Originally Posted by
GetawaysRus
Another downside of the old card is that it may only award an annual "free night" certificate for a hotel up to 25K points. The new card will be for a hotel up to 35K points.
I'm trying to understand the differences in the e-certs.
The old card gives a cert up to 25,000 points, issued at renewal.
The new card gives a cert up to 35,000 points, issued at renewal.
Are these assumptions correct?
The new award chart starting in 2019 will add off peak and peak levels to the standard redemption options.
https://members.marriott.com/redeem/
This effectively means that the legacy card will allow us to redeem a Standard or lower Cat 4 hotel and the new card will allow us to redeem a Standard or lower Cat 5 hotel (which basically adds Peak Cat 4 and Off Peak & Standard Cat 5) for an add'l $10 USD. The card also offers increased spend for in-hotel stays and everyday spend (by increasing those categories 1 point).
I received this card 6 months ago and just completed earning my bonus points last month. So I'm 24 months out from any new bonus. I am a LTPP member so have no need of the elite credit spend option. So for me, it appears the decision point is either to cancel altogether and wait 25 mos to reapply, or accept their 10k upgrade offer and get the slightly increased e-cert (although I also lose 6 months of time towards it), as the old legacy card e-cert would arrive Nov 18 and the new upgraded card would arrive May 19. Am I thinking about all this correctly?
It appears that we must pay one AF in yr one before receiving an e-cert (May 19 being the first one) and then I'll get another in May 20. Assuming a $250 value that's $500 in e-certs less 3 annual fees of $95 each ($285). So I'd get $215 in value + 10k points - BUT if I cancel and wait to reapply I'd receive an incremental 90k points (assuming the 100k offer is still around then), which at an estimated devalued .7 cents per is still in $630 in incremental value.
Since I'll have the Starwood card (legacy or luxury) I really can't see why I should keep this card rather than cancel/re-apply. In fact, I can't see why anyone would (unless you need the elite credits towards status). What am I missing? Why would anyone keep this card rather than cancel and reapply when 5/24 is up?