tarkaboy

A different question: I want to stay at the Marriott County Hall hotel in London for 4 nights in Aug. 2019. The booking calendar only goes into early July 2019. Should I book 5 nights @45k=180k now using points alone for July 2019 (getting no air miles) and as soon that I can move the date as the calendar opens for Aug. 2019 (without having to pay more points since the rates will have increased)…. Or would it be better for me to book a 7 night vacation package @390k for this category 9 Marriott, taking the 132K United miles now, reserving 7 nights in July 2019, and hoping that as the calendar opens I will be able to move the 7 nights into August once available, even though I’m only going to use 5 nights (without having to pay more points since the rates will have increased). Which makes better sense assuming booking these before Aug. 1...or Aug. 17, 2018. Also if I cannot book 7 consecutive nights, does that mean I will not be able to use any of the package? If I can book 7 consecutive nights, is it OK if I only use the first 5 nights without penalty, losing of course the final 2 nights.