i would not trust ur transaction. not even for a sec. as you already know, this game is all about bending the rules and exploiting loopholes. if youre willing to risk it and ur stay is not too important (eg honeymoon), then game on. otherwise, dont be surprised if crap hits the fan 3.5 weeks before ur stay.

no. this is "not allowed". stays must be completed prior to the cert expiration date, but its YMMV in practice. otherwise, you can attach a cert for a stay many months after the cert expires to keep it "live". def not.

i hope i dont see another debate related to "show me the T&C" circus and take up hundreds of pages in arguments. IMHO, i would not risk it. and as other have said, call, take screenshots, and do whatever is comfortable. but if u get bonvoyed, dont complain. ive heard u may get nuked when you check out and ur told to pay the entire bill vs free because the cert is no longer valid when you settle the folio which is on checkout date (ie after cert expired). meaning u need a valid cert to "pay" the bill.

Perfectly said....

This doesn't make any sense! The entire reservation must fall within the certificate validity dates. If a reservation completes outside the certificate validity dates, the certificate cannot be attached! Consequently, "whether attached or not" is erroneous.

The only way a CSR could not take steps to prevent the expiration is to not attach the certificate. If the CSR is attaching the certificate then it must be extended to include at least the last day of the reservation it is attaching to.

If @aujusco has an attached certificate then it must have been extended. For ease of mind, I would call to confirm that the certificate is attached and is valid for the entire duration of the stay.

James

Yes, this was the exact answer I received from Marriott. And Marriott was very firm that they won't "extend" it since it was "extended" one before. Definitely make sure all is good before your trip. No one likes the last minute surprise.

If the CSR is doing it right. How many instances have we seen of CSR's not doing things right? I'd call and make sure; that way you avoid unpleasant surprises either at check-in or -- more unpleasant -- at check-out.

This is what this thread has been promoting. We all want the Marriott CSRs to make mistakes and we benefit from. If the CSR follows its own policy strictly, then we cry foul claiming mis-treated. The trend is that Marriott CSRs have been doing a better job following its policy (T&C) and fewer mistakes and exceptions were given.

How many certificates were upgraded at conversion? That is a CSR not doing things right! So, yes, there have been many instances. I don't see anyone complaining about a CSR "not doing things right" when it advantaged them.

The system allowed a CSR to "not do it right" when upgrading a certificate. The system will not allow a CSR to "not do it right" when attaching a certificate to a reservation.

Just as I said before, for peace of mind, call!

James

While there are certainly those who wanted to take advantage of the incompetence of some CSRs, others simply wanted to know what the rules were and when a CSR's help was needed to have things done correctly. If Marriott had stated the actual conversion rates for OCs to NCs a couple of months in advance, most of the discussion on this site and others about travel certificates would never have taken place. Because of the lack of clarity, some people were able to change categories when they shouldn't have been permitted to do so and others who had OC6s or OC8s which "may have been eligible to upgrade" were limited to the lower category.

For NCs, thanks to a Lurker, we now now that they can be used on any date before expiration. If a Lurker, or even better Marriott T&Cs, told us if the life of an NC can be extended for an additional period of time, there would be little to debate about hotel awards.

I do not think this is the case. Marriott has made it very clear that, the NC can't be upgraded; NC can only be refunded 5,000 points if cancelled. But people still do not believe it and keep asking for exceptions.

Who said that NCs could be upgraded?

Read the posts. It is not that it is "could" or "should". But this thread recommends folks HUCA to request all the exceptions, upgrades included.

I have seen many posts about upgrading old certificates, but I don't remember anyone claiming to have done so with the new ones. Perhaps it is more common than I realize, but I don't recall many people stating that they tried to upgrade a NC.

After the rep made the reservation and I can see that online with the certificate attached, I got an email saying my OP83 is cancelled. I remember getting a similar email last year when my OP was converted to NP. So maybe the rep (and her supervisor) converted it back to OP then to NP so it's extended?

Cancellation Information

• DESCRIPTION: PARTIAL PACKAGE - 7 NIGHTS CATEGORY 1-4
• CERTIFICATE CANCELLED: XXXX7571
• CANCELLED ON: Wednesday, August 21, 2019
• REWARD CODE: QP83

I definitely plan to keep an eye on my reservation and take screen shots, etc. to make sure it won't be cancelled.

I doubt that it was converted back to an OC and then converted to a NC to extend the certificate. Old Certificates are as extinct as T-Rex. I believe, and as a caveat don't have direct proof, that a NC can be extended with approval for borderline cases or for service recovery. I do know, factually, that they have the ability to cancel a NC and reissue another NC even from a different category.

I think it is more policy than procedure.

If you want to further investigate, I would call and ask the CSR what the expiry date is on the attached certificate indicating you would like to know in case your plans change and you need to cancel your reservation.

James

Perhaps those who have tried to extend the life of their certificates could post their results in the Wiki.