After months of speculation, I finally rolled the dice on some travel packages as we’re going down to the wire. These amazing packages will be discontinued tomorrow.
- I redeemed for a 5 night category 9 travel package for 345K Marriott points rather than the standard 7 night package for 390K points. I rarely stay in a hotel for 7 nights, so although the savings is just 45K Marriott points, I took this route when I found an agent willing to sell me a 5 night package. Most agents will only sell this package to Marriott timeshare
suckersowners. My analysis shows that category 9 certificates are likely to map to a category 6 hotel or a value of about 50K points per night. However I also attached my category 9 certificate to a stay next July at the Domes of Elounda, Autograph Collection. That property will skyrocket from a current category 9 currently costing 45K points per night to a unified category 8 which will cost 60K points per night in August and then 85K points per night next February. It will remain valid for my stay, but what will happen if I want to change the dates or change to another hotel? I rolled the dice and will hope that just maybe Marriott will go with the long-shot, option 5, and will allow it to be used at any category 8 property. This is certainly a long shot and I’m not counting on that happening, but even at a category 6 there are lots of great properties to choose from, including several great options in Israel.
- I “split” a tier 1-3 package (420K Marriott points) and a tier 4-5 package (540K Marriott points) with my brother-in-law. Neither of us are likely to stay 7 nights in one hotel and you can’t buy a 5 night travel package for the Ritz tier packages which are likely to map to the best hotels. My brother-in-law redeemed for a tier 1-3 package and I redeemed for a tier 4-5 package. The plan would be for him to use part of the tier 1-3 hotel stay and part of the tier 4-5 hotel stay while I’d use part of that same tier 1-3 hotel stay and part of that same tier 4-5 hotel stay. That will take some coordination to happen, but that way we can also hedge our bets based on how Marriott maps the old tiers to the new categories. My guess is that the tier 1-3 certificate will be good for hotels that are a unified category 7 or about 60K points per night. That would mean if we book a stay with that certificate by January that it should be valid in any SPG or Marriott hotel. My guess is that the tier 4-5 certificate will be good for hotels that are a unified category 8 or about 85K points per night. That would mean we would have more time to book a stay in any SPG or Marriott hotel and it would work even after January when category 8 properties go up from 60K points per night to 70K-100K points per night. We attached the tier 1-3 certificate to the Ritz-Carlton Toronto, which will become a category 7 property and we attached the tier 4-5 certificate to the Ritz Carlton Bal Harbour which will become a category 8 property.
As for the miles, I chose 120K Alaska over the 132K United. I love my United miles, but they’re so easy to earn thanks to the Chase quadfecta, so Alaska was an easy choice.
Of course if you just want the miles at an amazing rate and a less expensive hotel stay you can book a category 1-5 certificate and attach it to the Calgary Airport Marriott as that hotel will be a unified category 5 hotel and you might just luck out and have your certificate remain valid for a category 5 hotel. Just be prepared for questions about why you’re spending a week in an airport hotel like DDF reader “zow” encountered 😀
I don’t see any good reason to leave a certificate unattached to a hotel at this point.
You’ll get many more miles by buying a travel package that just transferring points into miles, read this comprehensive post for the exact numbers.
Are you buying travel packages before it’s too late? The new devalued certificates go for sale on Saturday.
- You must call Marriott at 800-321-7396 if you want to book a miles+nights travel package. They can’t be booked online.
- The miles will post within a few days of the transfer, regardless of when or if you use the 7 night certificate. You may also be able to pay to expedite the mileage posting.
- The 7 night electronic hotel certificate expires in 1 year, though Marriott currently will extend them for 1 additional year if you contact them.
- You don’t need to choose the hotel at the time of a nights+miles redemption.
- The certificate must be used at one property for 7 consecutive nights.
- You can have the certificate issued in anyone’s name.
Short on Starpoints/Marriott points?
- You can still buy Starpoints here.
- Earn points on the new Chase Marriott Rewards® Premier Plus Credit Card. Click Here to get more details on this card and compare to other hotel cards!
Related Marriott Travel Packages posts:
- Marriott Answers Several Travel Package Questions, But Refuses To Answer The Biggest Question
- Marriott’s Remaining Travel Package Options: Will They Go With Points Or Category Based Certificates And What You Should Do Now
- Marriott Needs Another Month To Figure Out Travel Package Certificates; Will Option 3 Be The Winner?
- Reader Questions: What Makes The Marriott Travel Packages So Lucrative And Which Category Should I Buy? A Comprehensive Guide.
- All About Marriott’s Lucrative Miles+Nights Travel Packages; The Best Way To Spend Your Starpoints.
- Guesstimating Where Marriott Travel Packages Will Work In August; Take Advantage Of Marriott’s Lucrative Miles+Nights Packages Now!
- Marriott Will Massively Devalue New Miles+Nights Travel Packages In August; Comparing The Value Of The Current Packages To The New Packages
- Another Guess At What Will Happen With Marriott’s Miles+Nights Travel Packages And Which You Should Buy Now Before It’s Too Late!
- Marriott Has No Plans On Letting Us Know What They Plan On Doing With Current Travel Packages, But Don’t Let That Stop You From Taking Advantage Of Them!
- Exploring The Options For A Partial Points Refund Of The Marriott Travel Packages, Which Package Should You Buy Now?
- Hunting Down The Marriott Hotels Getting More Expensive To Potentially Maximize Travel Certificates
Just bought a 1-5 certificate, given that we can’t upgrade post 8/18, is it worth it to purchase marriot points for $12.50 per 1K to upgrade to category 6? Currently attached to Calgary per your suggestion. (Sorry for initially posting this in the wrong thread).
What hotel are you trying to redeem for?
Would love S. Regis Rome, which is an SPG cat. 6, but not sure how will transfer- basically saw that it might be possible to get a deal on a really nice hotel, and just want to maximize our chances. (Hoping to stay in Italy or Greece but am flexible).
“I don’t see any good reason to leave a certificate unattached to a hotel at this point.”
Unless I’m misunderstanding you’d have to know which hotel you want now. No?
No, you can change it later.
As I wrote in the last few posts, attach it to a hotel going up in price.
If you attach it to a hotel going up in price can you change the reservation to another hotel later (if so will there be a charge)? Sorry i didnt see that response elsewhere or maybe i missed it.
You can. No charge as long as you’re not within the hotel cancellation period.
Dan- how do you know for sure they will allow us to change the dates and/or hotel after attaching?! I know that is the policy now, but they’re already changing the policy with regards to upgrading and downgrading, which won’t be allowed after 8/18.
Also, what if they say that once it’s attached to a Marriot hotel, it can’t be used at an SPG hotel afterward? I think there may still be a possible downside of attaching- though maybe it just feels like you’re giving up flexibility and you’re not really. I’d be happy to be convinced, you seem 100% sure that there’s no possible way that attaching could work out worse, but may work out better if Option 5 works out. But why are you so sure there is no downside?
Would love S. Regis Rome, which is an SPG cat. 6, but not sure how will transfer- basically saw that it might be possible to get a deal on a really nice hotel, and just want to maximize our chances. (Hoping to stay in Italy or Greece but am flexible).
That is going up to a category 8, so you’ll need one of the tier certs for that.
can you definitely change it later? I currently have no idea what country I would like to visit – maybe Italy but unsure..If I book the Calgary Airport Marriott for random date I can definitely change that to a date in the summer and another hotel?
how long does it take to transfer points to different accounts as my wifes account has a different adress & i’d change the adress & transfer points same day, would they let me book a package like this?
You can do that with Marriott over the phone when redeeming for a package.
I’ve been trying to do this for over a week and they keep saying their system is down that enables points transfers over 50k…
HUCA?
I had the same issue. I ended up transferring to my spg account then doing an spg to spg transfer and then back to marriott. It worked but it took a week as spg to spg transfers take aboutb5 days.
Hi Dan, can I book a later date after the certificate expiration date ? Say, my certificate expires 12/12/2018, can I book a hotel 12/25/2018 ? Thanks.
No, you need to ask for an extension.
Can I extend and book in same phone call? (would they book me more than 12 months from now? (after extending)
I bought a Cat 6 based purely on speculation for points but does it actually now make more sense to downgrade that to a cat 5 instead? I don’t have any travel plans
Are there no hotels that you’re considering staying in?
I’ve read and re-read all the various posts so many times that I’ve overly confused myself. The son atem doesn’t seem to have any availability online if I wanted to use that as a placeholder, so was looking at some other current 30k that are going up to 35k.
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/hotel-deals/hunting-marriott-getting-expensive-potentially-maximize-travel-certificates/
Also you recently bought the 5 night package? I’ve HUCA at least 5 times with no luck
Yes.
@dan did you get it with old fashioned HUCA, or with some dan tricks on the side?
@Dan, if I attach my certificate to a hotel now and want to cancel the reservation and certificate before my stay, will I still get a points refund for the certificate?
Yes.
Does this mean that if I book and then cancel, it will DEFINITELY be a POINTS refund and if I stay put and do do anything there i a possibility of getting a certificate as opposed to just points?
Or is it possible that booking now, cancelling later can turn into a certificate as well?
And in the event of points, how many would they refund for a cat 1-5 seven night cert?
Thanks for the shout out! I also had to explain it to my wife, but she was very understanding.
Any other hotels we can try for cat 1-5, other than the Calgary Airport Marriott?
Any point in attaching the anniversary night certificates to a hotel? If so, what’s a good property?
Those should have a set value of points. Don’t think you need to.
I’ve followed these mariott package deals for years, but never capitalized. I’d now like to. Do you presume I would still be able to book today for this fall the cat5 kosher hotel in Panama?
What kosher hotel? What category will it be?
“Kava” was in the Sortis Hotel (Autograph Collection), but it moved a few months ago.
Would you recommend using pretty much all of your Marriott points for a Cert plus 120k Alaska miles?
If you want the miles and can use the hotel stay, sure.
If you attach your 1-5 certificate it to YYC Marriott, isn’t there a risk that they will not allow you to cancel and use it at any other unified Cat. 5 ?
Of course, but what would you lose? Worst case is that you’re back to 1-4 just as if you didn’t attach it.
I think what he’s asking is- what if they don’t let you change the reservation AT ALL- and you’re stuck with 7 nights at the Calgary Airport?!?!?
can i use anniversary 1 night certificates between 8/18-9/18? and book during that time? if yes, is it redeemable for a spg hotel at that time?
You should be able to.
Hey Dan, I have a cat 6 cert right now and the properties that I am considering are all going down in price to 35k/night. If you were in my shoes, would you upgrade it to cat 7 or sit tight? Can’t decide if it is worth potentially wasting the 30k to upgrade. Appreciate all your insight!
I’d probably sit tight and attach that to a hotel going up in price.
many hotels going up in price are not accepting point redemption online. is it any different over the phone?
I purchased a category 9 certificate last week and attached it to a reservation at Domes of Elounda for sometime in 2019… Let’s see what happens. As an aside, unless Marriott maps the certificates in an extraordinarily generous way, I am fairly certain that Marriott will have sufficient pushback on their decision to not allow upgrades/downgrades to certificates that they will change their policy sometime in September.
I hope you’re right.
Hi Dan, I just stayed at the Domes Of Elounda in a premium suite for 5 nights and payed 60k spg points total which I transferred to 180k Marriott points and got the 5th night free! It was the most amazing hotel I’v ever stayed in. You’re gona love it!
you only paid 60k spg points for a 5 night stay?? how !
That’s what it costs now.
Wow thanks! I just booked 5 days.
Dan if i book it now using points 180k points but only have 110k points, will they honor it once i get the rest of the points? or once it goes up i am out of luck?
i confirmed that is ok
People who have been able to purchase the five night packages (due to poorly trained Marriott CSRs) even though they were not MVC owners and not entitled to it, have had their accounts audited and have had problems according to reports on FT.
No audit here yet. What was the outcome of the audit?
United account closed for a week after which Marriott clawback of points deposited
its all cool but I don’t enjoy drinking from paper straws in their bar…and smuggling in my plastic straws is just too much
I have a floater Category 6. Like you said previously, the Marriott’s Club Son Antem is the only property that would be worth booking to gamble on a later change since no other Cat6 will be Cat6 going forward. I show no award availability in their entire calendar, so I guess I should just let it float?
I’m in the exact same boat as you lol. I see there are some other current marriott cat 6 that are going from 30k to 35k, is that not useful to book as a placeholder?
After being on hold with Marriott for an hit trying to book st Regis Maldives on a package they transferred me out to spg who had no clue on how to book a travel package. How will I be able to book st Regis under the Marriott packages
You can’t now. You can attach it to a Ritz and then change it after 9/18.
What category should I book catagory seven? Thanks a lot for all your help !!
is there a reason to attach to a reservation now vs just leaving it alone? what if you are booking to a resort/hotel you have no plans to actually go to but attached it …I guess I am confused as to why attach to a reservation of some kind vs leaving it alone. I currently have 2 five night Cat 9 certificates.
See option 5.
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/marriott/marriotts-remaining-travel-package-options-will-go-points-category-based-certificates-now/
I’m doing nothing with my 60k SPG AKA 180 Marriott. As this is all too confusing.
Maybe a simple blog post with a strategy for ppl that have minimal points and have no idea what their upcoming travel plans may be will help.
Bleave me I have always followed your guidance and succeeded, this one turns out to be way too confusing with all the options
You should have bought 30K Starpoints back when it was on sale last month. Still could make sense, but you’ll need to do the math.
Same here I’m sitting on 130k spg points with no clue what to do. Any beginner advise here dan ?
Buy a package if you want miles and will use the hotel cert.
Not nervous about an audit from AS? Very common to happen when you transfer Spg
Nope, why should I be?
Dan is not selling his miles, so no reason to be nervous
so if I have a cert attached to a hotel that the price will go down ( cat 6 which will be cat 4) it is better to detach it from that hotel and reattach it to a hotel w a category 6 that will get more expensive? any idea of which hotel might do that?
Sure.
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/hotel-deals/hunting-marriott-getting-expensive-potentially-maximize-travel-certificates/
I love your blog but I find it amazing that while you are willing to jump through hoops to find hotel deals but you amass timeshare owners into the category of “suckers.” This is akin to saying that you shouldn’t pursue credit card bonus offers because credit cards can ruin your credit rating – clearly if you know how to hack the system you can win.
Same goes for timeshares if you know how to hack resale purchases. There are some killer resale timeshare options if you learn how to hack the systems and avoid developer sales pitches. While the sales programs are terrible, the product is fantastic.
Our family stays at 4 – 5 star ocean front Hawaii in 2 bedroom condo units and in NYC penthouses (think Hilton, Westin, Hyatt) for a fraction of what it would cost to rent or use credit card points.
The problem is that too many people overpay the developer and don’t have sufficient income to buy one – it’s not for everyone. There is a community of hackers where you can learn whether you are right for a timeshare and how to hack timeshares and avoid being a sucker like you do with credit cards: https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php
Fair enough, I’m referring to those who buy from the hotel and pay retail.
Is your method really better than just renting an Airbnb anywhere in the world with no commitments though?
Thanks Dan. Agree that retail is never a good deal and presentations should be avoided.
AirBnB is more flexible but that flexibility comes with a higher price tag and can be hit and miss quality-wise.
But many people don’t know that you can also RENT hotel-branded timeshares (i.e. Hyatt, Hilton, Westin, Marriott) without the commitment and without the high pressure presentations. Hotel branded timeshares provide the quality and hotel resort amenities and are typically available to rent from owners at places like RedWeek and Tug2.com. The prices on these sites from owners are often significantly lower than if you rent the unit via the hotel website (Marriott, Hilton, etc.). There are also some units available via AirBnB.
Renting can be expensive on AirBnB especially if you have a large family and would like to return to the same location every year or so. This is where owning a resale timeshare can be a fantastic deal because the right location/season is 80 – 90% off retail prices via a reputable broker.
For example for Maui Oceanfront (Marriott or Westin) or Key West (Hyatt Beach House or Sunset ) 2 bedroom the cost to own (maintenance fee) is about 25% to 50% off the cost of renting. You can also exchange all or part of it for other locations (e.g. Hyatt Grand Aspen), or rent all or part of it (lock off the studio) and use the cash to rent elsewhere or simply pay for your other side of the unit for a low cost vacation in a premier unit that would cost thousands to rent.
Like credit cards points, owning/exchanging timeshares is complicated and it is not for everyone. But you can get some great deals on vacations if you you have discretionary savings to buy the right location/season and it fits your vacation style.
P.S. I am not affiliated with any timeshare company. Just an avid deal seeker and timeshare owner that knows that you can often find the best deals when the masses are running in the opposite direction. Thanks for your wonderful blog and for letting me share.
Dan, bought a CAT 7 Cert night plus points. i want to use it for the W in South Beach. Marriott wont let me attach it to an SPG hotel yet. should i upgrade my cert? W hotel will remain a category 7 until 2019 but i think they will downgrade my certificate in sept.
Highly recommend unlikely that will work there.
Likely will need a tier 1-3 or 4-5 cert
If I bought a cat 1-5 and a rep notated the account that he assured me that I will be able to use it at a new cat 5. Would you trust him and the case number, or should I call back and upgrade it? To what?
Unless you get that in writing it’s meaningless.
How does cancelling a package work? Will I get my points back? I bought a 7 nights +United and I don’t think I would use the nights at all.
Yes, you will still be able to cancel the nights for a 45K points refund with the 1-5 cert plus the difference in cost for higher certs.
You mentioned that you don’t see a reason not to attach to a hotel . What if you have no intention of staying at the hotel you attach it to? What would the risks be of leaving it attached? Could there be a case where they don’t let you transfer to another hotel in the same category?
I don’t see any risks. You can still change hotels.
Can you unattach?
Thanks Dan! I just attached to St Regis Bal Harbour with the intent on transferring to Bora bora/maldives equivalent once the merger takes place.
How did you attach it to an SPG property?
I called and used the certificate to attach it.
I didn’t realize agents were able to book SPG properties yet.
What category certificate were you able to use since the St. Regis Bal Harbour is SPG Cat 7 and is 8* in the new chart
I used my Ritz Tier 4-5
I have never done a points+miles before and am a bit novice/timid to do so.
I am looking at “Phoenician Residences, a Luxury Collection Residence Club, Scottsdale” (SPG Cat 7). I have 100k SPG points.
How do I make this work? I’m fine with 5 nights.
Check what category it will be in the merged program.
How do you check the merged category?
It will be an 8*(2019)
You’ll probably want a tier 1-3 or 4-5.
Best airline to fly to Hawaii from US49 in J is Alaska miles?
Dan, Copied you. Booked the Domes of Elounda as well but for 7 nights for 390k points with miles going to Alaska. Thanks and lets hope for the best
i bet so many will do that today lol
Dan is there a possibility that marriot will use peak and standard rates as separate categories so cat 6 would only be able to get cat 4 peak season in the new chart? Why didn’t you include that as a scenario?
See option 3 in the previous posts.
Is there an option for Jet Blue?
Yes, refer to the following https://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morepack.mi
Is there something unique with the Calgary airport as opposed to many similar options? Or is that just a random example?
Option 5:
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/marriott/marriotts-remaining-travel-package-options-will-go-points-category-based-certificates-now/
Yah I got that, My Q was, there other hotels (that you posted) like residence inn temecula which I understand is the same story. Correct?
Everyone keeps talking about the calgary option which is throwing me off
I’m wondering the exact same thing. Did you figure out if it’s just a random example?
If category 6 is not possible at son antem, What is the next option?
Where can I find information about category changes for the Four Points in Havana?
https://points-redemption.marriott.com/category-change
Dan-
what do you mean by “As for the miles, I chose 120K Alaska over the 132K United. I love my United miles, but they’re so easy to earn thanks to the Chase quadfecta, so Alaska was an easy choice.”
Can you please explain yourself how you easily convert your Chase UR to United miles?
As for the Chase quadfecta and living in Israel, I have 4 cards:
1 CSR
1 Freedom
1 United Explorer
1 Marriott – Premium
Is there anything else that you would change? I am planning on getting a Business card sometime in the near future sometime after I finish reaching the bonuses on the last 2 cards.
You can transfer Chase points to United at an equal ratio.
Freedom Unlimited and any Ink card would be good additions.
I meant I have the freedom unlimited. Is the best usage buying visa/amazon gift cards online from office stores? I can’t think of anything else that would be practical while living in Israel.
I have 300k spg and no travel plans. Should I still be buying a travel package? I like the flexibility to transfer to Jal, Asiana, Alaska etc.
If you know which miles you want it can make sense.
Booked a category 5 for seven nights I realized that the chances of using all 7nights were slim to none factoring in shabbos. I called and they switched it to a category 7 for 5 nights for the same amount of points. Thanks Dan as always for laying things down so clearly.
Enjoy!
Dan,
Do you think the above will be doable down the road? Currently have Cat 9 for 7 nights, would they let me switch to tier 1-3 or 4-5 for 5 nights, thoughts?
Is attaching a certificate to a hotel different from booking that hotel? The Domes of Elounda can’t be booked for the entire 2019 so I assume attaching is not booking.
Why can’t it be booked?
I have 124k SPG points and have no plans on taking an extended vacation until Jan 2020 sadly. And even then have no specific destinations in mind.
1) Would you recommend getting 7 day certificate for category 8 (360 miles) or buying another 6k SPG points to reach category 9?
2) do you still recommend United/Alaska for the miles portion even to those people such as myself who fly Southwest often?
I’d stretch for the category 9 personally.
You can go for Southwest, Alaska and United will just offer more international and aspirational redemption options.
120k in Southwest miles gives me roughly $2k in multiple domestic ticket allowing me to take my entire family on a couple of trips. While the same amount in Alaska/united if redeeming for international/aspirational, is sufficient only for 1-2 ppl. TIA
“I’d stretch for the category 9 personally” — using this logic, shouldn’t I buy even more to get tier 1-3 certificate?
Worth holding onto my 360,000 Marriott points so have flexibility in terms of hotels and length of stay in future OR redeem for travel package since miles alone are worth then Marriott points?
Depends if you want the miles.
Could always use miles. However, isn’t 10 random nights at hotel (35k/ night) with no expiration, more worthwhile than a RT business class ticket to Asia/Australia + a cert that expires in 1 yr?
Can a relative gift me 10,000 Marriott? If yes, how long does it take?
Yes, instant over the phone.
Do I have to call Marriott to attach a certificate to a specific hotel or can I do that online? I tried calling Marriott and they told me they could not access my account and I would have to call the hotel directly. Is this correct?
I had to do it over the phone. Just needed to give them my name and Marriott number. When you call, ask to make a reservation and then let them know about your certificate.
Can I attach to the Atlantis property if I buy the lowest one?
Assuming after merger Marriott won’t be extending these 7 day certificates past the 1 yr mark, what happens to them if one is unable to use them? Are they really worthless?
Trying to redeem for a 5-night Cat. 9 certificate. Have HUCA’d a bunch, including the overseas call centers, with no luck. Any suggestions? TIA
Dan,
What number did you call to get the 5 night certificates? I’ve called probably 100-150 times and never had any luck and have called numbers others have had luck with as well.
As a data point, I was just able to book a 5 night package on my third HUCA by calling the Latin America/Mexico line. I just waited silently through all the prompts and then when the agent answered I asked if they spoke English. All did.
Thanks
Hi Dan,
I have 2x 1-5 Certificates, would it make sense to upgrade at least one of them with 7×5,000=35,000 Marriott points, and try to get Category 6 Marriott Club Son Antem?
Thank you
I ended with a few Cat 9 for 5 Nights and Tier 1-3 for 7 Nights. Just couldn’t pull the trigger on Tier 4-5. Worst case cancel the certificate if they don’t map out properly and just use the points to book rooms in 2019.
dan, id like to use the cat 1-5 package, with 132 united, whats the benefit of booking the calgary hotel thats going up in price as opposed to lets say the “Great Northern Hotel London” which is now a category 5 but will turn into a combined cat. 6. thanks for all your help
So THANKS DAN FOR ALL THE GOOD ADVICE ALL THE YEARS AND FOR THIS ONE ALSO,so from following dan since 2013 i had a nest of about 600k SPg=1.8M Marriot points, I booked the Ritz in bal harbor for next Feb as a7 night pkg and 132k united miles and after this post i purchased a 5 night pkg Domes ac pkg 132 united but it wasn’t only after 3 huca’S and each 45 min wait. but still think its amazing deal THANK YOU AGAIN
For what it’s worth: https://members.marriott.com/tophotels/
Marriott said:
We’ll of course honor all redemptions made at current rates even if your stays occur after the new rates take effect. If your hotel is going to a lower redemption rate, you’ll want to rebook in August when the lower rate becomes effective.
Hi, for those who attached the category 6 7 night certificate to son antem, did you have to pay 2 upgrade certificates (10K/night, total of 70k?) thanks.
Well, your guess for a 85k value on your tier 4-5 was off. You are only getting a value of 70k a night per the newly released chart. Tier 1-3 is 60k. I am fine with my three packages as I didn’t want to get greedy and “hope” for a better outcome. Let the kvetching begin.
Alright Dan, everyone who bought a cat 6,8 and tier 3 hotel needs your help. Do your thing and get us out 30k back 🙂
@Dan any word if one is able to transfer a tier 1-3 certificate that is attached to Ritz Toronto to another Cat 7 hotel? Or if you want to rebook with another hotel will you be forced to going with a cat 6 as that is the current mapping for tier 1-3?
Dan – any updates about how travel certificates that attached to Marriott/Ritz hotels in different categories will work? I think there was lack of clarity whether Marriott will allow upgrades, change of dates etc?
I bought Ritz Category 1-3 Certificate and attached it to Ritz Carlton Toronto, hoping to get Le Meridien or St Regis Bora Bora after the merger – are there any news on that front?
Thanks,
Barak
@Dan – what happended with the attached certificates you’ve purchased? As you did, i purchased Ritz Carlton Tier 1-3 certificate, and attached it to Ritz Carlton Toronto (as Dan did). My hope was to be able to change it to Le Meridien or St Regis Bora Bora.
With the merger fiasco, it is clear what to do with unattached certificates, but i am super confused what to do with my certificate attached to Ritz Carlton Toronto (Tier 1-3, which i think corresponds to Category 6 in combined aware chart). I called Marriott reps, and they are completely clueless (they THINK i can use it only at other Ritz Carlton category 1-3 (which doesn’t make any sense), but they aren’t sure.
Anyone encountered with same issue? What do you suggest i do?
Thanks!
Barak
Per lively discussion on Marriott flights & nights before Marriott & PSG system merger, i purchased Ritz Carlton Tier 1-3 certificate, and attached it to Ritz Carlton Toronto (as Dan did). My hope was to be able to change it to Le Meridien or St Regis Bora Bora.
With the merger fiasco, it is clear what to do with unattached certificates, but i am super confused what to do with my certificate attached to Ritz Carlton Toronto (Tier 1-3, which i think corresponds to Category 6 in combined aware chart). I called Marriott reps, and they are completely clueless (they THINK i can use it only at other Ritz Carlton category 1-3 (which doesn’t make any sense), but they aren’t sure.
Anyone encountered with same issue? What do you suggest i do?
Thanks!
Barak
The travel certificates can be booked in anyone’s name without issue?
Hi Dan,
I also applied a Cat 9 certificate to Domes of Elounda and now would rather keep the new Cat 6 certificate and just pay 45k points/night. Marriott is telling me that they cant honor this. That detaching certificate is a change in reservation and I would need to use 85k points/night. How is that fair?