Originally Posted by PanAmWT

I did all three with legacy Marriott staff in one call. She knows all the right steps needed. The time wasted was mainly because of the slow system.

I think the best way is
1. Book a point stay at whatever hotel
2. Call Marriott

The points deducted from step 1. will automatically be returned to your account in step 2.

The second best way is just call Marriott and do all in one step.

Originally Posted by Counsellor

I concur.

I had an old Cat 6 7-night TP certificate that I planned to use at a new Cat 5 hotel. To save the space, I made a points booking at that hotel during the change-over and just let everything sit until the chaos died down.

Earlier this week I decided to see if I could change the old 6 for a new 5, attach it to the existing points reservation, and get the 210K points I had paid for the points reservation returned to my account. I called Marriott, told the CSR what I wanted to do, and she did it in less than 10 minutes. The unused certificate has now disappeared from my account, the reservation now shows as a TP reservation, and the 210K points appeared back in my account within hours (maybe overnight?). Easy peasy.