You can book down, but get no points back. If you buy a cat 7 you can upgrade later for the point difference.

Link requested:

http://www.usairways.com/en-US/divid...romotions.html

Yes, but they will also let you purchase up. So if you bought a 7 and need an 8, you can pay the difference later.

Sounds like you have until July 31 to purchase this. Am I reading this right? This sounds like a fantastic deal.

Does anyone familiar with US Airways FF program know how challenging it might be to book 2 tix for late June/Early July 2011 from BWI-BKK in business class?

Just ballpark ideas. We would book 330 days out.

It doesn't look like you can fly to asia at all on US air. You may be able to book a partner airline depending on the award charts.

You don't WANT to fly to Asia on US Airways anyway! There are tons of Partners including ANA, Asiana, Thai, Singapore, and of course Continental and United.

Plus, as Lucky points out, you can route to Asia via Europe, opening even more options

Do these travel packages need to be used at one hotel or can they be spread across several dates/destinations?

They can only be used at one hotel for a consecutive nights stay (5 or 7 nights depending on the package)

They must be used at one hotel during a single contiguous stay, but the award nights themselves do NOT need to be contiguous.

So if you want to stay for Jan 1-8 and Jan 3 and 4 are not available, but Jan 8 and 9 are, then you could extend your stay and book a 9 night stay instead for Jan 1-10 and pay for Jan 3 and 4 and use your 7 award nights for the nights of Jan 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9. You need to call Marriott reservations to make a reservaiton of this type that includes both paid and award nights.

Over the past couple of years, I've redeemed three of these and have learned to just hang on until a 50%+ bonus offer comes along. In the future, if possible, just be patient and another should be announced. So far, I've done both Delta and USAir... not sure if other airlines have participated in the past.

Don't forget that if you have a Chase Marriott Visa and you are doing a Category 7 or 8 package, you also get 15,000 points back via the newly-announced perk: http://www.marriott.com/rewards/earn...ard-rewards.mi

(Travel Packages include 7 nights, so if you choose Category 7 or 8, then this should apply.)

From the T&C's, "Bonus is only awarded for Standard Marriott Rewards redemption stays at category 7 or 8 properties."

The word "Standard" makes me wonder about whether TPs are eligible. Anyone intending to do this should confirm first (and please post here if you know the answer!)

bd

TPs should be eligible. I suspect the word "standard" means not a "pointsaver" or Marriott partner (RC) awards. The hotel portion of a TP award is really just a normal hotel room award (i.e. standard).

+1 though I too would appreciate it if someone would confirm. I'm about to book another one of these within a week or so, so I will be able to confirm then, but it would be nice to know ahead of time.

call Marriott/Vias desk, was told TP is not qualified.:(

Thanks for the note. That's bad news, though I wouldn't give up hope yet, as the terms aren't clear about this and they should really clarify somewhere. Maybe I'll post in the Marriott forums to see if I can get a response there, as the reps you speak with aren't always fully informed. Did the rep you spoke with "check with someone", or just answer off the cuff, maybe guessing? I don't see why it wouldn't qualify, given that the Travel Packages are essentially standard seven night awards with 120K MR-for-120K FF tacked on.