Have been seeing a lot discussion on Marriot Time Share board about changes to rewards program but not much talk here. Has anyone heard about any changes?
Info I have seen includes 6-7 tiers of hotels and awards, 713 award going to 250K points and other bad things.
Does anyone know where to get a good answer?
With 300K points I am wondering if I should cash them in now or wait once I see the changes

I would be real interested too. Planning to book a 200K award very soon.

Where is the Marriott Time Share Board?

-David

There's a Marriott board at the Timeshare Users Group (TUG) at http://www.tug2.net/

The Marriott Rewards program plays a big part in the Marriott Vacation Club International (MVCI) timeshare operation. Marriott Rewards certificates and points are used as incentives to get people to buy, and most MVCI owners have the option of trading their usage weeks for Marriott Rewards points every other year. So there's a fair amount of discussion about the Marriott Rewards program on the TUG boards.

There have been rumors posted about increased point requirements for "713" rewards. So far, there doesn't seem to be anything official from Marriott, but one TUG poster called Marriott headquarters and claims that someone there confirmed that changes are coming.


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Curator of Yesterland, featuring discontinued Disneyland attractions

Attention: Marriott Rewards (Whoever Will be Changing The System):

As a PLT member for the last 2 years (who EARNED it the hard way, may I respectfully suggest that Marriott be planning more perks for PLT elite members (i.e. no capacity controls re: award use, dedicated phone res., electronic award redemption).
As a group (and I speak to several every week), we really feel taken for granted lately.

The only thing they will accomplish by raising point levels for awards is to literally drive my 80 nights per year over to Starwood.

TUG is an interesting site. Thanks for the locator.

Thanks Curator.

Here's the pointer to the relevant thread on TUG: http://www.tug1.net/tugbbs1/Forum1/HTML/000403.html

Gotta agree with you freeupgrade. Further dilution of the Marriott Rewards program will probably drive me away. Will likely just start staying the the best priced or best location properties since amenities seem to be dwindling with all the hotel programs. I think bringing on the Courtyards, Fairfields, vacation club tie-ins, etc. into the program was the beginning of the end for what once was the best of the hotel programs. The whole Marriott Rewards program, unfortunately, has just gotten too big and too complicated.

Perhaps that is the reason why they have been so generous with their bonus programs lately. Marriott must figure that they will prepare their best customers for this change by slightly fattening up their accounts. This way, the change will be easier to take. For me personally, I received 20,000 points plus the 5,000 from the summer weekend promo =25,000 bonus points. Last year, we all received bonuses without any changes in the point requirements.

My advice to them would be that they should suspend giving the bonuses if they are going to add to the requirements. This is like handing out money to your best customers before you raise your prices. Not a very good or intelligent business practice because the masses who support your company will become the most adversely affected people.

713 is not a simple award to achieve. For the Silver level people, it will take them quite some time to attain that level. To simply raise the bar after some people have spend more than a year to hit the goal is absolutely cold hearted.

I agree with the Platinums out there that they should receive more compensation for their loyalty, but believe it or not, the bills are really paid by the peons. I am sure there are more Silvers than Golds and Platinums combined. Furthermore, there are even more people who are not even members of the Marriott Rewards program who stay at Marriotts (the industry average states that over 60 percent of frequent flyers or lodgers are not members of any awards program).

If Marriott or any other company is striving to achieve loyalty in their customers, the worst thing they can do in an adverse economy is to say "no" to their customers by taking things away from them.

Remember one thing...if there is going to be a recession (and the economy is heading that way), Marriott and the other travel companies will need us all more than ever to achieve profitability. Furthermore, Marriott and the other companies will be out attracting as many new "loyal" customers for their programs as they can find. The last recession saw huge hotel vacancies and empty seats on planes. Huge losses were incurred by these companies.

The customer foundation of the frequent traveller programs is the loyal customer in the program. NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE MESSING WITH THE FOUNDATION! They will be needing us to build profitability if and when the economy warrants it.

This is just my opinion. I plan to stay at Marriott and fly American for at least 25-30 percent of the days this year and next. I sincerely, hope and pray that my loyalty is appropriately rewarded by the two largest frequent traveller programs in their respective industries.

Remember, we are not stupid...we can see when something is taken away from us. As your best customers, we will also recognize which values become the best deal...and we will go with it. 713 and 714 were the best of your program...please reconsider your options before you tinker with the very reason why many people joined your program in the first place.

What information have you seen about 713 goint to 250K? I am planning to issue that award in April but will do so sooner (by transferring AMEX points) if they are going to 250K!

bagold...Link to this discussion. Pretty scary stuff if you ask me.
http://www.tug1.net/tugbbs1/Forum1/HTML/000403.html

I can see why they may think it's time for a devaluation. Their competition has been doing the same thing for the past couple of years. Starwood's award schedule is so expensive it's laughable, and Hyatt reworked the mechanics to force up the point prices by almost 100% (for example, 7 night stays = 7 * 1 night stay award on top of point increases), just after they completed a 25,000 point bonus offer. Hilton is scaling back their "Point Savers", which offer 40% discounts on the awards, after they offered some amazing awards (like the program with United).

Spend those points now, or they will just be inflated away.

Marriott is probably seeing the effects of a number of people that are now in the big award range from their Visa promotion last year, and want to cash them in this summer. In a 10 week period, I earned 200,000 points plus $2,700 cash back (through 30% off Marriott certs on VolumeBuy at the time). Haven't been able to use them.

I passed on the Marriott bonus that ended last month because it wasn't generous enough (Hyatt offering 5 nights at any worldwide resort, Hilton giving away 54,000 bonus points for 4 nights, etc). I'm still trying to figure out if I want to go for 75 nights this year - that's a big commitment when top level really doesn't give you anything but more points, and no way to spend them on last-minute trips.

My last several trips have consisted of trying to use points at the local Renaissance, Marriott, Courtyard and Res. Inn, before giving up and using Hyatt points instead.

Give me electronic awards and a better shot at redemption, and you own me for 180 nights a year at Renaissances and Marriotts. Until then, those points are sitting dead in my account.

I agree with Tino that the Marriott bonuses are not as generous as the other programs. Currently, Marriott is offering 5000 pts for 2 weekend stays v/s 500 Starwood pts per night (albeit as 140 select hotels). Since I can stay at a Westin and get the 500 pts per night I have switched from Marriott.

I just received an email from Marriott Rewards to vote for the Freddies. How can I with a clear conscience even consider voting after hearing all of this news about Marriott diminishing their awards program with increased point requirements?

Personally, I feel like Marriott owes an explanation to each and every member of the Marriott Rewards program to either confirm or dispel the rumors.

Generally, I vote each year in the Freddies. This year, I will leave the hotel program portion blank and will not participate in the voting until I hear an honest and direct answer from Marriott Rewards regarding 713 and 714...and the future of Marriott Rewards.

If the Freddies mean so much to Marriott Rewards, perhaps they should place their best customers before the accolades. Marriott's best reward should be to make their customers happy. This will generate higher profits for a longer period of time. They will do this by not taking away from their program for the masses who have gone out of their way to stay in their brands and paid the extra dollars to eat in their hotel restaurants and make purchases in their hotel gift shops.

Marriott is a great company with a great product, however, it is not a bargain. And there are a lot of people who have been saving their points who have paid those inflated prices, who are going to be outraged that they need to save even more to earn Marriott's ultimate rewards.

There will be a point in time when the juice ain't gonna be worth the squeeze.

OMNI: Curator of Yesterland, out of curiosity I checked out your website and was awash in nostalgia! When I was a kid, we made yearly treks to Disneyland and the photos and descriptions brought back some wonderful times spent there. Great job!