Didn't you get ripped off? The cost differential is 15k per night between new cat-6 and cat-5 hotels. So the cost differential for 5 nights should be 15k x 4 or 60k (the fifth night is always free).

An update on my situation: I followed @buschoi's advice in post#1259. After few emails back and forth, I was asked to asked to call in to log a "customer service file" to reinstate the certificate, which would then get reviewed/approved by management.
When I called this morning, I lucked out and got connected to a very competent rep(she seemed to be from the SPG side), who instead of logging the request, decided to work on it and escalate it to her supervisor who was able to reinstate my certificate ^

It seems like at least some people are reporting being able to "upgrade" the category when you convert from the old certificate to a new one. I am going to give it a try at least, but want to make sure i have code correct. I have a old 5 night Cat 1-5 certificate, and I would ideally like to use it for a category 6 hotel. I believe should tell the agent i want to convert a 530T certificate to a QP61.

Does that sound correct?

Actually a cat-5 shows as partial 45k because that is the money you get back if want a 'refund'. For cat-6 it is 135k.

So to do the upgrade, the agent had to basically refund the 45k and pay 135 to get the next cat.

Doing the math yes, difference in theory is 60k, but the system made the upgrade that way.

At the end I had a redemption in mind for a cat-6 and i had no certificate. So i see it as instead of expending 200k, i spent 90k.

Has anyone successfully upgraded from OC9 to NC7 at conversion yet? Toying with the idea if I find the right hotel I want to do it at, but don't want to run further down this rabbit hole if it's not going to be possible.

I tried to convert my OC9 to a NC7 just a few weeks ago. Talked to 5 different people. Two of them were supervisors an all said no way. Some people in this thread have had success, but that was earlier in this changeover process and I don't think all of the agents had been properly trained. Hope you have success.

I just got off my 5th call with Marriott and was unable to convert my OC5 to a NC5. Its not looking so easy to find a rep willing to do this anymore. I also tried sending a message to Marriott through the website but had no luck there either.

Forgive me, I'm just now hopping into this conversation because I had a question about my own cert, but this caught my eye. Do you mean you had an original category 1-5 and others have been able to convert them to new category 1-5 certificates?? I thought they were all to become 1-4s??

I have an OC5 attached to a reservation in July 2019 (when the cert expires as well). I would like to change that reservation. Am I understanding the process correctly that I can ask them to detach the cert, cancel the reservation, and then attach the cert to a new reservation? Ideally, I think I'd like to just extend the expiration date another year to be used elsewhere because we'd rather book another hotel brand for this trip (unless there is a way to convert this to a NC5?? without extra points?). If they still allow extending, what would be the best way to accomplish?

It is not a free conversion - it is an upgrade with additional 60k pts IF one can find an agent to do so. Using the word "Convert" has least resistance versus using the word "Upgrade" which would almost certainly meet a firm NO.

What you are asking for, the information have been repeated many many many times in this thread, with no shortage of actual examples.

Since you said you have not followed the thread, you really should READ both the Wiki and 10 pages back to get yourself familiarized with what has been going on, what can be done, if approach it TACTFULLY. There are enough real life examples on successes and failures so you can learn from others' experiences.

I apologize. I read the wiki prior to asking. There was no mention of needing to use the word "convert" in place of "upgrade," nor was there mention specifically that old certificates, already attached to reservations, could be extended without some sort of upgrade or reattachment to an existing reservation. I searched the thread for the word "extend," and read multiple posts which is how I gathered the certificate might need to be unattached before changing my reservation. And while I read the last 2-3 pages, alas I didn't read the last 10. I didn't realize that was a prerequisite before posting, especially after attempting to do some due diligence.

Anyway, from the research I did, I noted the process in my post, and was just hoping for someone to confirm that I had understood correctly before I started the process. Perhaps someone else will be happier (pun intended) to do so.

Happy has answered numerous questions and has been very generous with her time, but is apparently becoming frustrated with posters asking similar questions every couple of days.

Quick answer: Look at the numbers in the Wiki for the liquidation values. Those values will tell you what the conversion values would be IF you could achieve your goal. In your example, an old 1-5 certificate has a cancellation value of 45K and a new category 1-5 has a value of 105K. Therefore, it would cost 60K to make the change you are hoping for. Generally, the conversion will extend the expiration of your award to one year from the date of the change.

Detach before make any changes to a reservation.

A mere 5 days ago on Jan 30, Post 1271 has explained why using the phrase of "Upgrade" can meet with stonewall while a "Conversion" can open doors if one is tactful and persistent, i.e. HUCA a few times to the right office.
On the same date Jan 30, Post 1273 posted DETAILS of the latest successful case.

All you need is to read back the past week's posts even if you dont care to follow the ongoing development and just decide to jump in when you feel the need - research means one reads what the DPs others have posted and glean useful information from it.

Wiki is maintained by volunteers, offers a frame work with the needed references on the category's destination codes - this has been proven extremely useful to "lead" the agents in finding the right category to convert / upgrade. I am sure you know that the Old Category 6 has been downgraded to only exchange to New Category 4 like the Old Category 1 to 5 - but the codes denote the different value for OC6 and for OC5. Same for the OC8 and OC7. Knowing the "partial value" of each OC helps one to determine how many extra points needed to upgrade. Those valuable information are collected from numerous people's real life DPs since last August, now has become an organized table in the Wiki.
Yet, that does not mean the Marriott agents would do exactly what supposedly to be - anyone who has read this thread would know that it is much more depending on the "Art of Coaxing" and a large factor of being lucky, to achieve what one would hope for.

Thank you both. I'm sorry I was unclear. I didn't research about upgrades, I researched extensions. I just happened to read that one snippet I quoted and thought I'd ask while I was trying to ask my real question about the process of changing reservations and extending certificates (without upgrading). I tried to be apologetic and lead with "forgive me," but I didn't realize it would cause such distress.

Sorry if this was asked before but I tried to see past posts and didn't see it. I know it is possible to use extra points to upgrade when you convert OC5 to NCx. Today I made a rookie mistake and used the word "upgrade" and the agent told me that I needed 120k go upgrade from OC5 to NC5. I didn't take the offer but accept the free OC5 to NC4, which was probably a mistake.
My question is: is it possible to use 60k points to convert/upgrade my NC4 to NC5? Is this opportunity only available when you convert OC to NC? I tried a few different agents to get NC4 to NC5 but with no luck.

I asked if I could add points to the certificate to raise the level.

Yes I have a old cert cat 1-5 expiring this month. I asked about my options. I could get a refund of 45k points or I could have extended my certificate for one year with the caveat being it would expire one year from the date of the call which was 1/30/19. He suggested I might want to wait until closer to the expiration date to extend the certificate so I would have closer to a full year.