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Originally Posted by RedSun
(Post 31527293)
This may be true. Just maybe. When you remove the points and switch to FN, Marriott may consider this as a "change" or modification of the booking and void the original rate. I'm just not sure about it.
Of course post 9/14 who knows. |
Originally Posted by Kacee
(Post 31527070)
Yes, you will always have people who found low (absolute) points cost on their particular travel dates defending dynamic pricing, but net overall it is a massive program devaluation. The whole purpose is to align points price with market price and thus eliminate high value redemptions.
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Guess I never thought points advance was the same as credit card free night advance. So I expected it.
the 50K point hotel certainly haven’t been as savaged, at least potentially not, as low season one category higher will be eligible. No such luck on the 35k, those may be useless to me. |
Originally Posted by OssianBlue
(Post 31525608)
Mix of 50s (regular) and 60s (peak) at JW Marriott Vancouver in June. Doesn't seem to make a lot of sense; scattered through the week.
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Originally Posted by MD/DC Flyer
(Post 31527592)
You should be able to - assuming you have the points to cover the price. For those who have many points, it is not a problem, for the casual user (or those who depleted their points balance) it is.
It might be a strategy to keep enough points to support the certificates in the account at any given time - but it really should not be that hard. My current booking is at 35k points,which I did pay with my points but is now at 40k peak price for that date...so in essence she said you cannot attach the free CC night EVEN if you booked at the regular rate prior to the peak pricing implementation. I didn't have my free CC night yet so I couldn't attach it at the 35k rate until I have it in october |
I had a hotel solid booked at 35K with a certificate. Then it went down to 30K so I modified the room to use points instead of the certificate.
Now I wonder if it makes a difference at all |
Just so I can wrap my head around this for my specific case:
1. I have a PA booking for May next year for 3 nights, 35k/night. 2. My intention was to apply two credit card certs (for 35k/night) each when I receive them by February next year. 3. The price of the hotel has now gone to peak pricing and is 40k/night. Am I correct in saying we don't have a defined process from Marriott to work through this? The current process would be to provide a credit of the points difference, but this would not allow me to use any of the 35k certificates. |
Credit card certificates really need to be 40k similar to the 75 night elite award. Of course, this is totally intentional...
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Originally Posted by MrM2016
(Post 31527940)
Am I correct in saying we don't have a defined process from Marriott to work through this? The current process would be to provide a credit of the points difference, but this would not allow me to use any of the 35k certificates.
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A couple of my Cat 8 reservations dropped from 85K to 70K, so I've rebooked and saved 30K, but I expect that is a short-term gain that will be offset by far greater losses over time.
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Originally Posted by MrM2016
(Post 31527940)
Just so I can wrap my head around this for my specific case:
1. I have a PA booking for May next year for 3 nights, 35k/night. 2. My intention was to apply two credit card certs (for 35k/night) each when I receive them by February next year. 3. The price of the hotel has now gone to peak pricing and is 40k/night. Am I correct in saying we don't have a defined process from Marriott to work through this? The current process would be to provide a credit of the points difference, but this would not allow me to use any of the 35k certificates. I think you're screwed, at least if it's the same as when I tried this exact thing and the hotel went up in category before I got my FNCs. They couldn't do anything for me, whereas if you were using points I recall in some cases they would offer the difference? |
Originally Posted by rfrost
(Post 31528032)
A couple of my Cat 8 reservations dropped from 85K to 70K, so I've rebooked and saved 30K, but I expect that is a short-term gain that will be offset by far greater losses over time.
Your assumption that there are greater losses to come in time is as pessimistic (and as unsubstantiated) as the assumption that you wouldn't see any savings and would see increased costs in the first place. But you likely were wrong. Just as the prognostications of doom have been wrong about most of these things. (Remember the fear that Plat suite upgrades were going away because the Marriott language changed by a few words? The Plat suite upgrades are still here.) Monetization from the blogosphere requires there to be drama so you'll click, and far too many people fall victim to the concomitant fearmongering. Do yourself a favor...and don't be a victim. |
Originally Posted by nycflyer17
(Post 31528150)
I think you're screwed, at least if it's the same as when I tried this exact thing and the hotel went up in category before I got my FNCs. They couldn't do anything for me, whereas if you were using points I recall in some cases they would offer the difference?
The FNs are points based and the TPs are category based. Time to chop some of the credit cards. |
The sky is (possibly not) falling: what we know about new peak/off peak awards
From a fellow Ambassador elite in our verified Facebook Ambassador group:
https://debatetravel.wordpress.com/2...YMIwoLfCwoLngQ The sky is (possibly not) falling: what we know about Marriott’s new peak/off peak award pricing September 14th was a momentous day for Marriott Bonvoy loyalists and point collectors; the new peak and off peak award chart went live and we all lost our collective minds. I spent a **lot** of time arguing with friends on Facebook and making dummy bookings to assess the impact of the changes. Happily, though the advent of peak award pricing is a blow to those of us who must vacation during school holidays, Marriott’s variable award pricing does not appear to be as bad as I had feared. It will even present occasional opportunities for bargains, balancing out some of the new chart’s higher costs. When Marriott’s new demand based award pricing scheme was announced nearly two years ago, I was very concerned. My annual vacation always includes a week in London in July (peak season by pretty much any definition), so I assumed that there was **no way** that I would be able to avoid the 10K Bonvoy point surcharge that the new chart levies on category 6 and 7 redemptions during peak periods. As it turns out, I was wrong. Though peak pricing will be unavoidable in some cases, its initial rollout suggests that with a little bit of flexibility, we will still be able to redeem at standard (and even discounted off peak and saver) rates — and not just in places and at times that no one in their right mind would ever want to travel. To understand why this is the case, it helps to know what Marriott Bonvoy’s new award chart is, and what it is not. Bonvoy’s new award chart is NOT peak season pricing. Bonvoy is using an algorithm to determine the days of peak demand at each hotel. They are **not** designating a peak season for each location (e.g. December through March for Hawaii, or June through August for Paris). How do I know this? First, a quick award search using the flexible date function on the Marriott website demonstrates that not all hotels in the same location share the same peak, standard, and off peak dates. Second, that same search demonstrates that even during **peak season** there are some award nights available at standard, off peak, and even saver rates. By way of example, here is the availability I found yesterday for a five night stay next July at a popular London hotel, St. Ermins Hotel Autograph Collection. This screenshot demonstrates that Bonvoy have not designated the month of July as peak at St. Ermins.https://debatetravel.files.wordpress...4-pm.png?w=500 The standard rate for 5 nights at a category 6 hotel is 200K Bonvoy points. That’s 50K points per night for four nights and the fifth night thrown in free. Peak pricing adds an additional 10K points per night to the price of category 6 and 7 redemptions. For only eight of the 21 check in dates above is the entire stay at peak rates. Two of the check in date options are the standard price of 200K for the five nights. The other 11 check in dates get you a mix of standard and peak (and even saver!) rates for a total price that is higher than standard, but less than the full peak price. Peak pricing is based on actual demand at the hotel, NOT the general destination. As an example, compare the pricing above with that of the W London Leicester Square during the same time period. The W has no availability, or is at peak pricing (60K points per night for a category 7 + an additional 10K for peak) every night.https://debatetravel.files.wordpress...8-am.png?w=500 Meanwhile the St. Pancras Renaissance is at peak pricing for nearly every check in date, but has a single night of standard pricing available for three out of the 21 check in dates (bringing the total cost down from 240K to 230K points).https://debatetravel.files.wordpress...5-am.png?w=500 Does this mean that I’m happy with the new Bonvoy award scheme? Of course not. Because I am forced to travel during school holidays, the price of my award redemptions is likely to increase. This is a fact of life for all of us who teach. At the same time, it’s important to recognize that the new scheme is not the end of the world; it may even create opportunities if we can be a little flexible about where we stay and when we travel. Though my usual category 7 choices for London are all pricing at peak levels next July (280K points for five nights, rather than the standard 240K points), if I were booking now, I’d jump on the standard rates available at St. Ermins. The hotel has a loyal following and it’s in a great area. I would also consider pushing my stay into June or August, when more of my favorite hotels have some nights available at standard rates. Bonvoy’s new award pricing scheme is variable, **not** dynamic. Though the cost of redeeming Bonvoy points for stays is now variable based on demand, prices are not adjusted in real time. Marriott will use its algorithm monthly to update prices. This means that when you hold an award reservation and the price drops, you can re-book at the lower rate. In the rare case of award stays with terrible cancellation penalties, I would call in to make the change in order to be certain not to unwittingly trigger a costly penalty. This may not end up being necessary, but until we know for sure, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Monthly updating of prices also preserves a **little bit** of the advantage of PA (points advance) reservations. In the past, when there was little variability to Marriott Bonvoy award pricing, you could book an award stay on spec despite not having enough points to cover the cost of the award. You simply needed to have enough points in your aco.... to pay for the award a week or two (it varied over time) before your stay. You knew the price that you would be paying because award pricing was static. Now, with variable peak and off peak pricing, the only way to lock in the price of an award is to pay for it when you make it. As a result, there’s no rush to pay for a peak rate award, as it cannot get any more expensive. If, however, you book a standard or off peak rate, your stay could go up in price when Marriott does its monthly update. If this were truly dynamic pricing, the cost of your not-yet-paid-for award could go up immediately upon booking. The monthly update should give you a small window in which to earn and/or transfer the points you need to pay for the award and secure the favorable rate (assuming you’re not booking right before the regular monthly update). Once we see how this all play out, it will be important to keep track of when those award price updates take place, both to check for price drops and to protect against price increases. In this brave new world of variable Marriott Bonvoy award pricing, my best advice is:
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Originally Posted by RedSun
(Post 31528178)
It is not certain what happens with using FN to pay for the PA bookings. At least the hotel portion of the TP can be used regardless the peak vs off-peak changes.
The FNs are points based and the TPs are category based. Time to chop some of the credit cards. |
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