I see 4 real options here and 2 make the most sense as I wrote on my blog: https://www.dansdeals.com/points-tra...ing-advantage/

Annoying that Marriott won't announce it before it's too late, but I guess they don't want to cause a massive demand for lucrative packages now.

or they may not be saying anything because nothing is changing.. old category certs will be valid for new cats.. those exceeding new cats will get points back

If you want to use FlyerTalk to boost your blog visits perhaps you should user an editor and at least verify your figures. Cut & Paste can be a time saver, but also a killer too. Your blog needs a little pizazz, pretty boring. When 45K +235K = 270K, I kind of lost interest in the hype!

Well at least you agree the residual value of a certificate is 45K, otherwise we would all be lining up cancelling our cetificates for the 150K points, adding 120K, redeeming another TP for another 120K FF Miles, wash, rinse, repeat.

James

Hello all
It will be interesting to see how this all pans out.

I currently have an unused Cat 1 - 5 certificate. I suspect I will be more likely to use a Cat 8 property but not sure which one. What are your thoughts on upgrading the certificate to be category 8 - is this less risky than keeping a Cat 1-5 cetifiicate? From what I've read, it may be safer to attach to a property but not sure which hotel i will end up using it at.

Thanks1

So the legacy Cat 6 (currently costing 30K per night) becomes a new Cat 6 worth 50K points per night, and the legacy Cat 7 (currently costing 35K per night) goes to a new Cat 7 worth 60K points per night?

Doesn't seem to make much sense to me, since most old Cat 7 hotels seem to be "downgraded" to Cat 5 hotels under the new system, and accordingly will still cost 35K per night. What would make sense is if Marriott simply converted to the old point value, as they're apparently going to do with the old Cat 1-5s credit card free night certificates (i.e., up to 25K per night, which makes it a free Cat 1 - 4 night under the new system).

This is an unwieldy thread with no wiki, so I apologize if this is widely known. I have tried several search term combos and have not been able to find this addressed, nonetheless answered.

Question: If I redeem a travel package, must the miles go to MY account? Could I instead have Marriott send them to anyone? (Or at least my spouse or son who share same address and same last name?

Background: I have accumulated more Marriott points than my spouse, but she has more miles (and status). We want to use the miles to top op my spouse's FF balance to book our award and capitalize on her airline status.

Thanks!

AFAIK the miles will be transferred to the account that you name. Marriott doesn't and cannot check the ownership of the account. Happy travels.

Not really. For example, new Cat 5 is 35K/night and that corresponds with old Cat 7, which is 330K. Excess between the old Cat 7 and old Cat 1-5 is 60K. Base new Cat 1-4 is 330K and adding in the old excess of 60K would be enough to bump up to a new Cat 5 cert at 390K.

Depends on how the category of the property is changing. For example, I have a Cat 8 that I bought so I could use it at the NYC Midtown East Residence Inn. That property is dropping from 40K-35K per night so I'm not attaching it to my reservation since I can't current devalue to a Cat 7 (35K/night) and attach it.

Wonder what current Tier5 TPs translate to?

How are we gonna redeem 7 night top tier hotels

I had recently purchased 3 TPs on different days with miles going to AS. The miles for the first TP and the third TP have been posted but the 2nd set of miles are still missing. Is this normal? I called and confirmed with MR that the miles were supposed to go to the same AS account. BTW, miles were posted after 5 days for the first and third TPs.

looks like the MR jokers are playing some game. tried to transfer 33k points from a friends account to mine - they exec told me they can only do even numbers - either 30k points or 40k points. When i pressed her to do 33k points, i was put on hold and then the call was cut. happened 3 times.

Also MR to SPG points transfer is broken

Is there a general strategy even though we aren't quite sure what will happen with Marriott TPs?

I'm debating whether to pool my spouses and my SPG/Marriott points to buy a Category 1-5 and 120K miles. We're short just 7K MR which I can top off via the SPG points buy promo which ends today.

Worst case scenario? - 120K in miles (likely Alaska - although I'm hearing award space is extremely rare now especially for 2 seats) and my Category 1-5 gets converted to equivalent points of 45K MR. So effectively I traded 225,000 MR for 120K miles
Middle case scenario? 120K in miles and my Category 1-5 is converted at a better rate? Say 15K per night? So I effectively traded 165,000 MR for 120K miles
Best case scenario? - 120K in miles and my Category 1-5 remains effective for say Category 1-4 properties in the new program. So I effectively traded 270,000 MR for 120K miles and the ability to book a 7 night stay at a property that would otherwise cost 150,000 MR (25,000 MR * 6 since 5th night is free)

Thoughts? Haven't been able to read all the pages of this thread. Your advise is appreciated!