1. Can the travel package hotel certificate (ordered in 2008, not used) be refunded and converted back into hotel points?

2. Can the travel package hotel certificate (ordered in 2008, not used) for Category 7 be upgraded to a Category 8 certificate? If yes, is the cost 30,000 (difference between new Cat7 and new Cat8 packages) or is the cost 90,000 (diference between old Cat7 and new Cat8)?

Look through the good, bad, ugly thread. Somewhere MC lists the reduced point levels you can get back from a TP when you don't use the hotel part of it. I think you can also find it in the FAQ of the t.p. on Marriott.com

No category upgrades at old point levels unless Marriott decides to make an exception for you. And there was no cat. 8 last year anyway.

Travel Package Cancelation Question
 

I have had to cancel the Hotel part of a travel package. I did this on line.



How long untill the points are back in my Marriot Account ??

( I did search but could not find an awnser.)

Any help appreciated.

If you ordered TP award, then the hotel award e-cert will go back into your account, not the points. If you want to exchange the hotel portion back to Marriott for points, you have to call MR and ask them to do that.

The amount of points you will get back is dependent on a few variables (category of hotel and # of airline miles redeemed). Basically, the more airline miles you ordered for your TP award, the less points you will get back for the hotel portion. In fact, I think if you ordered a Cat.1-5 hotel e-cert and 120K airline miles, you will only get back something along 10K Marriott points. Give MR a call and they can tell you the exact number of points you will get back.

The moral of the story though is that you will not get back anywhere close to the number of points that it would have cost you to order the hotel award by itself. (This is due to most of the cost to Marriott in the TP award coming from the airline miles transfer.) So you are probably much better off keeping the hotel e-cert in your account and looking at future vacations/stays that you might be able to use it at.

Here is a thread where this is discussed more thoroughly: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...l-package.html

Ok Thanks

Book with package on UAL or Separately?
 

I need to go to the DC area Oct 30th-Nov 1st, and wanted to know if its better to book a vacation pkg via UAL.com which includes the Marriott property I need to stay at....or is it better just to book the flight and hotel separately, as with the vacation pkg, doesn't look like i get a free breakfast.....and I saw a code for free breakfast on the thread above in the public codes.

What do you think?

Check it out!
 

I would at least price it on your own. Often I find no deal in the vacation packages offered by many of the airlines. See if you can beat the price by doing the seperate parts and adding them up. I beleive you will lose the points for the Marriott stay also when booked thru a third party, as well as your other benefits. Call the hotel direct and ask for help with their best rate.
These packages are a better deal when everything is full, they sometimes have blocked space at a lower rate, but you have lots of advance time.

My experience with 3rd party packages has been that the stays do not earn points, but my elite benefits (e.g. lounge access) were honored as usual.

priced out
 

when pricing it on ual.com/vacations, a stay at the Fairview Park Marriott , RT airfare PDX-IAD, economy car = $1220.xx

Priced airfare separately comes out to $621.xx alone for one of us and I havent even priced out the hotel and car yet.......so far the package takes the cake.

However, I dont know if the package deal includes a breakfast

I have 0 pts anyways with Marriott....but I have 50K miles accrued with UAL...so I think i should be getting extra bonus miles for using their respective partners...no?

Marriott does not award any elite or award credit, points or miles, for stays booked thru third parties (either as a travel package or just the room alone).

If you want to drive a bit, I would consider checking flights to RIC. It will add to your travel time, but you will probably save about $200/ticket. One route shows a R/T of $325.40 (PDX-ORD-RIC-IAD-PDX) with an arrival time of 11:54 pm on the 30th and a departure time of 3 pm on the 1st. An earlier outbound flight costs $400.40 and gets you into RIC at 5:55 pm.

You could get a car rental for at most $100 and 2 nights at the Fairview Park Marriott for about $69/night with a AAA rate. Breakfast costs $13.95+ 5 % tax + tip for each person. The AAA rate + breakfast for two is less than the rate including breakfast ($109/night).

Marriott points do not expire, and you can transfer them to other members in 1,000 point increments for free (you need to get permission from Marriott).

Travel Package Redemption Question Re Flight
 

I want to redeem one of the travel packages for 120k miles, but am not decided on which hotel I would like to stay in yet. I'm thinking I will want a cat 6 / 7 / or 8 level hotel. Probably not 8 though unless I can talk the hubby into Rome.

So, here's my question. Right now I have 290k points, but I'm looking to travel next May (2010). I know Marriott won't put my ff points into that bank until I have enough complete points. Am I better off booking ANY hotel category 5 or lower for the moment until I get enough points to get the hotel I want and then change? Will I then only have to pay the point difference or will I get refunded a partial amount and loose hotel points?

The reason I want to do this is that US Air (* alliance member) is having a special. If you transfer X points, you get an extra 50% of points for free. But, that offer is only good until the end of the month........It seems way too good to pass up.

Thank you for your help and time.

I am not sure you need to pick the hotel as it says:

Reward Delivery Information
Hotel certificate will be issued electronically and will be available at the hotel upon check-in.

So that might mean you can deposit the e-cert into your account and make the reservation when you want. However, I bet that if you ordered a 6 cat and only used a 5, they would not refund the difference in points.

But this is an instance where you need to call the elite line and ask.

I think the OP is saying he has the points right now for a Cat 5, but might later actually want to stay at a Cat 6 or 7. Could he then just pony up the extra 30k or whatever and book the Cat 6 hotel? The 120k US would have been converted long in the past (e.g., now) and the Cat 5 e-cert would be sitting in his account.

I honestly don't know. I've redeemed Cat 6 Travel Packages without a clue what hotel I was going to visit. In the end, I actually picked a Cat 6. This was when 7 was the top, and I knew we weren't going to NYC or London, so I figured 6 was safe. I think if I booked a TP blind now, I'd book 7 if I had the points.

I'm pretty sure you don't get a refund if you book a category down, but I don't know if Marriott makes it easy for you to add a few points and book a category up.

Before the packages changed, it used to be that you could buy a cat 1-5 package, then "buy up" to a cat 6 or 7 if I needed it.

As far as I know, this is still possible. However, you can't buy up if you have an "old" travel package - just the new ones.

Billy