Reservation issue
 

Hi all, on 10/20/20 I made a reservation using points at the Wailea Marriott resort. At the time of the reservation, the rate was 50k/night. After completing the reservation, I noticed the following statement: The points rate for your reservation may increase or decrease until you have deducted the points from your account to cover the reservation.

As I had enough points available, I immediately attempted to deduct the points, however each attempt resulted in an error message. I subsequently spoke with reservations by phone, and was told that the reservation was confirmed at that rate, and points assigned. I noticed no update on my reservation, so I again contacted reservations, and was again assured the rate/reservation was confirmed.

I have recently been in contact with the hotel regarding room accommodations. On 12/19/20, I emailed to again confirm my rate, and received the following reply:Aloha! I’m delighted to assist. Your reservation and rates are confirmed and locked in. On the property level, we would expect to see what we call an “e-certificate”, which would be the application of points, in the 2-3 weeks preceding your arrival. I hope that this information is helpful, I would think it very irregular to see them assigned this far out.

Yesterday I noticed on my reservation that the rate for night was now 60k/night. I immediately emailed the resort, and received this reply:

Our resort was upgraded by Corporate to a higher tier level. This means that the base for our points reservations was determined to be 60k.
This was not a property decision, rather one based on our status as the second highest point redemption hotel in the world.
While we cannot change the number of points needed for a stay, we can ensure your visit is unforgettable.

Should they not honor my original rate at time of reservation? Any issue in properly deducting the points to lock the rate in was on Marriott's end. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thank you!

A lurker here should be able to help. This is extremely odd and unusual. The certificate should have issued right away at which point the rate is locked in.

Did they deduct the points? If the points aren't deducted the e-certificate isn't issued and the rate is not locked. If they did deduct the points but e-cert never got issued you should be fine.They do have issue where one screen sometimes shows incorrect info, but in that case points have already been deducted.

Assuming you kept the e-mails where you tried (apparently unsuccessfully) to get the points pulled and a certificate issued at the lower points level, I agree that a lurker (or other Marriott customer service venue) should ensure you get it at that level.

I thought that Bonvoy won't let members make point advance reservation if they have enough point to cover for the reservation?

that was my thought as well..... it doesn’t make sense. I seem to recall every time I have made a reservation and had enough points, they were automatically deducted. If it is possible to book just on an advance and keep my points in the account, I would be interested in knowing how to do it!

there has been a known problem for new properties that haven’t opened but accepting award reservations. The system won’t issue a certificate for whatever reason for unopened properties without customer service involvement. But not sure if Wailea Marriott falls under that category.

You first make a dummy reservation to use up your points, make the points advance reservation, then cancel the dummy reservation to refund your points. But it's not usually in your best interest to do this unless you have some other intended purpose for the points.

You may PM us your account information and we will be pleased to check the reservation for you.

Please let us know if you need further assistance.

Best Regards,

Abbey L
Specialist, Social Media
Marriott International
[email protected]

Hi, I am happy to report that the resort has resolved the issue favorably.