Originally Posted by
uncommonsensical
apples and oranges. Marriott withheld information. They were selling these packages up to the minute IT brought the system down.
as for windfall... exactly what windfall was i expecting when i spent 540,000 points- the most expensive package that booked the most expensive RC. now, come 1.1.19, it's no longer top tier. historically these packages have been extendable for at least a year past initial expiration, and a 540,000 point package was always going to get you the top tier in the program. we were told by marriott reps that top spg would be bookable at top tier. now top tier has been moved to, what... tippy top tier to screw anyone who shelled out a s-load of points?!?!? as Stan would say, 'that's pretty f-ed up right there'.
Something is f’ed up, but it wasn’t announced today.
Yes, Marriott withheld information. And yes, Marriott sold packages until the final moment. But what package sold certificates that lost value in terms of points? An Old Cat 8 certificate cost exactly 240k points in the retired packages, and a New Cat 5 certificate costs exactly 240k points in the new packages.
Did the certificate lose value in terms of redemption power? Possibly and probably but not indisputably yes. I understand many are irked or pissed. But your response highlights what I feel is a slight confusion of where anger should be directed. My prior analogy might not be perfect, but the point I was trying to make is this: there is a massive devaluation of Marriott’s top-end redemptions.
In prior years and category reclassifications, if a T1-3 property became a T4-5, a T1-3 certificate had no right to book the reclassified T4-5. The new categories effectively added what can best be visualized as a T6, T7, and T8. Again, yes, you had the most expensive “top tier certificate,” but Marriott made the prior top tier mid tier. The T4-5 certificate has no claim to book a newly enacted T6, T7, or T8.
I do not think Marriott’s timing in announcing the changes was intended to fleece us. I think the intent was the same as the implementation of the delayed Category 8 and peak pricing. It wants to distract from the massive devaluation of Marriott’s top-end properties.
Perhaps I could articulate it better when I said some were hopeful for windfalls. But there are two separate issues. First, the massive devaluation is plain. The buying power of your points, as a applied to top-tier properties, was nerfed. Second, the mapping of old to new certs was a mystery. The buying power of your certs was uncertain, but the hopeful windfall I’m talking about was thinking that a “fair” mapping would exempt you from the massive devaluation.
No old category or tier maps to the new top tier, either in the travel package conversion or otherwise. As mentioned above, Marriott made the prior top tier mid tier. “now top tier has been moved to, what... tippy top tier to screw anyone who shelled out a s-load of points?!?!?” Yes, tippy top tier. But not to screw anyone who shelled out points but as a byproduct of the massive devaluation. “historically these packages have been extendable for at least a year past initial expiration, and a 540,000 point package was always going to get you the top tier in the program.” That was the old program. “we were told by marriott reps that top spg would be bookable at top tier.” This to me explains why Cat 8 is delayed because it does remain true as of today.