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Will existing "Points Advance" reservations raise in price on March 5th???

Will existing "Points Advance" reservations raise in price on March 5th???

Old Feb 8, 2019, 9:40 pm
  #1  
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Will existing "Points Advance" reservations raise in price on March 5th???

Did anyone else see this verbage regarding points advance reservations???

“Points Advance — Members can book stays when they do not have enough points if they earn or purchase the needed points at least 14 days prior to check-in. Members who wish to book a points advance redemption under the current Marriott Rewards and SPG award chart are encouraged to order redemption certificates before March 5 to lock in the rate. On March 5, redemption bookings are subject to the new unified program award chart.”

Does this mean that existing points advance reservations (ones booked but not yet with certs ordered) will increase in price on March 5th? If so, that's a terrible thing to do to customers on zero notice! I'm LIVID.

If this really is true, it's the last straw for me, and my husband and I will be taking our business to Hyatt and Hilton. We have reservations for a big anniversary trip--one we've been saving points up for years (loads of business travel)--and we won't have the points by March 5th, but we would have points well before the 14 days in advance (the original terms under which we made the reservation).
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Old Feb 8, 2019, 9:50 pm
  #2  
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There was a story on ThePointsGuy.com (https://thepointsguy.com/news/marrio...s-2019-family/) which said this does appear to be the case. Sounds like they are following up to confirm with Marriott but they had the same reaction you did.

If you have points with other programs or credit cards that you can transfer over before March 5th you might want to do so as it looks like you will have to actually fund those reservations with points prior to March 5th if you want to keep the pricing.
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Old Feb 8, 2019, 10:02 pm
  #3  
 
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Doesn’t this defeat the whole definition and purpose of Points Advance??

so what they are really saying is points advance is March 5th and not the 14 days in advance.

so in the future when a hotel goes up in category then points advance won’t be valid at the rate when booked?
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Old Feb 8, 2019, 10:03 pm
  #4  
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Just to follow up, I also have a points-advance reservation but it's at a hotel whose category isn't scheduled to change, so initially I wasn't worried about this in my particular case, however the more I think about it I forgot about the peak/off-peak pricing. Good chance that my reservation is during whatever the hotel determines to be their peak periods and that my pricing will go up as a result. I think this peak pricing will probably impact a lot of people who made points advance reservations, especially those trying to get ahead of the whole category 8 introduction. You could go from what you thought would be 60K a night when you made the reservation to a 100K a night. Ouch.
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Old Feb 8, 2019, 10:19 pm
  #5  
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That's exactly my concern. In our case, we made our reservations in advance specifically to lock in the Cat 7 rate on a few hotels that are going to Cat 8. If the rate changes on March 5th, our trip will jump from 430,000 points (which is achievable) to nearly 700,000 points...which would entirely kill our ability to take the trip. It makes me grateful I didn't book our flights yet. Think about the backlash from elite members who booked flights expecting to have that reservation be honored at the points price they booked at...

It's APPALLING that they'd change the price of reservations that have already been made. And with less than a month's notice on the change. That seems cruel, and (since those Cat 8 hotels are pricey) they're harming some of their most loyal customers too...

Yet another devaluation of Marriott's "reward" program...
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Old Feb 8, 2019, 10:52 pm
  #6  
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Originally Posted by FrustratedinCA
It's APPALLING that they'd change the price of reservations that have already been made. And with less than a month's notice on the change. That seems cruel, and (since those Cat 8 hotels are pricey) they're harming some of their most loyal customers too...
.
Hopefully this is either a misunderstanding/miscommunication or they will get such bad blow-back that they change their minds and honor everything as is.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 5:47 am
  #7  
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This will be very disappointing if confirmed. OTOH, there are probably a lot of speculative Point Advance bookings which may have prompted this policy.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 7:36 am
  #8  
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Seems pretty clear to me that the wording is by design, and you better do it by 3/5...
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 7:40 am
  #9  
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Originally Posted by UA-NYC
Seems pretty clear to me that the wording is by design, and you better do it by 3/5...
Sadly, I agree with you. However, you probably want to redeem by 3/4.

On the bright side, a lot of speculative PA bookings maybe cancelled and free up award inventory. Awards at higher rate are better than none.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 7:44 am
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Wow, what absolutely horrible news. If this true what is absolutely outrageous is giving us less than a month to get the points we need.

Last edited by OssianBlue; Feb 9, 2019 at 7:50 am
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 8:12 am
  #11  
 
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Saw this as well and am very disappointed if this is confirmed. Will force me to transfer CC points instead of earning the points naturally over the next 2 months before a trip.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 8:46 am
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I guess we know why they aren't sending out reward confirmation emails anymore. This really is terrible news.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 8:46 am
  #13  
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
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If this is implemented I will cancel all my Marriott/SPG/Bonvoy cards. I will use all of my stash of points and move my business to Hilton and Hyatt. This is the last straw. We are starting to see the negative effects of mergers. Less competition and less incentive to reward loyal customers.

Also, Marriott would be in breach of their policy that award stays should have the same benefits as paid stays. If I book a paid stay, and the hotel raises its prices, they won't get to raise my price too....I'm sure many people like me made many speculative reservations anticipating the increase in awards. If Marriott didn't want that to happen, they should not have implemented points advance. They will have a class action if they don't honor the original rates.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 9:02 am
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This question is also on Marriott Insiders since early this morning. No response yet.
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Old Feb 9, 2019, 9:10 am
  #15  
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Originally Posted by milehighflyer88
.............They will have a class action if they don't honor the original rates.
Give me a break. I am disappointed but this is pure hyperbole.
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