Originally Posted by
ScottTexas
Newbie question on these TPs. If I attach my Category 1-5 cert to a specific property now, can I change it later? Are there any Cat 5 properties that we know will later be LESS valuable that I should avoid in terms of choosing which property to attach the cert to?
Thanks.
We domt know as this is one of the myriad questions that Marriott chose NOT to give clear answers.
Currently I have a Cat 6 cert attached to a Cat 6 hotel for a stay in November in a city that we definitely would need the stay. The hotel will go down from current Cat 6 (30K/night) to Cat 4 (as current Cat 5 at 25K/night). We do not know would we get back the difference of 30K pts with hotel downgrade to a lower Category.
In the past when a hotel is downgraded, IIRC, Marriott would rebook the hotel and refund the point difference - in this case it is 30K additional.
The process is NOT automatic. You will need to call and the rep can take care of it without touching the reservation already in place. SPG just announced they now can do it the Marriott way versus in the past SPG requires a cancellation of the existing award and then rebook it with the lower category - this can be problematic when hotel no longer has award nights available!
Given Lurker said SPG now will do the Marriott way after Aug 1st, I imagine Marriott would maintain the same mechanism in the past, i.e. refund the point difference should the hotel cat goes down.
People would also need to modify / cancel existing award stays due to many legitimate reasons.
Unfortunately Marriott has not given any information in this area. Though based on how SPG would model the current Marriott way, I am somewhat confident that Marriott would keep the old mechanism to handle such situations,
Therefore it comes down to your own personal evaluation whether you would book a hotel that would go down in pt/night level after August 1st.
In our situation, there is no other alternative before August 1st, i.e. there is one porperty at Cat 3, which is included in the Cat 1 to 5 cert anyway, but at a less convenient location. Next came to Cat 6, Cat 8 and Cat 9. The Cat 8 actually would do down form current 40K to 35K/night but of course not bookable at that level now. So we booked the Cat 6 which seems the best compromise.