Originally Posted by
smgainey
I do know the ins and outs of Marriott Rewards well enough to know that there are no Marriott's that cost more than 45k points per night for a standard room. I don't know where you are getting 50k and 55k (the fact that you refuse to admit this error is disturbing to me). Please stop talking about current Category 9 properties moving into the new Category 8. I have never made that claim. YOU are the one making that claim.
I was being facetious.
You and others continue to talk about a massive devaluation that hasn’t happened. You’re entitled to scream bloody murder about a devaluation that hasn’t happened yet as much as I am entitled to refer to those screams as silly.
That some current Tier 5 Ritz Carlton hotels will end up in the new Category 8 is almost certain. For those properties, they will go from Tier 5 70,000 points to Category 8 85,000 points. That is a slight devaluation for Marriott points (and a discount based on Starwood points). For the new peak redemptions for Category 8, it is true that redemptions will go for 100,000 points, but you can’t call that a 40% devaluation for the entire program when those same Category 8 awards also go off-peak about as often for the same 70,000 points as before!
Also, the 100,000 points is only a devaluation for Marriott points for the few Tier 5 properties going to peak Category 8—it’s actually a discount off the equivalent 105,000 Starwood points for a much larger group of peak Category 7 hotel awards now. Which makes it a discount for everyone for far more properties that currently are Starwood Category 7 than are RC Tier 5. So the net impact is STILL a discount over current rates more often than an increase over current rates.
Your cries of devaluation are overstated. They consider only the properties where it costs more and ignores all the more examples where it has to cost less.