Day dreaming probably ? Read more and more....

I have been following this thread off and on since August. I need some inputs/validation from the collective knowledge on this thread on what I am about to attempt.

I redeemed for an OC9 (w/ 120K AA miles) TP back in August just a few days before the cut over. I also attached the OC9 Partial Cert to a tentative trip I thought we'd make for spring break (mid-March). This hotel I attached it to was going up to a Cat 7 (70K/night) so it made sense. Fast forward to today and I am now sure we are not making the trip. Here's what I believe I need to do.
1. Call Marriott and detach the certificate.
2. Verify that the OC Cert with the original expiration date of XX Aug 2019 shows up in my account.
3. Cancel the reservation to make sure that points dont get pulled.

Question 1 - Is it best to call the US or the UK number to accomplish this? If UK, any preferred timings?
Question 2 - How long does the cert take to show up in the account? Immediately? Check in App or website? I'd like to verify that this has been done correctly while I have the rep on the phone.

I have an idea on where to use the cert but I'd like to take it one step at a time.

You missed a lot of things. Granted, there are quite some DPs on OC5 to NC4 and NC5. But NC8 does not exit. There are only a couple DPs on NC7. NC6 upgrades are all over the places. You really need to read more.

OC7 maps to NC5...some have been able to upgrade to NC6 though it is a hit or miss. From everything I've read (unless there is a lucky one or two who got it), I don't think OC7 to NC7 is possible and definitely not for NC8!

Thank you for the info, just going off the wiki there is a NC7 quoted as QL87. When you upgraded did you ask for your NC6 by description or by QP99. also did you try for NC7 (QL87)?

I suppose even if the NC8 travel package is a thing post March 5th there isn't going to be an OC upgrade to price it by even if only theoretical.

• NC4 QP83 = OC5 830T/P830 (refund value: 45K)
• NC4 QP87 = OC6 870T/P870 (refund value: 75K)
• NC5 QP91 = OC7 910T/P910 (refund value: 105K)
• NC5 QP95 = OC8 950T/P950 (refund value: 135K)
• NC6 QP99 = OC9 990T/P990 (refund value: 165K)
• NC6 QP99 = OC Tier 1-3 L830 (refund value: 195K)
• NC7 QL87 = OC Tier 4-5 L870 (refund value: 315K)

More data point: A couple of days ago (actually during the Bonvoy changeover night), I called UK contact centre again to convert another OC to NC, and this time I have slightly different experience:

1) Prebooked 7-night Marriott Waikiki Beach Hotel on OC8 before August 2018, for a stay in April 2019. Now Marriott Waikiki is Cat-6;
2) Booked 7-night JW Marriott Hong Kong (Cat-6) at Dec 2019-Jan 2020 using Point Advance feature a couple of weeks ago;
3) Called UK contact centre again at night in Australia (ie UK day time), and ask to detach my OC8 cert at Marriott Waikiki and attach to my JWM HK booking;
4) The agent spent 10 minutes trying and then tell me it is not possible because it is OC8 and can only map to new Cat-5 only;
5) I asked the agent to convert it to QP99 and I will pay the difference. He said that the system doesn't allow this, and even if he speaks with supervisor, it cannot be done;
6) I told him that I am simply moving a cert from Cat-6 hotel to another Cat-6 hotel, and he has to sort it out because it is not my issue that they have old certs; I also said that I have done this before without any issues in the past;
7) After 20 minutes speaking with supervisors, he said that he will do a one-time exception to convert to new Cat-6 because my old cert was already attached to a booking, which went up to Cat-6, and I have to pay the difference in points. I said OK, and I didn't argue about his comment about "one-time exception";
8) Then he spent next 10 minutes trying to convert it but ended up cancelling and reissue a cert. He said this is the most complex work he has ever done.
9) After another 10 minutes, OC8 is cancelled, NC6 is created and attached to my JWM HK booking. Then he tried to charge me the points difference, but somehow instead of deducting 30K points from my account (OC8->OC9=NC6 cost), he gave me 30K Marriott points.
10) I thank him for his patience and getting it done.

So this time there are more resistance from the CSR but at the end, I get what I wanted. So for anyone who are going to try to convert their certificates:

1) Read the Wiki and posts of people who have done successful certificate conversions;
2) Try to book new hotel booking using Points Advance before asking to attach to existing booking. It makes their life easier;
3) Be patient with CSR as they may have not done this before;
4) Be polite but firm with CSR. Be persistent;
5) Avoid using the word "upgrade", and use the word "convert";
6) Never cancel the booking with old cert, rather un-attach it (and re-attach it to another hotel booking if possible);
7) Think of ways of reasoning to force them to convert the certificate. For me it was un-attach from existing booking with the hotel went up 1 category, and attach it to another booking of hotel at the same category;

Successfully converted
 

Thanks for all your help! I was able to successfully convert an OC8 to a new category six today ,using the steps in the Wiki and a little persistence, on the first try. It only took about 10 minutes. She first told me it couldn't be done, but when pressed, she did it.

I followed up by trying to attach my new category six certificate to an existing points advance reservation for a new category six hotel. The CSR said she couldn't do it because we had booked a villa instead of a regular room. This particular hotel only has villas. So I just hung up happy that I got the conversion and called US customer service. The new CSR said he had to go to a supervisor, but after a 10 minute hold said he had attached the certificate to my reservation.

Here's my question: When I log into my reservation it still shows up as a points advance reservation, and my certificate still shows as unused. There is no indication that it is attached. Is this correct? Is there any way to confirm the certificate really is correctly attached?

From my experience, villa and suites require upgrade certificates. Each costs 5,000 points. I once booked a 2-bedroom apartment and it requires like 2 upgrade certificates, in additional to the NC6 I had. With my reservation, the NC6 was attached, but the upgrade certificates were considered point advance.

I cancelled it later on. Change of plan.

You need to check the requirement. Certain villa and suites can't fully paid with the NC attached, but without the upgrade certificates. Even the supervisor can't do it.

Reading the Wiki, it seems that you do not need to convert an OC8 or Tier 1-3 cert to a NC one to get the 30k refund. Is that correct?

Which part of the wiki says you do not need to convert to get the 30k refund because I do not see that in the wiki and in general it is not true. You must convert to an NC to get the 30k refund. You cancel the OC8 and get a 135k refund, then you order a QP91/NC5 for 105k which leaves you with 30k left over. The only legitimate way to get the points to refund is to cancel the OC cert.

ETA: IF you have an OC cert attached to a reservation at a hotel that has gone up in category you should not detach and convert the cert or you most likely will need to upgrade to the higher new category to reattach. In this case I would ask the rep to gift 30k points to compensate. I am not sure it that would work but it is worth a try.

First time poster. I had a 7N old Cat 1-5 package and wanted to convert to a new Cat 5. I was able to successfully do the conversion by following this thread and the wiki. Thank you! Here is my experience:

A week ago: I called the UK number, followed the script in the wiki to convert P830 to QP91. The representative said it would require 105K points and I had around 75K points. I tried to convince them that P830 will have a cancellation value of 45K points, but the rep insisted that I needed 105K to order QP91. I thanked the rep and hung up.

I then acquired more points and made another call yesterday. I followed the wiki again and asked for P830 to QP91 conversion. I made the mistake of not confirming that it requires additional points. The rep put me on hold and in about 15 minutes came back and said I have the new cat 1-4 certificate!!! I told her that I specifically mentioned QP91 and asked if she could undo the conversion (hoping I could HUCA). She couldn't undo. I told her that the rep last week told it is possible and she could check my activity to see I have acquired new points during this week to get to 105K. She went back to her supervisor and came back apologizing she couldn't upgraded. I asked her if I can talk to the supervisor. I was put on my hold again and she said she will transfer to the supervisor. The call got disconnected right there!

I called again and told the new rep the whole story. By this time I had lost hope and I was willing to cancel and get the 45K points. This new rep put me on hold and in another 10 minutes came back and said she got it done! I asked her to attach to a reservation and thanked her.

What additional number of points did you have to pay, if any?