Originally Posted by
hbcobra
Thanks. So to clarify:
- Wait until August 18 (or whenever the website is back up and running).
- Book future Category 8 hotel for Category 7 rate of 60,000 points per night. It does not matter when the stay will be, so long as it is no more than 50 weeks out at the time of booking.
- In early 2019, certain properties will move from Category 7 to Category 8, but we will be locked in to the Category 7 rate.
- Profit.
Does that sound right?
Yes. Sounds right.
A few more things:
Don't think of it as booking a "future Category 8 hotel for Category 7 rate of 60,000 points per night." Just think of it as making a new program Category 7 reservation using points. Possible category adjustments in 2019 don't matter at this point.
Reserve as soon as you can after the new program begins August 18. It's likely that there will be high demand for such properties, and inventory is finite.
Get the dates right. If you later decide to change the dates or the length of stay, it's not a simple matter of using the existing reservation with different dates. It would involve making a new reservation, subject to availability and to hotel's category at that time.