Redemption Availability
Jun 25, 2019 | 1:47 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: UK
Programs: BA GGL, HH Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 79
Redemption Availability
When do Marriott Bonvoy properties generally start to release rooms for redemption?
Looking at late May 2020 I am seeing next to nothing throughout Europe, is this normal?
Looking at late May 2020 I am seeing next to nothing throughout Europe, is this normal?
Jun 25, 2019 | 9:00 am
#2
Join Date: May 2002
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, United Silver, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 2,366
Normally, hotels loads reservation inventory cash inventory and Marriott Bonvoy points inventory into Marriott.com around 50 weeks in advance.
When I looked at London for 2020 this morning, I saw plenty of availability through the second week of June 2020.
From past experience, there are cases when individual hotels choose to wait longer before releasing inventory. But these are exceptions.
Jun 25, 2019 | 9:18 am
#3
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AA EXP; UA 1MM & PP; Marriott AMB; Hyatt Globalist; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 62,226
I have plenty of complaints about Bonvoy, but award availability is not one of them.
Jun 25, 2019 | 11:12 am
#4
Moderator: The British Airways Club, Marriott Bonvoy
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Englandshire
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FWIW though, over that last few hours the website and app seems to have been experiencing intermittent problems in displaying any availability at all : earlier today I had a couple of wide searches return nothing, paid or award.
Jun 25, 2019 | 1:39 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: UK
Programs: BA GGL, HH Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 79
Thanks for the feedback. I've been doing quite wide searches Greece/Italy, May 23-30 with little joy. Could it be that as a family of four there are less room types available, meaning less reward availability?
Pretty sure I was able to book Domes of Elounda nearly a year in advance last year?
The whole reservations systems seems to be down right now so I'll explore multi room options later.
Pretty sure I was able to book Domes of Elounda nearly a year in advance last year?
The whole reservations systems seems to be down right now so I'll explore multi room options later.
Jun 25, 2019 | 2:40 pm
#6
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Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
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Jun 25, 2019 | 2:45 pm
#7
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hold it down for The Bay, reppin' Oakland
Programs: Lowly UA gold, Marriott Ambassador/Tit4Lyf, IHG Diamond
Posts: 1,805
This might be related to today's website issues. While I can search rates for cash, the website is showing no availability for points on dates in the near future as well.
Jun 25, 2019 | 6:32 pm
#8
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We've always booked 2 rooms for our family of 4 in Europe. There are very few 3+ person rooms, and they tend to cost more than two, 2-person rooms.
Jun 25, 2019 | 7:00 pm
#9
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Somewhere in Florida
Posts: 2,889
I believe this is what you're probably encountering. Do give it a try when the IT staff / website decide to work. Unless a hotel's almost fully booked, availability's usually very good. Even when there is availability, make sure it makes sense. I've had plenty of times when booking via cash made more sense. BUT, with Marriott's system, I've also gotten some great redemptions as well where the points were a great deal compared to paying cash.
Jun 29, 2019 | 3:22 am
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: UK
Programs: BA GGL, HH Diamond, Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 79
Not sure if this helps but I did find a way around the issue. We are a family of four, two adults, two children (5 and 1). After phoning a few properties i found out that it is perfectly fine to book a room with a maximum capacity of three as the baby in a crib does not count. This opened up much more availability when searching for redemption stays. The price and availability between three and four occupancy rooms is huge across the Marriott portfolio.