Your own DP does not mean it is 100%. I've had both NC and award night got lost. It is always safer to have Marriott rep to do it.

Most people consider this as positive. Because the peak upside is far important than the off-peak downside. The value diminishes very quickly in the lower category properties. Most of the people here do not even want to consider Cat-4 and lower. Cat-5 is just marginal.

Is that confirmed anywhere by Marriott? Since TPs are priced at 1.5 times the number of airline miles plus 6 times the peak night points per night, I still believe that is the correct interpretation. I have seen a couple of comments by bloggers that state that TPs can be used for peak awards, but no validation by Marriott. I asked one of the Lurkers about this and although he or she answered another question that dealt with credit card award nights, my inquiry did not receive a response. Since the Lurker could have answered with a simple yes or no and didn't do so, I would be reluctant to state unequivocally that TPs can be used during peak periods even though I believe that is likely to be the case.

Hello rny321,

The new award redemption chart will not impact Travel Packages. After these changes go into effect, you'll be able to book a hotel within the category assigned to your Travel Package, regardless of whether the dates at the hotel are in off-peak, standard or peak rates.

Thank you very much! I appreciate the time that the Lurkers have taken to answer not only those questions that can be easily answered but those that require research.

One more issue that has been debated here is whether or not certificates can be extended for an additional year. Until roughly this time last year, certificates could be extended for one year and possibly a second year if one had an existing reservation.

Have 1 OC5 and 1 OC6 and just called to convert. Told the associate I want to convert P870 to QP91 with 30K points. Was put on hold for 5 mins and then was told they have very straight guildlines that he can only convert OC6 to NC4 + 30K refund. Well nothing I can do so I told him to go ahead. After that, I told him to convert my other OC5 to NC4. To my surprise, he said I can only convert one cert per call and I have to hang up and call back later. Crazy...

Wow, 1/2 hour later I received an email that one of my NC4 was cancelled. Called and got it back, took 30 mins. Don't know why but this is crazy.

You're just unlucky :) I was actually hoping they would lose it so I could call in and get it reinstated for another year. Alas, it went right back to my account.

I see you are unlucky to get the results you want. :) You can try it again....

We had a NC not go back into my wife's account when I cancelled a reservation on Tuesday without detaching it. I am holding off for another 2 weeks to call as I do want it reinstated for the end of next summer!

In order to have the longest possible time to use my certificates, I had extended them just before the transition. Rather than wait until tomorow, I converted my last one today.

Since whatever potential benefit of the new packages is negated by the stated policy that these certificates are no longer refundable, I doubt many members of FT will be buying them. Thanks to a Lurker, we now have official confirmation that we'll "be able to book a hotel within the category assigned to your Travel Package, regardless of whether the dates at the hotel are in off-peak, standard or peak rates.assigned to your Travel Package, regardless of whether the dates at the hotel are in off-peak, standard or peak rates." Once we know if these certificates can be extended like the old ones, there won't be much left to discuss or dispute in this part of the forum. Thank you to all who kept the Wiki updated and made useful contributions to the knowledge base here.

Add in the fact that the overall devaluation of TP's has eliminated the big uptick in value (vs a 5-night award) you got by holding your Marriott points to the 120,000-mile levels.

I always used my hotel portion, so the refund rules never mattered to me. But it was a great value for 120k miles, and you always knew you could upgrade your OC5 to whatever you wanted once you picked an actual hotel. (And extend it a year, of course.)

Between the devaluation and loss of flexibility, the value simply isn't there anymore. I usually don't really want 7 nights anyway - 5 is closer to my typical need.

The loss of flexibility just seems like an unnecessary kick in the teeth. I don't see how Marriott loses by letting people upgrade their certificates.

I agree. 5 nights is all I need at one hotel - not 7. Because of this, I was leaning toward canceling my OC9 and taking the points instead of converting to NC6. But, should the upcoming peak pricing change my analysis and take the NC6?