan, thanks for the trick in getting through to the CEO, I think I’ll have to try that next time, I LOVE it.
Interesting. Converting an old Tier 4-5 to 315k is better than redeeming for a 7-day off-peak award using points (300k). Thanks Dan for great and timely article.
Yup!
I know hilton points arent the best but i just had a problem with a hotel and all it took was one email to get fully refunded I think i’m gonna try avoiding marriot
I am actually shocked with the success I had. I originally purchased a package in 8/18 that expired in 8/19. They claimed that I had asked for extension in 2/19 so now it expired in 2/20. I went to the “help with package” part of website and complained that it makes no sense that it should expire a year from the request, it should be a year from old expiration. I got an email response that they are cancelling my old certificate and have issued a new one that expires 1/31/21!
I followed your instructions about emailing the CEO yesterday. I got a call back today from the “office of consumer affairs at Marriott international” and they are going to allow another extension of my new Marriott certificate, which was converted from an old certificate last year in March. Phone call was about 10 minutes, so this was way less of a headache than my phone call that went on for over an hour and got nowhere earlier this month.
Another positive data point – I called the normal line (no CEO email) and after speaking to 2 people I got my certificate extended 1 year from today. They wouldn’t offer a refund but could extend another year. The first person I spoke to said nothing was possible, so HUCA or insist it’s possible, while being nice. Thank you again.
I had a similar issue just yesterday! Have a 7 night cat 1-4 certificate that is expiring in a week or so and when i called yesterday the representative didn’t let me extend it while saying that i would only get 5k redeposited in my account. insane. So i called again today just to see if i can book for later in the summer and after a few minutes of back and forth the lady let me extend it for another year! even though i already extended it 2 times. HUCA really does work!
just a data point: i was denied a refund on the call (even 5k) and denied to extend. HUCA and second rep cancelled the cert and reissued with a one year extension from date of call
Very very useful article – had been sure my already extended certificate would go to waste. Made three calls to Platinum Elite line today – first two agents said it wasn’t possible (one put me on hold to ask her supervisor), third agent said he only dealt with reservations but transferred me to rewards line (800 627 7468) and person I was transferred to knew how to cancel the cat 1-4 certificate and credit my account with 45,000 points.
Bought a cat 7 in 08/18. Converted to new loyalty in 03/05/19. Couldn’t use it so I called 800-535-4028 (Marriott Elite services) and was surprised that on the first attempt the rep had no issue extending it for one year –> 02/26/21.
For those that were unsuccessful in getting another extension, have you confirmed that the expiration has now been pushed to 1/31/21 given all of the hotel closures from the Chinese virus? I’m calling tonight but would like to hear other data points as well.
Dan,
I need your help! I am in this EXACT same situation now, and emailed both the CEO and President- Good news is that their office called me right away to discuss. Unfortunately, they told me that what the Platinum line stated to me was true… that they could only give me 5K points for my certificate. I mentioned that I read on multiple forums examples of members who successfully got the full amount of points refunded for their old certificate, and she said that they would consider doing the same for me IF I could show them an email or any type of correspondance that would show proof that Marriott did this for another member, and they would consider doing the same for me. Can you PLEASE help me out and share any type of confirmation/communication you have when you successfully got your points back? I would be very very grateful!
I didn’t get my points back as they upgraded my cat 7 to a cat 8.
Here are the codes needed for a refund, but first you need to get them to convert back to the original certificate:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marriott-marriott-bonvoy/1928972-travel-package-general-discussion-thread.html
Ah, that’s right. Thanks for getting back to me. Do you have any confirmation from Marriott that they confirmed they can convert it back as an option?
Check your inbox 🙂