Marriott Rewards (including Ritz-Carlton) - Use Cat. 1-4 cert, or pay cash for a stay?

So since this summer has me traveling less until August (hopefully) this year I went for the stay two get one free Megabonus variety and not for any of the points offers. Due to that I will end up with three free night certificates for Cat. 1-4 good for a year, but since this type of cert is new material to me, I would of course get the best "bang for the buck" on these.

That said, for my personal travel, I mostly travel to the USA (currently have plans for the Northeast and Florida) and to some very little extend within Europe, and as such I could use them all for a stay near D.C. this fall which is part of the next trip I have currently planned (with Boston in January being next after that where I would probably have a hard time find a Cat. 4 hotel). The hotel I have choosen there is rather inexpensive, regular rate would be $139 and I LNFed that down to $81, so I wonder if it would be considered a waste of certs to use these instead of paying for the room. For consideration, nights are not important to me (I probably start next year requalified due to the rollover nights alone anyhow) and since it is a Residence Inn, the number of points is not that important also. I have two more hotels on that trip, but these are Cat. 5 and Cat. 6, so the certs can not be used there.

So will these certs be a good use at this rate, or should I keep them for a later trip that may or may not contain a Cat. 1-4 hotel, risking they may go unused since they expire a year after issue (which is not before June 2013). Is there any concensus what the "minimum" rate is to consider them used well?

Thanks for any suggestions!

Greetings - Dirk

I would personally save them ...

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I think the megabonus certs expire in 6 months of issue. So your timeline of redemption may be even shorter. In any case, i would save for better value.

current megabonus certs are 1-yr; last megabonus certs are valid for 4-months (+ # of days)

[SIZE=1]I think the megabonus certs expire in 6 months of issue. So your timeline of redemption may be even shorter. In any case, i would save for better value.

Indeed, my first Cert that is already in my account says "good through 6/16/2013". The next one will be there probably on Friday, and then the last one in late-July, so if I use them in "one go", they would last until mid-June 2013...

Greetings - Dirk

Mr. nacho and I have done this calculation a couple of times, and our conclusion is that the cert has to have a value of at least USD 100 inclusive of taxes and fees. So USD 81 is kind of on the edge to use the cert IMO.

Another thing we take into consideration is alternative - if you don't have plan to make a better use of the cert, why not use it? Unless you have planned to run the next Megabonus to bank up more certs to make up a nice trip somewhere.

RI is a perfect place to use points/certs.

The hotel I have choosen there is rather inexpensive, regular rate would be $139 and I LNFed that down to $81, so I wonder if it would be considered a waste of certs to use these instead of paying for the room.
Changes are you will run into hotels you can't LNF for one reason or another.

I recently needed a hotel near BUF (Buffalo/Niagara) airport, arriving late, and the hotels in all the chains right by the airport were $150+. I had an expiring Cat 1-4 cert, and so it was a no brainer to use it there. I ended up using in on a Cat 3 Fairfield which was charing $175+ a night, instead of a Cat 4 Residence which was charing a dozen or two less, because the Fairfield got much better reviews. At any rate, in this pricing situation, to me was a no-brainer. (And there were signficant-enough LNFs that I could have done at this locaiton at the time I was booking.)

I would thus not waste a cat 1-4 cert in a case where I can LNF well below $100 unless the cert is about to expire (in which case I wouldn't even bother seeing if I could LNF!).

In this case, since these newest certs last one full year, I think it's way too early to consider using them for low-value redemptions (if this isn't the last trip you'll make before this time next year).

What people have done in the past (using certs up at poor value because they would expire soon anyway), where certs sometimes lasted as short as 4 months, may make sense to revise now that the certs last a full year.

I really like the fact that the cert is valid for 1 year AFTER it has been issued rather than a set date, so I now have a full year to use my certs.

When I was doing the last 2 megabonus promo, I had to change my promo to stay 2 and get a cert. It wasn't registered properly because of this, so I ended up getting them 2 weeks after the promo finished, i.e. 2nd week of May and the cert expires in less than 4 months.

Fortunately I'm awared of the issue and that I was about to plan to use the cert in a CY in Switzerland. For the nights I stayed there the price after LNF would be from CHF 110 (some nights were more expensive).

I know some of the FTers don't stay at Cat 4 hotels but there are quite a few good Cat 4 hotels. The CY in Hong Kong is a great Cat 4 and normally it costs around USD 200 a night there.

Changes are you will run into hotels you can't LNF for one reason or another.



Kinda new to this... What do you mean by LNF?

LNF is short for Look-no-further guarantee.

Greetings - Dirk

It all depends on your alternatives. Will you be able to use it more effectively within the year or not? I'm not sure anyone here can answer that, as it depends so much on your travel patterns, locations, etc.

Wow--you found level 1-4 properties you actually WANT to stay at?

I would jump on it now!

Plus there could be another annual devaluation anytime Marriott Rewards staff are feeling bored between sessions trying to come up with who gets which of their scintillating and innovative forthcoming Megabonus offerings.....

Wow--you found level 1-4 properties you actually WANT to stay at?

I would jump on it now!

Plus there could be another annual devaluation anytime Marriott Rewards staff are feeling bored between sessions trying to come up with who gets which of their scintillating and innovative forthcoming Megabonus offerings.....

Yes, there are a few good cat 1-4 in Europe and Asia. I know at least 2 FS in Europe (with lounge access) that is Cat 4 or below.

I know at least 2 FS in Europe (with lounge access) that is Cat 4 or below.

Care to share them? And is lounge access weekday only or at weekends also...?

As to a previous post: The reason I ask if it's a good value is because I am unsure if I can use them otherwise within a year. I want to make a decision based on other's accepted average value of a Cat. 1-4 cert and my probability of finding another Cat. 1-4 opportunity to use them.

As to finding a Cat. 4 hotel: If FS is not an requirement (and in this case a guaranteed suite and breakfast in weekends is higher on that list) I have no problems finding desirable Cat. 4 properties. A quick search yields these in the Washington/Dulles Corridor-area where I need to go:

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/wasry-residence-inn-arlington-capital-view/
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/iadmc-fairfax-marriott-at-fair-oaks/
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/iadrf-residence-inn-fairfax-city/
https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/iadri-residence-inn-dulles-airport-at-dulles-28-centre/ (one of my favourite Residence Inn hotels!)

So finding a Cat. 4 or lower hotel one actually wants to stay at is not a "mission impossible" even in the USA.

Greetings - Dirk

Kinda new to this... What do you mean by LNF?

LNF is short for Look-no-further guarantee.

And see this thread for more on that:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marriott-rewards/1337248-lnf-newbies-thats-marriotts-version-brg.html

Cat 4 FS with lounge access - Marriott Leipzig - lounge opens 7 days a week. I haven't tried that many lounges but personally I think this one is way better than the one in Hamburg.

Cat 3 FS with lounge access - Marriott Stuttgart - lounge opens monday to friday (like the american properties except that they are open on holidays even though it's a monday). Food is very ok too and the staffs are very friendly and they really take care of the long staying guests.

The Ren in Malmo is a Cat 4 too - there is no lounge there so I assume there will be free breakfast, as it's a good alternative to CPH Marriott. Good reviews on TA (even though I don't 100% trust them).

If you don't mind CYs, there is a CY in Stockholm which is also a Cat 4 too. It's really value for money to use the certs here in Scandinavia.