Jul 30, 2016, 4:21 pm
Last edit by: Slickw
LINK TO CHART
Legacy to New Travel Package Conversion (effective August 2019)
A Marriott supervisor can currently convert your legacy travel package into the new category mapping. If you hold a Category 6, 8, or Tier 1-3 legacy certificate, it's ideal to downgrade your certificate before converting so that points don't potentially get lost in the process.
The codes for the new partial packages are:
New Cat 1-4: QP83
New Cat 5: QP91
New Cat 6: QP99
New Cat 7:
The legacy certificates map to the new certificates as such:
Cat 1-5 => Cat 1-4
Cat 6 => Cat 1-4
Cat 7 => Cat 5
Cat 8 => Cat 5
Cat 9 => Cat 6
Tier 1-3 => Cat 6
Tier 4-5 => Cat 7
==================================================
If you are unsure where you will use your 7 night stay, when you request the package, just ask for a category 1-5 hotel. That way you are out of the least number of points. If later, you decide to book for a higher level category, then you can do so and pay the difference the travel package points. If you can't use your certificate within the year, then as close to the one year anniversary (without going over!) call to extend the certificate for one more year. That's as long as they will typically allow, one extension. There is an option to expedite the mileage delivery to within three business days (sometimes faster) for $15. There are reports that this fee may be waived for platinum members.
Effective April 1 2017 re: Southwest & the companion pass:
"Purchased points, points converted from hotel and car loyalty programs, and e-Rewards, e-Miles, Valued Opinions and Diners Club, points earned from Rapid Rewards program enrollment, tier bonuses, flight bonuses, and partner bonuses (excluding points bonuses earned on the Rapid Rewards Credit Cards from Chase) do not count toward Companion Pass."
************
Can I book SPG properties with my Marriott Travel Package? As of 9/1/2018 apparently not. see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30155836-post6529.html
Legacy to New Travel Package Conversion (effective August 2019)
A Marriott supervisor can currently convert your legacy travel package into the new category mapping. If you hold a Category 6, 8, or Tier 1-3 legacy certificate, it's ideal to downgrade your certificate before converting so that points don't potentially get lost in the process.
The codes for the new partial packages are:
New Cat 1-4: QP83
New Cat 5: QP91
New Cat 6: QP99
New Cat 7:
Originally Posted by Marriott Rewards Insider
Members who purchased a Category 6, Category 8 or Tier 1-3 certificate prior to 8/18 are able to request a one-time exchange for a Travel Package one category lower. This process will cancel your current Travel Package, reissue a Travel Package one category lower and result in a refund of 30,000 points to your account. To submit a request, follow these steps:
Source: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...es-update.html
- Select “Packages - Deals” from the “Topic” drop down menu
- Submit your request
Source: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...es-update.html
The legacy certificates map to the new certificates as such:
Cat 1-5 => Cat 1-4
Cat 6 => Cat 1-4
Cat 7 => Cat 5
Cat 8 => Cat 5
Cat 9 => Cat 6
Tier 1-3 => Cat 6
Tier 4-5 => Cat 7
==================================================
If you are unsure where you will use your 7 night stay, when you request the package, just ask for a category 1-5 hotel. That way you are out of the least number of points. If later, you decide to book for a higher level category, then you can do so and pay the difference the travel package points. If you can't use your certificate within the year, then as close to the one year anniversary (without going over!) call to extend the certificate for one more year. That's as long as they will typically allow, one extension. There is an option to expedite the mileage delivery to within three business days (sometimes faster) for $15. There are reports that this fee may be waived for platinum members.
Effective April 1 2017 re: Southwest & the companion pass:
"Purchased points, points converted from hotel and car loyalty programs, and e-Rewards, e-Miles, Valued Opinions and Diners Club, points earned from Rapid Rewards program enrollment, tier bonuses, flight bonuses, and partner bonuses (excluding points bonuses earned on the Rapid Rewards Credit Cards from Chase) do not count toward Companion Pass."
************
Can I book SPG properties with my Marriott Travel Package? As of 9/1/2018 apparently not. see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30155836-post6529.html
Marriott Travel Packages
Jun 13, 2018, 8:56 pm
#3316
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: YVR
Posts: 1,083
We DO redeem pts directly for hotel stays. Plenty of them. Hotel points to us are primarily for hotel stays. I believe we redeemed roughly 700K Marriott pts, except 1 Cat 5 TP which was NOT to AS, the rest was all for hotel stays in 4 Continents. TP is a niche redemption when one needs long stays the TP makes more sense then just redeeming for the nights, especially with the SPG ratio. Even the SPG pts we always used for hotel stays. We have never redeemed them for miles which we have more than we can use them but we always are short in hotel points.
Really, what one redeems should always based on one's own travel needs. For us who have month long trips several times a year, the need for hotel nights is far greater than the need for having miles sitting idly in various FFP accounts.
Really, what one redeems should always based on one's own travel needs. For us who have month long trips several times a year, the need for hotel nights is far greater than the need for having miles sitting idly in various FFP accounts.
Jun 14, 2018, 5:28 am
#3317
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: PIT-SCE-AOO-PHL-NYC-WAS
Programs: free agent
Posts: 1,036
Thank y'all for sharing advices on how to contact MR. I did press 0 like crazy, and finally linked to an agent who claims that she handle matters for Platinum members.
About 15 minutes on hold, she finally bump my Cat 1-5 certificate to Cat 8 for my potential stay at one of those Cat 8 Phuket properties. I'll wait till mid-July after learning details on status of floating TPs after 8/1 (ideally, hoping I am able to book at lower category / or SPG property after 8/1 but not holding my breath).
About 15 minutes on hold, she finally bump my Cat 1-5 certificate to Cat 8 for my potential stay at one of those Cat 8 Phuket properties. I'll wait till mid-July after learning details on status of floating TPs after 8/1 (ideally, hoping I am able to book at lower category / or SPG property after 8/1 but not holding my breath).
Jun 14, 2018, 4:09 pm
#3318
Join Date: Jan 2017
Posts: 790
Ordered a United 132K miles + Cat 1-5 cert for 270K points. Got the "cert" immediately and received the 132K miles in my United account within 24 hours.
Jun 15, 2018, 1:56 pm
#3319
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: LAX
Posts: 10,910
Thank y'all for sharing advices on how to contact MR. I did press 0 like crazy, and finally linked to an agent who claims that she handle matters for Platinum members.
About 15 minutes on hold, she finally bump my Cat 1-5 certificate to Cat 8 for my potential stay at one of those Cat 8 Phuket properties. I'll wait till mid-July after learning details on status of floating TPs after 8/1 (ideally, hoping I am able to book at lower category / or SPG property after 8/1 but not holding my breath).
About 15 minutes on hold, she finally bump my Cat 1-5 certificate to Cat 8 for my potential stay at one of those Cat 8 Phuket properties. I'll wait till mid-July after learning details on status of floating TPs after 8/1 (ideally, hoping I am able to book at lower category / or SPG property after 8/1 but not holding my breath).
Jun 15, 2018, 6:11 pm
#3320
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: body: A stone's throw from SFO, mind: SE Asia
Programs: Some of this 'n some of that
Posts: 17,263
Jun 15, 2018, 6:25 pm
#3321
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Florida
Posts: 29,763
This write up by a blogger may give you some insight why Cat 8 is preferred.
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.c...age-arbitrage/
Jun 15, 2018, 6:53 pm
#3322
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: SJC/SFO
Posts: 295
He did not want to take the risk of involuntarily conversion.
This write up by a blogger may give you some insight why Cat 8 is preferred.
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.c...age-arbitrage/
This write up by a blogger may give you some insight why Cat 8 is preferred.
https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.c...age-arbitrage/
Jun 16, 2018, 5:38 am
#3323
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 546
This is actually not as complicated. If you know your travel plan, book the hotel now using the certificate. If the new category announced later this month increases the number of points, you've already locked in the lower price. If the new category lowers the number of points required, cancel the reservation and your certificate will then be converted to points based on the old category on August 1 (and should be more than enough points to make a new reservation).
Jun 16, 2018, 7:26 am
#3324
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 736
This is actually not as complicated. If you know your travel plan, book the hotel now using the certificate. If the new category announced later this month increases the number of points, you've already locked in the lower price. If the new category lowers the number of points required, cancel the reservation and your certificate will then be converted to points based on the old category on August 1 (and should be more than enough points to make a new reservation).
Jun 16, 2018, 8:59 am
#3325
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 546
You seem to be making assumptions that the above is how the process would work ( for example, that you'll be able to downgrade or upgrade certificates). You're also assuming that people are holding certificates in the category of hotel they want to use and that they want to book a current Marriott property.
Jun 16, 2018, 11:16 am
#3326
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: PIT-SCE-AOO-PHL-NYC-WAS
Programs: free agent
Posts: 1,036
I'll wait till July to make my decision. If Marriott decide to convert unused TP certificates toward points, I would prefer to use up certificate unless they plan to give generous amount of points on those unused certificates.
Jun 16, 2018, 11:48 am
#3327
Join Date: Aug 2014
Posts: 736
You ARE able to upgrade/downgrade your certificate prior to Aug 1 to book any hotel, if your travel plan is already set. After Aug 1, your certificate will be converted to points so it really doesn't matter what category of certificate you hold. I believe cat 1-5 certificate will be converted to 150K points so it can be used to book 7-nights at a 25K/night hotel post Aug 1. There might be restrictions on these converted points (e.g. they may have expiration date or be usable only for 7-night or longer reservation, etc.)
Jun 16, 2018, 2:25 pm
#3328
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 546
Yes, obviously you can upgrade before Aug 1. The after Aug 1 is very unclear and SPG Lurker has been unable to provide any additional guidance beyond his first confirmation regarding floating certificates. You were making the case that the decision is easy yet post-Aug 1 seems anything but certain at this point. What happens if certificates are converted to point-equivalent certs (as originally expected but potentially disputed by SPG Lurker's vague comments) and these carts are not allowed to be upgraded/downgraded? Then you're stuck with what you got. Those of us without specific plans for our certificates are all sitting in this limbo.
1. Starwood Lurker on the SPG forum has indicated that'd be the case, presumably he's verified this with the new management.
2. It's nearly impossible to convert a certificate to another certificate in the new category. For example, there's no equivalent new category to the current cat 6 (30K/night), cat 8 (40K/night) or cat 9 (45K/night). Of course, the old certificate could be mapped to a higher category (in terms of the number of points required), but that's highly unlikely (you come out a winner anyway if they did).
Jun 16, 2018, 11:02 pm
#3329
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: LAX
Posts: 10,910
Seems like we need to decide on a couple steps here
1. Convert points into cat 5 cert - that is prob worth doing soon just in case marriott decides to temporarily suspend certs until new cats are announced
2. Upgrade certs to fit actual stay plans - that i think we can wait until details are announced - if one doesnt need 7 nt stay possible point conversion is a big plus
1. Convert points into cat 5 cert - that is prob worth doing soon just in case marriott decides to temporarily suspend certs until new cats are announced
2. Upgrade certs to fit actual stay plans - that i think we can wait until details are announced - if one doesnt need 7 nt stay possible point conversion is a big plus
Jun 17, 2018, 10:52 am
#3330
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: SNA/LAX
Programs: Hertz PC, Hilton DMD, IHG Spire Amb, Bonvoy Titanium Elite & WoH Globalist
Posts: 8,076
Currently, some Marriott agents will refund 45K Marriott points (15K Starpoints) if you return the 7 night stay certificate. That’s not a good value for the 7 night hotel certificate, but if you won’t use the hotel stay then it’s better than nothing. If you do that it will be like transferring 75K Starpoints into 132K United miles.