Peak and off peak Awards (General Discussion)
Aug 20, 2019, 12:14 am
#241
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you most certainly do....
Aug 20, 2019, 12:24 am
#242
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I made and locked the rates of a bunch of speculative cancellable PA reservations at hotels during dates that will likely become peak. I hope my "investment" will pay off in the form of free points 
Aug 20, 2019, 12:30 am
#243
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: SFO
Posts: 4,916
then you may be disappointed as this whole peak and non peak discussion on Points Advance is on how PA will guarantee the room but not the cost going forward. Although not sure about pre9/14 PA.
Aug 20, 2019, 12:41 am
#244
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 275
Second I hope their IT has improved. Since they can change the "price" month by month, maybe the CSR can also adjust the "price" (say within the offpeak to peak range) on the fly on a particular booking. In that case, they can just adjust and issue you the award at the booked level, which means they don't need to give you any extra points.
Aug 20, 2019, 12:44 am
#245
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: SFO
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Per Gary, Marriott will honor up to 5 PA reservations made before 9/14 if it falls under peak pricing.
Aug 20, 2019, 12:53 am
#246
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I don’t think so. On the contrary, anyone booking after Sept 14 and into perpetuity from that point forward any points advance award reservations over any of those obviously highest occupancy periods is going to book originally at peak rates. So there’s no rude awakening or even another kind of awakening! And the rates are going to stay at peak rates.
i don't think so....unless you have a source to verify this information....all the reports i have read online seem to suggest that the dates will be recalculated once a month so there is no guarantee that people will be booking only at peak rates....
Anyone booking before Sept 14 any points advance standard award reservations over any of those obviously highest occupancy periods who isn’t already expecting those to change immediately on Sept 14 to peak awards is kidding themselves. That isn’t a rude awakening. That’s a reality check.
so the hotel cited high occupancy but that was not the case....i'm hoping that its a central system that decides peak & non-peak dates because if its left to individual properties then the hotel can project itself as peak even when occupancy is low....if the dates are indeed going to be recalculated every month then there is a high chance that some properties in a particular area will be more busy than others....so its not necessary that all will have peak rates....
i have a junior lawyer in my firm who has been part of my team for the last 3 years....i ensure that all those who travel with me for work are signed up for various frequent flyer programs so that they can start earning miles & points....when this particular lawyer started traveling for work she started to get the hang of collecting points....because of this she keeps coming back to me for advise on how to best manage her points so that her husband & her can take an annual vacation in june every year....i've been giving her advice for the last 3 years & she starts saving her points every year in june of the current year so that she can afford the next vacation in june the following year....how unfair would it be for her to have saved for 11 months, only to find out that in the last month the points have been recalculated & she now requires more????
not everyone is looking to game the system....the majority of those booking points advance are actually genuinely looking to stay at the hotel....rather than increase the points on them, limit points advance reservations to one or two at a time....not everyone is earning thousands of points by having multiple rooms/events paid by other people or through credit card spends....most people rely on their own single room stays & promos to build a points balance over a period of time....let them have the same opportunity that we have....
Aug 20, 2019, 1:37 am
#247
Join Date: Feb 2018
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Posts: 2,808
This point advance change could potentially benefit member.
if the stay date falls on peak rate during initial pa booking and it recalculate down before stays, member can just "pay" and settle without having to run the risk of room become unavailable after cancelling the first reservation.
if the stay date falls on peak rate during initial pa booking and it recalculate down before stays, member can just "pay" and settle without having to run the risk of room become unavailable after cancelling the first reservation.
Aug 20, 2019, 5:29 am
#248
Join Date: Sep 2018
Programs: Alaska
Posts: 2,188
did you read from beginning? The original argument is that SPG has fixed peak date and Marriott has dynamic peak date so that it prevents gaming the system.
you certainly can game the system with fixed peak date when you can book a standard award when there is an event which drives the cash price up...
Aug 20, 2019, 5:46 am
#249
Join Date: Sep 2018
Programs: Alaska
Posts: 2,188
i don't think so....unless you have a source to verify this information....all the reports i have read online seem to suggest that the dates will be recalculated once a month so there is no guarantee that people will be booking only at peak rates....
once again, this is just speculation....just because its a peak travel month in a particular city, it doesn't mean that all hotels will be sold out or be anywhere near sold out....a good example is a city like nyc....my your24 requests for late check-outs always get denied here & the reason given is that the hotel is running on high occupancy....i finally brought this issue up with a manager at a nyc property earlier this year....my request for a 6pm or 7pm check-out was denied citing high occupancy but rates were extremely low (around $100) & the hotel did not seem to be anywhere near full....the manager told me that they had plenty of empty rooms but they didn't approve late check-out requests because their housekeeping staff leaves at 5pm....
so the hotel cited high occupancy but that was not the case....i'm hoping that its a central system that decides peak & non-peak dates because if its left to individual properties then the hotel can project itself as peak even when occupancy is low....if the dates are indeed going to be recalculated every month then there is a high chance that some properties in a particular area will be more busy than others....so its not necessary that all will have peak rates....
i have a junior lawyer in my firm who has been part of my team for the last 3 years....i ensure that all those who travel with me for work are signed up for various frequent flyer programs so that they can start earning miles & points....when this particular lawyer started traveling for work she started to get the hang of collecting points....because of this she keeps coming back to me for advise on how to best manage her points so that her husband & her can take an annual vacation in june every year....i've been giving her advice for the last 3 years & she starts saving her points every year in june of the current year so that she can afford the next vacation in june the following year....how unfair would it be for her to have saved for 11 months, only to find out that in the last month the points have been recalculated & she now requires more????
not everyone is looking to game the system....the majority of those booking points advance are actually genuinely looking to stay at the hotel....rather than increase the points on them, limit points advance reservations to one or two at a time....not everyone is earning thousands of points by having multiple rooms/events paid by other people or through credit card spends....most people rely on their own single room stays & promos to build a points balance over a period of time....let them have the same opportunity that we have....
i genuinely want to stay at the most expensive hotel in Marriott portfolios, but I don’t have enough money for it. Could Marriott please let me stay?
Mr. Lawyer, I genuinely don’t have enough money to hire you. Could you please help me anyway?
Aug 20, 2019, 6:42 am
#250
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I live in a jurisdiction (Quebec) with very strong consumer laws. I genuinely wonder if they would get away with increasing the room rate after having made a reservation.
Aug 20, 2019, 7:44 am
#251
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 275
So as I said, your argument doesn't make sense.
Aug 20, 2019, 8:24 am
#252
Join Date: Sep 2010
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Aug 20, 2019, 8:38 am
#253
Join Date: Sep 2002
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The points advance change is really a form of raising required points. In this case, it was done with plenty of notice, which is in general my biggest complaint with category changes.
Aug 20, 2019, 10:01 am
#254
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did you read from beginning? The original argument is that SPG has fixed peak date and Marriott has dynamic peak date so that it prevents gaming the system.
you certainly can game the system with fixed peak date when you can book a standard award when there is an event which drives the cash price up...
Gaming the system is doing something which is unscrupulous or wrong or cheating. This is why there is so much of a heated response to these claims.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaming_the_system
Gaming the system would be if you were to book a refundable rate for a suite, and another cheap or points rate, and then cancel it at the last minute to ensure you get upgraded to that suite. Everyone here would agree that it is unscrupulous. That doesn't mean people wouldn't do it. But even they would agree that this is not fair or proper. Dynamic Peak and Off Peak rates do not prevent gaming the system. Reducing the opportunity to only three PA bookings does help prevent people from gaming the system.
Booking a standard award when there is an event which drives the cash prices up is not gaming the system but rather opportunities to maximize the value we are getting for our points. This is why we have discussions about the value of a point. Do we look for opportunities to get .8 cents per point or .5 cents per point or 1.2 cents per point? Otherwise it might as be a straight discount for loyalty members or a cashback program.
What Marriott are doing with dynamic award pricing is reducing the opportunity to get outsized value for our points.
What they are doing by not allowing members to lock in the price when using one of their three price advance bookings is discouraging members like the junior lawyer in keyser's example from relying on Marriott when planning their vacations as they don't know what the price will be for the award when they have the points saved up.
Aug 20, 2019, 10:13 am
#255
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This isn't gaming the system, this is maximizing the value of your points/miles.
Gaming the system is doing something which is unscrupulous or wrong or cheating. This is why there is so much of a heated response to these claims.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaming_the_system
Gaming the system would be if you were to book a refundable rate for a suite, and another cheap or points rate, and then cancel it at the last minute to ensure you get upgraded to that suite. Everyone here would agree that it is unscrupulous. That doesn't mean people wouldn't do it. But even they would agree that this is not fair or proper. Dynamic Peak and Off Peak rates do not prevent gaming the system. Reducing the opportunity to only three PA bookings does help prevent people from gaming the system.
Gaming the system is doing something which is unscrupulous or wrong or cheating. This is why there is so much of a heated response to these claims.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaming_the_system
Gaming the system would be if you were to book a refundable rate for a suite, and another cheap or points rate, and then cancel it at the last minute to ensure you get upgraded to that suite. Everyone here would agree that it is unscrupulous. That doesn't mean people wouldn't do it. But even they would agree that this is not fair or proper. Dynamic Peak and Off Peak rates do not prevent gaming the system. Reducing the opportunity to only three PA bookings does help prevent people from gaming the system.
Marriott limiting points advance reservations to only 3 is an example of Marriott trying to rein in those speculative award bookings. While that may seem less fair to people without sufficient points, it is more fair and helpful to all those with sufficient points who otherwise might have awards blocked.
What they are doing by not allowing members to lock in the price when using one of their three price advance bookings is discouraging members like the junior lawyer in keyser's example from relying on Marriott when planning their vacations as they don't know what the price will be for the award when they have the points saved up.
That's still a lot better than not having the privilege to book awards with not enough points in the first place.