OK...so it's bad....but not THAT bad...

LIH Prem --

Marriott released this self-serving press release, but they do compare the relatvie costs vis a vis Starwood and Hilton.

IMHO, the Hilton workup is wrong as it totally leaves out Hilton's generous promos (another 50,000 point one is running as we speak/write!), as well as the points one can much more easily earn via their credit cards, but the comparisons re Starwood may be accurate. I do not know.

I provide the URL for your perusal, as pasting it may make me run afoul of copyright laws!

http://www.hotel-online.com/Neo/News...988146334.html

Mahalo: The "stay anytime" (no capacity control) awards at 50% premium are more comparable to SPG award stays. As long as space is available you should be able to book a "stay anytime" award, and that's the same way that SPG awards work. You can combine no-cap and cap awards for the same stay with Marriott, so in the example I read, if there's no availability for 2 nights in the middle of a desired 7 day stay, you can combine a 2 day "stay anytime" award with a 5-day regular award, as long as the days are consecutive.

DOC 2 BE: The tables in the news release are interesting. Yes, I agree they don't account for bonus opportunities. But they don't account for bonus opportunities in either Marriott or SPG or HHonors. They also don't add in elite bonuses either, or relative power of affinity card bonuses. So I think the bottom line is that each individual has to do the comparison at each level, taking into account their status, bonus point opportunities and a target award.

-David

LIH Prem:

Absolutely in agreement. However, I think their observation re Starwood may be accurate. It has always appeared to me that Starwood may be better at accumulating FF miles for your stays, and that the Elite level would guarrantee you a better room. Of course, their Free Fridays is an exception, but one could still earn FF miles with that promo, as well as free rooms!

This is a slight deviation from the topic - Has anyone else done what Brenda did with the 714 hotel stay. Can one take the 7 days hotel portion of a 713 award and get two rooms, one for 3 nights and one for four? This would be great as there aren't too many places that I want to spend 7 days at.

As far as I have read on these boards, NO. You cannot break any of the certs up for different hotels. However, she may have been able to get, as I read it 2 rooms at the SAME hotel for 5 nights = 1 room for 10 nights. I did not know they would allow that, but I guess they did. But no, they will not allow you to use it at 2 different hotels, even if they are consecutive nights. They reason that that is why they have those vacation packages, a la the UK/London.

Doc is correct...you absolutely CANNOT break up the 7-day cert...and it has been discussed at length...lots of people want to do it....but no dice....however....you may be able to use as Brenda did and get 2 rooms for half the time....has to be at the same hotel though....there are many threads on this if you care to do a search but the cert that I have in my hand says that it's good for one consecutive stay only.

I requested breaking up a single cert for two rooms in the San Diego Marriott a year ago. The Marriott rep put me on hold, called the hotel manager, and received permission. I noted the manager's name in case of problems, but there were none. Again it seems the property managers have quite a bit of discretion.

Well, not necessarily "consecutive." I was told definitely by people at various levels of authority that you can use a 7-night certificate for ANY 7 nights of a longer stay. I had that problem in London last month. Only 7 of 8 nights were available (initially), and they were NOT consecutive. No problem!

Bruce

Correct again...I was just stating what is written on my cert There are exceptions.

I am just so upset with this company now and I really wonder if these decisions were reviewed by the Marriott Family, themselves. Bill Marriott had always made customer satisfaction his number one priority. He would never "take anything away" from his best customers because they always came first. Now with this disgraceful behavior from his marketing department, I truly wonder if he realizes the potential ramifications of these moves.
It is truly a shame Marriott does not have a live "lurker" on these boards...they would truly see the pressure move on the barometer...and it is coming from the people they need and depend on most.

I would not be surprised if Randy Petersen reviews these posts and submits them directly to Marriott corporate in Virginia...his power and stature would go a long way in lobbying for our positions.

If you've seen my web site on using Marriott Rewards you may remeber that I talked
about 4 trips we've taken to maximize the value of our Marriott Rewards.
www.geocities.com/tmarchessault/Timeshare/hgapoint.htm

The new system is VERY complicated and I haven't studied it in detail but I went back
and tried to figure out what the inflation has been for those trips.

1. 1996 -- San Franciso Hotel & Car -Airfare to Australia/New Zealand (713 Award)
OLD 200,000 NEW 320,000

2. 1999 -- Alaska Cruise (I forget the number)
OLD 275,000(I think) NEW 300,000

3. 2000 -- Airfare to Edinburgh/Belfast & Hertz car (713 Award turning back the hotel)
OLD 120,000 NEW 265,000 (with 30,000 miles left over)

4. 2001 --Hotel in London - Air to Malaga & Hertz Car (713 Award)
OLD 200,000 NEW 265,000

If you've seen my web site on using Marriott Rewards you may remeber that I talked
about 4 trips we've taken to maximize the value of our Marriott Rewards.
www.geocities.com/tmarchessault/Timeshare/hgapoint.htm

The new system is VERY complicated and I haven't studied it in detail but I went back
and tried to figure out what the inflation has been for those trips.

1. 1996 -- San Franciso Hotel & Car -Airfare to Australia/New Zealand (713 Award)
OLD 200,000 NEW 320,000

2. 1999 -- Alaska Cruise (I forget the number)
OLD 275,000(I think) NEW 300,000

3. 2000 -- Airfare to Edinburgh/Belfast & Hertz car (713 Award turning back the hotel)
OLD 120,000 NEW 265,000 (with 30,000 miles left over)

4. 2001 --Hotel in London - Air to Malaga & Hertz Car (713 Award)
OLD 200,000 NEW 265,000

Of course those of us who stay at Marriott are not pleased with this development. But we should have seen it coming. When Fairfield and Courtyard were added for earning Marriott points, a devaluation of the Marriott points in one form or another became inevitable. Too many additional points chasing about the same number of Marriott award rooms. Perhaps not so many choosing Courtyard or Fairfield rewards as they projected.
In any event, Marriott has thrown itself into the devaluation trend knowing full well the present economic and business travel environment. Perhaps that even plays a part in this move. Perhaps Marriott would prefer to have a lower ratio of free rooms to paid rooms, so is intentionally putting the brakes on use of rewards.

Marriott has a great program for the last 15 years, and I have had many outstanding awards: China, Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Germany, Poland, Hungary, Austria, England, US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, cruise, and more. . I really feel I have been in on the best of the program, and it is hard not to feel appreciation to Marriott for all this.. I will miss the 425k award in particular, and, of course, Marriott will miss the stays that would have gotten me to it. But they surely have figured very carefully how many of us they will lose, and have found that acceptable.

BobLinderman, you replied to my post:

To answer your question about "buying" points...The answer is "YES."
Marriott still maintains the ability to purchase points for $10 per 1,000 points up to 10% of your account balance. Therefore, just multiply your current balance by .20 to see the maximum amount of points you may purchase to increase your balance to the
amount you need for the award.

If you could clarify one thing - is it 10% of my BALANCE that I can purchase or 10% of the required award amount? And shouldn't I multiply by .10 instead of .20 ? (I could be missing something here.) Thanks.

Mark