Originally Posted by
GrizShel
I have spent a few hours this trying to catch up with things - I have missed everything for months, mainly due to an extended illness. I want to do a check now and see whether or not I am getting a correct understanding of things, I'd greatly appreciate it if someone would let me know if these interpretations are right or wrong, and correct them if you can:
I have three 7-night travel packages booked late summer 2018 under the old system - two cat. 9 and 1 cat. 5. Each is attached to a reservation, most likely I will not be able to use them. I also have several reservations booked as backups last summer.
1. My understanding is that I should be able to change the attachment to another reservation booked last year as Marriott Bonvoy has continued the policy that such reservations can be grandfathered at the rate in effect at the time it was booked.
2. If I want to use, for example, an Old Cat. 9 certificate next year instead of this year, I need to detach the certificate before the reservation cancel by date or 15 days before arrival (whichever comes first). If I want to maximize the extension of the expiration date, I should wait however to a few days before it's current expiration date to request its conversion to a new category 6 cert.
3. One of the properties I booked with the old TP was Mauna Kea Beach, which remains until now a Cat. 6 property. So I think I could still get an award booking next summer after I have converted the TP - or is that only possible in off-peak pricing?
4. It looks like we're pretty screwed if we can't use the TP this year or next - the points back from cancelling them are pretty trivial - and even more trivial I have read somewhere if canceled once converted to a new TP. By my logic, if I can't use one of the 3, the best thing to do would be to cancel the lowest cost one I have (old Cat. 5) and at least get 45k points back, not much, but better than nothing.
5. It's a minefield trying to make conversions / changes over the phone. It seems to have been thought that experiences were generally better with UK customer service, although reading recent posts seems to indicate that it won't necessarily make a difference.
GrizShel While your understanding seems solid, be prepared for the unexpected!
Despite reading several posts where old certificates were detached from existing reservations and successfully redeposited in their account for conversion at a later date to a new TP, that was not my experience.
I had 2 OTPs, ordered last summer, each attached to an reservation that expired last December. Each time I called to detach a certificate and have it redeposited in my account, "something" (that was never explained) happened and the agent was forced to perform the conversion at the time of detachment. While both were given an expiration date a year after the detachment/conversion date, that premature conversion cost me more than 6 months validity.
Hopefully, you'll have better luck but just be prepared that possibility.
Also, when reattaching the new certificate, keep a close eye on your points balance and have the agent repeatedly confirm the cost/terms of the new reservation.
I called to attach one of my now converted Cat6 TPs to a new Cat6 reservation. Simple enough? Of course not! This time, another "unexplained something" happened and the new reservation was showing I owed 5,000 points in addition to the Cat6 certificate? I asked the agent why I owed an extra 5,000 points? She had no idea why it showed me owing points, put my on hold and came back to tell me that neither she or her supervisor could figure what was going on.
Luckily, instead of opening a case, and having to suffer through a prolonged investigation, the supervisor told the agent to deposit 5,000 points in my account to cover the added points charge.
Good luck and just expect the unexpected.