Originally Posted by
777 global mile hound
Hi All,
I'm a Lifetime Titanium here with Marriott Bonvoy who booked a 4 night reservation @ a Sheraton for a total of 135,000 points.
I decided to cancel rebook and get the 5th night free only to get my 5th night free for 5000 points more for a total for 140,000
To me that's a steep discount for the 5th night but not the 5th night free no matter how I slice and dice it.
Is that even fair and reasonable for that matter legal?
Can anyone explain or justify Marriott's business behavior? That doesn't happen at Hilton or IHG at least when I have booked.
Historically where I spent decades I don't remember an up-charge from SPG on the 5th night.It was based on whatever the first 4 nights were and available
My understanding has always been the 5th night is complimentary not a discounted night on points.
Thank you for the education here!
My slightly educated guess is that the points-per-night for the hotel has increased since you made your original booking, so that although you're getting the fifth night "free", the point requirement for the other 4 nights had increased by 1250 points per night for a total of 5000 increase. I have a similar problem where I would love to drop a night from a 7-night award stay currently at 87,500 points. Doing so increases the total for the remainder to 120,000 points. This is due to Marriott's implementation of "surge" or seasonal pricing of award stays. A Cat3, for example, used to be 17,5000 points/night, but during peak periods (think March in Florida) some nights at some Cat3's are now 20K or more a night.