Right. Lurker has mentioned this at least TWICE, and the last post with the wording of "attach" including in the same sentence about to "maximize value" leads me to believe the best way (or gamble) is to attach the certificate before Aug 1 for a booking that would be as far in the future as possible at a property you would most likely would use to begin with, preferably is a property that does not go down in category - i.e. current Cat 5 would be the new Cat 4.

My feeling is, Lurker is not in a position to give out any more specific information but he puts the emphasis where he hopes people would have a clue. Apparently many still opt not to take the hint. So be it. He has tried.

On a somewhat related subject, when I called the Plat line today I notice the annoying robot lady no longer insisted to spill out the cheerful program change information to waste your time. Instead after just the short mentioning about you should visit the websites to find out more details, the robot then started asking what you need to do on this call - a much improvement despite it still took like 15 min before a human picked up the call.

I got a rep at a call center in Mexico City - now this is a new one. He knows the Travel Package though, even informed me I was only eligible for 7 nights cert, and that Aeroplan would take 7 to 10 business days to see the miles. So he is well-trained if Mexico City call center is new (at least for me - my last several calls were all US-based, including those made these past Sunday.)

Transfer Points to Airline now or later? Cons x Pros
 

Hello,
I would like to ask you for an opinion about transferring Marriott points to United Airline miles.
I have 112 000 points that would get me 50 000 UA miles if I convert now, so I am trying to figure out if there is any advantage to wait after 8/1/18 or do it now.
By my calculations, I would get 50 000 miles now, and only 37 333 miles if I wait till after 8/1/18, but perhaps I am missing something?
Generally, I keep accumulating the Marriott points and when I have enough to get the more favorable conversion ratio, I transfer them to UA miles (example: 56000points get me 25000UA miles).

Have been reading lots of info about the terms of the new loyalty programs and am still a bit unclear, so your wisdom is very appreciated:
With the new consolidated program starting August 1st, it seems that all Marriott points (even those earned prior 8/1/2018) will be using a conversion 3:1 (Marriott points : Airline miles).
1/ is there any indication that United airlines will again have a more favorable ratio than other airlines after 8/1/18?
2/ Can the Marriott points earned by 7/31/18 be still converted in the old conversion system even after 8/1/18 or do all points get pooled into 3:1 system?
Thank you for any input!

This logic is faulty. Even if Marriott applies the most generous treatment to TP certificates on August 1, there will still be scenarios where attaching the certificates now will be better for some certificate holders. I interpret Lurker's comment to mean that there will be no downside to attaching the certificates. You can still cancel post August 1 and get the same treatment as the floaters if you wish. I don't know what will happen on August 1 to the floaters, but the probability of getting 45K refund on August 1 for a cat 1-5 certificate is very low.

What are the chances that if you attach a certificate now then cancel/unattach it later (after August), you will receive full points or equivalent certificate in the new system, because they won't be able to redeposit/re-issue the legacy certificates ? It would also renew the expiration date of the new certificate.

Any downside to this ?

This was very helpful. I had been trying to decide whether to attach my certificate requiring both an upgrade and date extension now, or wait until the dust settles. The reason for waiting was that I thought it might give me the flexibility to book a higher level SPG property. But you make a good point that I can probably cancel post August 1 and get the same deal, if it turns out to be an attractive one.

So just a data point for anyone considering this, I just called and got connected to a great rep within 2 minutes, who not only did the whole upgrade and extension, but also offered some advice about one of the cities we are planning on visiting. All in under 15 minutes.

I think the SPG lurker is trying to tell everyone only redeem TPs if you have a real need of a 7 night cert, don't try to gamble to get something better after Aug. 1.

During the time of transition an official rep will not post anything outside clearly stated rules. Do not look for any kind of between the lines message.

I don't know why people don't get this (maybe cause the blogs don't put it correctly) but Marriott allows you to transfer to anyone. ANYONE. There also is no limit (there is a limit of 50,000, but if you are using it for a redemption and lacking then you can transfer for that purpose as well, to how much you lack).
So there is an obvious solution ...

Marriott rewards not answering
 

I’ve been trying to reach Marriott rewards for the past 75 minutes. The last 20 minutes it was ringing, and finally it went silent, then hung up on me. Any advice on getting through?

We don't actually know what will happen to an attached certificate if you cancel reservation post Aug 1 though.
These may or may not be treated the same way as floaters on Aug 1.

What a thrill. Some many possible outcomes to gamble on.

I believe if you cancel your reservation the certificate is attached to post Aug 1, your detached certificate will be treated as if it were never attached (i.e. same as a floater). Yes, there're a number of possible outcomes for the floaters post Aug 1.

Elite Night Count
 

I just want to confirm that when redeeming the 7 night stay, these 7 nights count as 7 nights of elite credit just like an award stay even though they're a travel certificate and not a point redemption, correct?