Originally Posted by
FrustratedinCA
YES, it is a devaluation. NO, it is NOT fair to everyone. It definitely is not fair to me, or anyone who booked a Cat 8 or higher certificate. I, for one, do not stay at Cat 1-4 properties, and I WOULD NEVER have booked a TP if I had been notified in advance that my cert would be changed to a CAT 1-4. I specifically booked a CAT 8 certificate, expecting to book at hotels that are valued at 40,000 points per night. ALL of today's Cat 8 hotels are moving to Cat 5 or Cat 6. The fair way to handle this would be to give me a 40,000 point per night certificate, or translate certs to the closest possible category. THAT keeps people whole. Forcibly downgrading our high-level certs to a CAT 1-4 certificate, even with a refund of additional points, without ANY notice is NOT keeping us whole because the new travel packages are at peak rates and require MORE points to upgrade the certificate back to the level of hotel we were promised we'd be able to use. It's worse for those with Cat 9 and above than Cat 8 even. Again, I for one have ZERO use for a Cat 1-4 certificate, and had I been notified in advance that this would be the outcome, I would NOT have purchased a travel package.
The only way that dropping all certs to Cat 1-4 would be fair to those with high level TPs, would be to allow a grace period for those who have no use for a Cat 1-4 to get the equivalent points back for 6 nights at the per night rate of their certificate (meaning 240,000 for a Cat 8, etc.), or turn it into a 240,000 point overall certificate. And before you say "but you're voluntarily cancelling"--no, we aren't. We're being forced into a product that we did not purchase without any notice in advance, and AFTER part of that package was already delivered (air miles).
Again, many of us, Marriott and SPG's most loyal customers, who stay at high-end properties (Cat 8-Tier 5) will NOT be satisfied with that solution.
I feel your pain. Here it is just my opinion. I do not want to fight and I'm not related to Marriott. Just my side's view.
When we purchased TP, it is clear that this is Marriott TP and is subject to MR's T&C. It is subject to MR's hotel availability when you redeem the hotel stays. It is no difference from redeeming with MR points. This is not SPG's travel package.
For your Cat-8 TP, you spend 135,000 MRs, or 22,500 MRs/day. You get right to book 7 nights worth 40,000 MRs/day.
And you can and are supposed to book those Cat-8 hotel stays. You get the opportunity to book the stay before the changes. We do not get the right to get free 40,000 MRs/day certificate to book any MR/SPG properties. This is beyond Marriott's T&C of those TP. I do not think you can say MR forcing us to downgrade since we can still book those Cat-8 stays. We get no rights to use those TPs on the SPG properties.
I do not think it is fair asking Marriott to refund you 40,000 MRs/day since you spend only 22,500 MRs/day. The same asking Marriott to refund you 25,000 MRs/day for the Cat 1-5 TP that you only spend 7,500 MRs/day.
If I were you, I'd book the Cat-8 stay now and not risking the TP get downgraded. We all know that this is only a rumor. This downgrade may not even be true. Maybe Marriott would be kindly enough to upgrade your Cat-8 TP to the new Cat-6 TP.
We all desire something.
