Sep 16, 2018, 1:41 pm
Last edit by: SanDiego1K
Book future Category 8 hotels (85,000 points) at the Category 7 rate (60,000 points) until March 2019.
These were 35K SPG points or the equivalent of 105K Marriott points, with the all suite properties being at least twice that points level.
https://points-redemption.marriott.com/category-change
Save up to 25,000 points per night when you book future Category 8 hotels at the Category 7 rate until March 2019.
How far into 2020 can we book?
Marriott opens up award availabillity one week at a time on Saturdays. On 1 March 2019 we can book thru 15 Feb 2020.
Hotel list: (thank you, CPRich)
Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai
Blue Palace, a Luxury Collection Resort and Spa, Crete
Cristallo, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Cortina d'Ampezzo
Domes of Elounda, Autograph Collection
Giardino Ascona, A Member Of Design Hotels
Giardino Mountain, a Member of Design Hotels
Gramercy Park Hotel, New York, a Member of Design Hotels™
G-Rough, Rome, a Member of Design Hotels
Hotel Cala di Volpe, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Costa Smeralda
Hotel Danieli, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Venice
Hôtel de Berri, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Paris
Hotel Pitrizza, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Costa Smeralda
Hotel President Wilson, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Geneva
Hotel Romazzino, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Costa Smeralda
Kenoa Exclusive Beach Spa & Resort, Barra de Sao Miguel, a Member of Design Hotels
Le Méridien Bora Bora
Mystique, A Luxury Collection Resort, Santorini
PalazzinaG, Venice, a Member of Design Hotels
Parklane, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Limassol
Phoenician Residences, a Luxury Collection Residence Club, Scottsdale
Prince de Galles, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Paris
Santa Marina, a Luxury Collection Resort, Mykonos
Schloss Fuschl, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Fuschlsee-Salzburg
Sir Joan Hotel, Ibiza City, a Member of Design Hotels
Suiran, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Kyoto
The Canyon Suites at The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort, Scottsdale
The Chatwal, a Luxury Collection Hotel, New York City
The Gritti Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Venice
The Miami Beach EDITION
The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho, a Luxury Collection Hotel
The Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour, Miami
The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park
The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch
The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman
The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong
The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto
The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe
The Ritz-Carlton, Naples
The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas
The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo
The St. Regis Aspen Resort
The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico
The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort
The St. Regis Bali Resort
The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort
The St. Regis Deer Valley
The St. Regis Florence
The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort
The St. Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort
The St. Regis New York
The St. Regis Osaka
The St. Regis Princeville Resort
The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort
The St. Regis Rome
The Wellesley Knightsbridge, a Luxury Collection Hotel, London
The Westin Golf Resort & Spa, Playa Conchal
Vana Belle, a Luxury Collection Resort, Koh Samui
W Koh Samui
W Maldives
W South Beach
W Verbier
These were 35K SPG points or the equivalent of 105K Marriott points, with the all suite properties being at least twice that points level.
https://points-redemption.marriott.com/category-change
Save up to 25,000 points per night when you book future Category 8 hotels at the Category 7 rate until March 2019.
How far into 2020 can we book?
Marriott opens up award availabillity one week at a time on Saturdays. On 1 March 2019 we can book thru 15 Feb 2020.
Hotel list: (thank you, CPRich)
Al Maha, a Luxury Collection Desert Resort & Spa, Dubai
Blue Palace, a Luxury Collection Resort and Spa, Crete
Cristallo, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Cortina d'Ampezzo
Domes of Elounda, Autograph Collection
Giardino Ascona, A Member Of Design Hotels
Giardino Mountain, a Member of Design Hotels
Gramercy Park Hotel, New York, a Member of Design Hotels™
G-Rough, Rome, a Member of Design Hotels
Hotel Cala di Volpe, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Costa Smeralda
Hotel Danieli, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Venice
Hôtel de Berri, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Paris
Hotel Pitrizza, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Costa Smeralda
Hotel President Wilson, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Geneva
Hotel Romazzino, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Costa Smeralda
Kenoa Exclusive Beach Spa & Resort, Barra de Sao Miguel, a Member of Design Hotels
Le Méridien Bora Bora
Mystique, A Luxury Collection Resort, Santorini
PalazzinaG, Venice, a Member of Design Hotels
Parklane, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Limassol
Phoenician Residences, a Luxury Collection Residence Club, Scottsdale
Prince de Galles, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Paris
Santa Marina, a Luxury Collection Resort, Mykonos
Schloss Fuschl, a Luxury Collection Resort & Spa, Fuschlsee-Salzburg
Sir Joan Hotel, Ibiza City, a Member of Design Hotels
Suiran, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Kyoto
The Canyon Suites at The Phoenician, a Luxury Collection Resort, Scottsdale
The Chatwal, a Luxury Collection Hotel, New York City
The Gritti Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Venice
The Miami Beach EDITION
The Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho, a Luxury Collection Hotel
The Ritz-Carlton Bal Harbour, Miami
The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park
The Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch
The Ritz-Carlton, Grand Cayman
The Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong
The Ritz-Carlton, Kyoto
The Ritz-Carlton, Lake Tahoe
The Ritz-Carlton, Naples
The Ritz-Carlton, St. Thomas
The Ritz-Carlton, Tokyo
The St. Regis Aspen Resort
The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort, Puerto Rico
The St. Regis Bal Harbour Resort
The St. Regis Bali Resort
The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort
The St. Regis Deer Valley
The St. Regis Florence
The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort
The St. Regis Mardavall Mallorca Resort
The St. Regis New York
The St. Regis Osaka
The St. Regis Princeville Resort
The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort
The St. Regis Rome
The Wellesley Knightsbridge, a Luxury Collection Hotel, London
The Westin Golf Resort & Spa, Playa Conchal
Vana Belle, a Luxury Collection Resort, Koh Samui
W Koh Samui
W Maldives
W South Beach
W Verbier
Booking high end (aspirational) properties at reduced points til 5 March 2019
Nov 6, 2018, 12:45 am
#151
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
Well, to be fair, you are booking one year in advance. I just booked St.Regis Maldives for October 2019 as well, no problem. But anybody who is trying to book 2-4 months in advance will have a different challenge for a number of cat 8 properties if not having a very flexible calendar.
Nov 6, 2018, 11:34 am
#152
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: California
Programs: AAdvantage, United MileagePlus, Alaska MileagePlan, Marriott Rewards
Posts: 132
Anyone know if date changes will be permitted if I book now and then have to change it after the 2019 award charts are in effect? Or would that most likely require the new rates?
Nov 6, 2018, 11:43 am
#153
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
Either way, Marriott has given us all a massive gift in these ridiculously lower award rates for the most aspirational properties throughout its portfolio. Let’s not look the gift horse too often in the mouth and get even greedier.
Nov 6, 2018, 12:46 pm
#154
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Homeless
Programs: Hyatt Glob; Hilton Dia; Marriott AMB; Accor Dia; IHG Dia Amb; GHA Tit
Posts: 4,835
Well, at these ridiculously low rates, it stands to reason that they’d go fast. It’s no different than premium award tickets on the best airlines or any other deals, really. If someone expects to book 2-4 months out for a massively discounted award at a truly aspirational property and is upset or surprised it isn’t available, someone has bigger issues.
Who said booking using points is hard for even the most aspirational legacy SPG properties?
Nov 7, 2018, 6:22 am
#156
Join Date: Apr 2016
Posts: 609
Nov 7, 2018, 7:17 am
#157
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Programs: Marriott Titanium/LTP, IHG Platinum, Hilton Gold, United Silver, Delta Silver
Posts: 53
Nov 26, 2018, 11:21 pm
#159
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Muscat/Doha/Manchester
Programs: Oman Air Gold, Qatar Airways Platinum, Marriott Ambassador, HH Diamond, GHA Black, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 432
1 Month to go before Cat 8
As there is only one month to go...I am debating how to use my Marriott points (approx. 2.5 million) ...do I blow it at the soon to be Cat 8 knowing i will not get a chance to redeem at 60k (48k over 5 nights) per night again...or take a more conservative approach?
If I were to blow it i decided it would be best to maximise use and use 5 night redemptions (so lowers the average points per night) and target the following (as i based in Muscat/Doha first 3 are a no brainer i think) -
1. St Regis Maldives
2. W Maldives
3. Al Maha Dxb
4. Gritti Palace, Venice
5. Mystique
6. St Regis New York (though not sure its worth it as when in New York will most likely be out exploring so will not spend much time in the hotel so thoughts welcome on this)
Any thoughts much appreciated.
Regards
Asif
If I were to blow it i decided it would be best to maximise use and use 5 night redemptions (so lowers the average points per night) and target the following (as i based in Muscat/Doha first 3 are a no brainer i think) -
1. St Regis Maldives
2. W Maldives
3. Al Maha Dxb
4. Gritti Palace, Venice
5. Mystique
6. St Regis New York (though not sure its worth it as when in New York will most likely be out exploring so will not spend much time in the hotel so thoughts welcome on this)
Any thoughts much appreciated.
Regards
Asif
Nov 27, 2018, 3:58 pm
#163
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Programs: Marriott Titanium/LTP, IHG Platinum, Hilton Gold, United Silver, Delta Silver
Posts: 53
As there is only one month to go...I am debating how to use my Marriott points (approx. 2.5 million) ...do I blow it at the soon to be Cat 8 knowing i will not get a chance to redeem at 60k (48k over 5 nights) per night again...or take a more conservative approach?
If I were to blow it i decided it would be best to maximise use and use 5 night redemptions (so lowers the average points per night) and target the following (as i based in Muscat/Doha first 3 are a no brainer i think) -
1. St Regis Maldives
2. W Maldives
3. Al Maha Dxb
4. Gritti Palace, Venice
5. Mystique
6. St Regis New York (though not sure its worth it as when in New York will most likely be out exploring so will not spend much time in the hotel so thoughts welcome on this)
Any thoughts much appreciated.
Regards
Asif
If I were to blow it i decided it would be best to maximise use and use 5 night redemptions (so lowers the average points per night) and target the following (as i based in Muscat/Doha first 3 are a no brainer i think) -
1. St Regis Maldives
2. W Maldives
3. Al Maha Dxb
4. Gritti Palace, Venice
5. Mystique
6. St Regis New York (though not sure its worth it as when in New York will most likely be out exploring so will not spend much time in the hotel so thoughts welcome on this)
Any thoughts much appreciated.
Regards
Asif
Nov 27, 2018, 4:42 pm
#164
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
Knowing the Marriott merger might mean something negative with my SPG Ambassador benefits (which it hasn’t), I’d been on a mission ever since late 2015 to stay in as many of the most aspirational SPG luxury properties as I could for our holiday travels. We basically put on hold some holidays that didn’t include SPG luxury options so we could maximize my Ambassador perks while I knew I’d have them.
In that time, we’ve managed to stay at:
St Regis Punta Mita (Nov 2015)...loved it, returned in 2018
St Regis Bora Bora (April 2016)...loved it, one of best suite upgrades ever
Gritti Palace Venice (Sept 2016)...loved it more than Aman Venice, one of our all-time favorites
Excelsior Gallia Milan (Oct 2016)...loved it more than PH or FS
Park Tower Knightsbridge London (Oct 2016)...hated it
St Regis San Francisco (too many times to list)...my favorite city hotel in USA, one of our all-time favorites
St Regis Dubai (Jan 2017)...no longer StR, loved hard product, hated service, no big loss
St Regis Bahia Beach PR (Feb 2017)...loved it, going back Feb 2019
St Regis Washington DC (April 2017)...disliked it, problematic service and needs renovation
The Liberty Boston (April 2017)...love the hard product, poor service, terrible air con
SLS Beverly Hills (June 2017)...amazing service and dining, ok rooms, renovation coming, returned 2018
The Nines Portland (Aug 2017)...amazing service, dining, and Nines suite upgrade, average air con, like the hotel
St Regis Rome (Sept 2017)...amazing service, dining, nice junior suite amidst renovations, love the public spaces
Hotel Imperial Vienna (Oct 2017)...incredible stay and upgrade, loved it, one of our all-time favorites
Prince de Galles Paris (Oct 2017)...amazing stay and service/dining, loved it, almost one of our faves
St Regis Houston (Dec 2017)...amazing service, dated decor, still loved it
The Gwen Chicago (Dec 2017)...great stay, loved it
St Regis Punta Mita (Jan 2018)...incredible 2nd stay, amazing in every way, one of our all-times favorites
St Regis New York (March 2018)...incredible stay in every way, Table 55 extravagance, one of our all-time favorites
St Regis Atlanta (May 2018)...wonderful hospitality/service after air con/check in fail, renovation coming
Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho (May 2018)...almost worthy to be St Regis, wonderful stay, liked as much as Aman
Suiran Kyoto (May 2018)...incredible stay, one of our all-time favorites, desperate to return even more than RC
RC Kyoto (May 2018)...incredible stay, amazing upgrade pre-integration, almost one of our faves if not for Suiran!
St Regis Osaka (May 2018)...great stay, amazing service and dining
St Regis Florence (Sept 2018)...amazing stay in every way, one of our all-time favorites
St Regis Bal Harbour (Oct 2018)...great stay with some misses, amazing suite upgrade
SLS Beverly Hills (Oct 2018)...amazing stay, amazing renovated suite upgrade, amazing service/dining, 2nd stay
Bolded hotels are truly special IMO.
In that time, we’ve managed to stay at:
St Regis Punta Mita (Nov 2015)...loved it, returned in 2018
St Regis Bora Bora (April 2016)...loved it, one of best suite upgrades ever
Gritti Palace Venice (Sept 2016)...loved it more than Aman Venice, one of our all-time favorites
Excelsior Gallia Milan (Oct 2016)...loved it more than PH or FS
Park Tower Knightsbridge London (Oct 2016)...hated it
St Regis San Francisco (too many times to list)...my favorite city hotel in USA, one of our all-time favorites
St Regis Dubai (Jan 2017)...no longer StR, loved hard product, hated service, no big loss
St Regis Bahia Beach PR (Feb 2017)...loved it, going back Feb 2019
St Regis Washington DC (April 2017)...disliked it, problematic service and needs renovation
The Liberty Boston (April 2017)...love the hard product, poor service, terrible air con
SLS Beverly Hills (June 2017)...amazing service and dining, ok rooms, renovation coming, returned 2018
The Nines Portland (Aug 2017)...amazing service, dining, and Nines suite upgrade, average air con, like the hotel
St Regis Rome (Sept 2017)...amazing service, dining, nice junior suite amidst renovations, love the public spaces
Hotel Imperial Vienna (Oct 2017)...incredible stay and upgrade, loved it, one of our all-time favorites
Prince de Galles Paris (Oct 2017)...amazing stay and service/dining, loved it, almost one of our faves
St Regis Houston (Dec 2017)...amazing service, dated decor, still loved it
The Gwen Chicago (Dec 2017)...great stay, loved it
St Regis Punta Mita (Jan 2018)...incredible 2nd stay, amazing in every way, one of our all-times favorites
St Regis New York (March 2018)...incredible stay in every way, Table 55 extravagance, one of our all-time favorites
St Regis Atlanta (May 2018)...wonderful hospitality/service after air con/check in fail, renovation coming
Prince Gallery Tokyo Kioicho (May 2018)...almost worthy to be St Regis, wonderful stay, liked as much as Aman
Suiran Kyoto (May 2018)...incredible stay, one of our all-time favorites, desperate to return even more than RC
RC Kyoto (May 2018)...incredible stay, amazing upgrade pre-integration, almost one of our faves if not for Suiran!
St Regis Osaka (May 2018)...great stay, amazing service and dining
St Regis Florence (Sept 2018)...amazing stay in every way, one of our all-time favorites
St Regis Bal Harbour (Oct 2018)...great stay with some misses, amazing suite upgrade
SLS Beverly Hills (Oct 2018)...amazing stay, amazing renovated suite upgrade, amazing service/dining, 2nd stay
Bolded hotels are truly special IMO.
Nov 28, 2018, 9:12 pm
#165
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: The road less traveled
Programs: UA Gold MM, AA EXP, Delta Platinum, Marriott Titanium, HHonors Diamond, Natl EE, Hertz Platinum
Posts: 5,118
Phoenician Residences
Not having any luck with agents finding availability at the Phoenician Residences ... any time. Am I doing anything wrong or is this just a function of waiting for the magical 12/11 date?