SkiAdcock

Just saw a thread on Marriott Insiders re: a recent change to award ressies, where Marriott is now pulling what points you do have in your account to semi-cover the award stay.

As many know you used to be able to book awards even if you were short the points required, with the caveat that you had to have all the points required in your account one week prior to the stay when they issued the e-cert.

I've used this a number of times on award stays when I knew I was going to be taking the trip, would have the points by the time of the stay and wanted to lock in the award, as last minute award availability might not be there if I had to wait until I acquired all the necessary points.

This was also a competitive advantage that Marriott had over other chains.

Not sure when they made the change as I haven't booked any award stays recently, but after seeing the thread on Insiders I decided to book an award for my annual Grosvenor House stay.

So when I attempted to book the ressie, I received the following messages throughout the process.

In the choose a room rate section:

Some of the rewards below exceed your point balance. To redeem, either earn or purchase additional points prior to check-in.

* So far that implies to me the process is the same as it's always been.

Under # 3 Summary of Charges, this appears.

To book this stay, you need to earn additional points to redeem. Order your e-certificate(s) once you have enough points.

* So far that implies to me the process is the same as it's always been.

Under # 4 Billing Details, this appears.

XX,000 points will be deducted from your Rewards account

XX,000 additional points are needed prior to this stay

Rewards redemption: We'll attach your e-certificate(s)

* So yes this is a change to the current process - and NOT a good one IMO.

The person who mentioned it on Insiders mentioned a different reason/scenario which I hadn't thought of:

"It was very useful to be able to reserve a room many months in advance knowing you would have the points by then. But still be able to use your current points for rooms you might need before then. I really miss this feature. I know I can get around this by reserving a room using all my points, making a future reservation, then canceling the dummy reservation that used all my points. But that is a pain."

Cheers.

VickiSoCal

Dummy booking to suck up extra points.

SkiAdcock

I added that part from the Insiders post, which I didn't quite understand. I think you/he means do one booking that sucks up your current points, then make a second reservation that says you still need (all of the) points but doesn't take any because they're already attached (or that's the assumption), and then cancel the first booking to get your original points back? Sounds like hoops to go through.

Also, will the system allow you (in my case/example of Grosvenor House) to book two separate awards for the same property for the same person (ie, me) for the same nights?

Obviously it would be a lot easier & more guest friendly for Marriott Rewards members if Marriott just kept the award booking system the way it's always been with no gaming required.

When chatting with elites of other programs who are thinking of jumping ship to Marriott, in the past we could tout that Marriott allowed you to book ressies without all the points required. Somehow it's not the same to say well you can do award ressies without all the points required, but in order to do so you'll have to make multiple bookings, cancel, & otherwise game the system. Not quite the same ring to it in terms of a competitive advantage.

Cheers.

hhoope01

So the question is once you use up all your points for the dummy reservation, can you still make another award reservation with no points in your account?

But even if you can still book more award reservations even with a zero balance, the net effect still isn't completely the same (though it is fairly close).

What if I only have 100K now and want to make a reservation for 1 year out that costs 200K points (knowing in 6 months I will be able to make another 150K)? Now, lets say in 3 months I decide to stay for a night at a hotel costing 40K? In 3 months, I don't yet have any points in my account (won't have them for another few months)? So I can't make that 40K award any longer.

So the next question is if you create that "dummy" reservation to pull out all your points, then make the reservation you really want and delete the "dummy" reservation, will Marriott automatically pull the points into the 2nd reservation (leaving you again with no points?) Or will get to keep those points in your account (at least until the old 1 week before stay point?)

SkiAdcock

Good points & questions.

kaaria

To me if they pull the points now or later does it really make a difference? You are staying you will need to have the points. Whether they pull now or later does it matter?

SkiAdcock

Yes it does matter.

You book a ressie for 6 months from now but are currently short points (but will have them one week before when needed) so they pull what points you do have drawing your account to zero balance. In the interim you need or want to do an award stay but don't have the points because they're tied up w/ the other award ressie. So in order to get the current award ressie you have to cancel the 6 months in advance ressie to get points redeposited into your account so you can make the short term ressie. However, that ressie that's 6 months out that you really wanted may no longer be available for award when you go to rebook it. Under the old system you'd be able to do both award ressies.

Cheers.

VickiSoCal

Yes. If I book a big stay for a year out, I do not want to tie up those points now.

SkiAdcock

Someone on Insiders said that the phone agents could do the ressie without attaching points, that they had done that not too long ago. Since we didn't know whether that was done before the new online system went in place, I decided to call to make my annual Grosvenor House reservation on the phone since I already knew based on my earlier test today that the points I did have would get tied up if I booked the award stay online.

The Plat agent made the award ressie without pulling the points. I mentioned I knew I was short but would have them before the stay, but that I didn't want to tie up my points. The person who mentioned it on Insiders was also Plat, so don't know if it's a Plat courtesy or something the agents can do/override the system.

Of course the concern is that since it's now been mentioned on Insiders someone will now send a memo to phone agents telling them not to do it & then the online gaming of the system will have to be the work-around.

Cheers.

CJKatl

I always call Marriott for points reservations and ask that the points not be deducted from my account. Even when I have 500k points and the stay is only 40k, not only do I like the flexibility of being able to use my points earlier, but I just feel more comfortable doing it that way. Some agents cannot do this and have to get a supervisor, but other than that, it's never been an issue. A little more than a week prior to the stay, I go into the Website and click a button to order the certificate.

tkey75

Is this a YMMV? I found this thread as I was beginning to research a hotel I just booked, where I do not have enough points for the stay (out of sequence, I realize, but there's only one Marriott in SIN ). No points have been deducted from my account.

rritch2

There used to be a button when you were booking online where you could assign the points/certificates right then,
OR there was another button -
to NOT deduct any points and assign the points at a later time.
Even if you had the points available.
That is the feature that is no longer available.

Now you must trick the system to think you have no points before you make a reservation, and it will then give you the option to assign at a later time.
Or call an agent and hope they will help you.

I always have a ton of points and I still use this feature frequently
- reserving a room and assigning the points later.
I do this mostly when booking 8-12 months out to things like sporting events, graduations, vacations, etc. I know I will be attending. And I know the available rooms will be gone before the event I am attending.

I do not want to use my available points at the time of this future reservation.
I know I will be accumulating more points before then.
And I want to save my points for reservations I will be making before these future events.

So why did Marriott take away this option during the online reservation process?

elva

When I need points tied up by future reservations, I just email customer care and ask them to cancel e-certificates attached to these reservations and they happily do so.

CJKatl

Just throwing this out there: While I don't know for sure, might those of us who earn points on a regular basis be treated differently on this than those who stay a couple times per year, or hope to get certs from a couple stays? Giving Marriott the benefit of the doubt here, could it be that people were holding reservations, not earning the required points and canceling those at the last minute? Perhaps that even blocked those of us who would have the points from getting reservations. Maybe this move is meant to make those types of members who would hold many wishful points reservations to get some skin in the game. If a Gold or Plat member says they will have the points, it's probably likely. I wonder how many other types of members were holding reservations in the hopes of getting the points in time only to never get there.

While many of us have no issues when asking Marriott to not pull the points, I wonder if a general or even Silver member would have the same ease. Maybe that was why the option was removed from the site, but we don't have a problem when we call.

SkiAdcock

1. I would say most general or Silver members didn't even know they could make the award ressie without the required # of points. If anything, it's probably the reverse. Golds & Plats holding multiple ressies while they sort out their travel plans & then finally releasing the additional ones.

2. Again, I doubt a general or Silver member would know to ask an agent to make the ressie without pulling the points, but you're probably right that Golds & Plats would probably be granted more leeway.

Hilton used to allow you to make ressies without having the points. They stopped that a few years ago. Maybe Marriott is just playing catch-up. But besides making it more inconvenient for its rewards members, it also loses a competitive advantage in doing so.

Cheers.