Originally Posted by
bgriff
If you have some dates in mind, you may be able to make points advance bookings now at the 35K price and then later apply the certificate. I know that it is possible to apply a certificate as part of "paying for" a points advance booking (and if it is a multi-night booking, you can use points for the other nights at the same time); and I'm not sure but my impression is that if you make a points advance booking now and pay for it after March 5, you're supposed to still be able to lock in the points rates from when you booked. So if your booking still shows as 35K points/night when you "pay for" the points advance, I would think the certificate would still be usable then.
Note there will also still be NYC hotels available for 35K points, like the TownePlace Suites off Times Square, which is a budget hotel with very small rooms but at least in a good location (or in as good a location as some of the other NYC hotels that are going up in price anyway). Not sure if there will be many 2-bed room options left in central NYC though.
Thanks for the advice, I did think of that and have asked if this is possible on the travel package thread. The issue is that the certificate doesn't mention a maximum number of points you can redeem it for so I'm afraid that if you call after the 5th they'll say "you can't attach a cat 4 certificate to a cat 5 property" even if it was booked when it was still a 4.
The OC 1-5 (NC4) can only cover up to 25K per night btw, not 35K, so they are effectively increasing everything in Manhattan to NC5 and higher.
I have a feeling that they're assigning categories mainly based on the area the property is in without any regard for its quality or lack thereof. The CY Waikiki is going up to a 6(!) for example. It's been two years since we stayed there but we couldn't wait to get out of there and run to a brand new Hampton Inn for less $ instead.