mdurette

Hello All: I booked a points stay for a trip to Disneyland in mid March at a resort "opening in January" The Element Anaheim Resort Convention Center.

I noticed the resort is now "opening in March" and they no longer are taking reservations for anytime. Concerned it wouldn't be open, since some online research has found it has had many opening dates that have passed already , I decided to just switch the reservation to another place, just in case. BUT...now that PointSavers has kicked in, the point cost is higher and I don't have the extra points at this time.

Do I have any options with Marriott, allowing me to change this reservation now for the original points costs into the same category?
Do I just hold tight and if so, if the resort doesn't open will Marriott automatically make good and put me up in another place?
Currently platinum - but may revert to gold for 2020.

Horace

I'm not sure I understand. By definition, PointSavers means fewer points per night than the usual chart. The PointsSavers component of the program has been around for many years, going back to when it was Marriott Rewards. Now, the PointsSavers chart also has the new Off Peak, Standard, and Peak columns, like the usual chart, but the points per night are lower: https://www.marriott.com/loyalty/red...oint-savers.mi

Do you have a points reservation for the dates you want, with points attached? If so, you have firm reservation and the number of points will not change. If you have a Points Advance reservation made after the recent rules change, then the points per night can shift between Off Peak, Standard, and Peak until you attach points.

If you "change" a reservation, you're canceling the old reservation and making a new reservation. The new reservation will not inherit the point cost or any other attributes of the old reservation.

If you keep your existing reservation and the hotel does not open on schedule, Marriott Bonvoy should take care of you — but you cannot assume it all be automatic. Stories over the years on this forum suggest that when a hotel fails to open, some hotels do a better job than others. The Ultimate Reservation Guarantee does not apply if the hotel is not open for business. In other words, you should be taken care of, but it might require effort on your part to have the reservation transferred to a comparable property.

craigthemif

If you cancel with the intention of using your points at a different Marriott hotel, you must pay whatever the going rate is for that hotel.

If you wait until the Element is definitively not going to open in time, Marriott should allow you to move to a different hotel for the same number of points. However this is not guaranteed and might involve a great deal of effort on your part to convince Marriott to do the right thing.

I would make a "Points Advance" booking at the most appropriate alternative hotel and check back frequently to see whether the award pricing has reduced.

Ultimately it comes down to whether you want to be in complete control - even if it costs a bit more - or whether you want to be completely at the mercy of a hotel chain that generally isn't very good at customer relations...

mdurette

Thanks for the quick reply:

Horace - yes, I made this reservation months ago with points I had available. Since this is a high demand spring break week for the area, it now cost more points for a cat 5 reservation now. (I get it, it is called PointSaver….but in some case it is more like PointCoster.

Craigthemif. Good idea with making the back up plan with a Points advance reservation and use that has a fall back just in case. By the time March rolls around I should have enough points to combine the cancellation of original (if it doesn't open) and the extra cost associated with the new reservation. This way I'm covered either way.

Horace

Are you actually finding PointSavers for the Disneyland Resort area for March?

PointSavers is a separate chart from the usual Points chart, with lower points per night. PointSavers is not the name of the "Off Peak / Standard / Peak" feature that now applies to the both charts.

mdurette

Ah....I understand. It appears I am using the wrong terminology. Your clarification is correct. The rate went up because of the additional points needed for Peak time period.