Originally Posted by
yosithezet
This isn't
gaming the system, this is
maximizing the value of your points/miles.
Gaming the system is doing something which is unscrupulous or wrong or cheating. This is why there is so much of a heated response to these claims.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaming_the_system
Gaming the system would be if you were to book a refundable rate for a suite, and another cheap or points rate, and then cancel it at the last minute to ensure you get upgraded to that suite. Everyone here would agree that it is unscrupulous. That doesn't mean people wouldn't do it. But even they would agree that this is not fair or proper. Dynamic Peak and Off Peak rates do not prevent gaming the system. Reducing the opportunity to only three PA bookings does help prevent people from gaming the system.
Booking an award stay while not having the sufficient points is also a privilege--a privilege that Marriott offered and now continues to offer that none of the other major chains offers. Anyone who does so and yet doesn't intend to stay is gaming the system. There are plenty of examples of those.
Marriott limiting points advance reservations to only 3 is an example of Marriott trying to rein in those speculative award bookings. While that may seem less fair to people without sufficient points, it is more fair and helpful to all those with sufficient points who otherwise might have awards blocked.
What they are doing by not allowing members to lock in the price when using one of their three price advance bookings is discouraging members like the junior lawyer in keyser's example from relying on Marriott when planning their vacations as they don't know what the price will be for the award when they have the points saved up.
Anyone who doesn't have the sufficient points for any award booking STILL has the privilege to book such awards even now with this new Marriott policy They just have to plan now for the peak pricing to be sure.
That's still a lot better than not having the privilege to book awards with not enough points in the first place.