Here's a comprehensive guide on all of the possibilities for these certs on my blog, what options am I missing :)
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-tra...hensive-guide/

Well, she's not supposed to. Will she? Likely.

Quick data-point from a call with an Australian Marriott CS/reservations rep just now (no wait time, well worth the 1 cent per minute).

I previously purchased a category 8 certificate and downgraded it to category 1-5 - I am waiting for points to come in from a household member's SPG account in order to buy a new Category 6 package. For now, I wanted to upgrade my 1-5 to category 9 in the case that I couldn't change things after the 31st.

Other background info: I would like to make a 7 night redemption in the near future at a [post-merger] category 5-7 hotel in Japan. However, I would much prefer the scenario where the old travel packages are converted to pure unrestricted MR points for us to dole out to FF programs and/or individual hotel night redemption.

As to...
a. whether we could change categories for existing packages after August 1st using the current travel package pricing. Answer: Yes. We can change categories until the 18th.
b. whether I could change categories on my existing package again after a 2nd change - No, she strongly advised me not to upgrade to category 9 right now because

i. as I had already modified the package once, I can only make one more modification.
ii. "After the merger, there is no category 9, so you will only be able to book category 8s and below with this certificate. You cannot change it to category 8/another category and receive a points differential refund."

Hope this is useful.

well you had cst 8 cert and hotel became cat 9. Annoying but within rules. They did not cancel your cert for a fraction of value or refuse to honor it at all other cat 8 and below hotels.
they either have to refund points at cat value or honor at same cat till expiry - everything else seems risky from legal standpoint...

Actually if this is the Renaissance in HK they won't get the benefits. They are really strict on this.

Thanks, but I'm asking on an official capacity as 2nd guest check is always ymmv.

The customer service rep I just booked with thought I needed to go through United to book my 7 nights................. Take what these reps say with a healthy grain of salt

I'm seriously considering purchasing a second TP for another stay that I would like.

I am uncertain which airlines to award for this second TP. I have no particular use in mind for these miles yet but really like the idea of getting stopovers and also of low fuel surcharges. Since I have read that United, Alaska, and Aeroplan are very good options, I am considering them. Out of LAX, is Alaska a better choice than Aeroplan? Most likely, the miles will be used for somewhere in Europe, South America, Japan, New Zealand, or some island in the south pacific.

In my experience, not a single CSR that I have spoken with yet even knew about the new travel package price structure. They have received absolutely no information about new TPs, so while I understand how it made you nervous, my guess is that the agent probably knew as little as the other four agents I have spoken with already.

VERY VERY Late to the game but believe I still have some time to get it done
SPG/Marriott Merger
Have 323K MR points, 151K SPG, 231K UA,140 AA, 194k Delta, zero AS
was just going to sit on hotel balance but with kids in OKA for next 3years(marine SIL), seems miles might be a better use, as we(3 of us), need to get there (and Hopefully not in Y) and may have to do it at least once a year for next three

Marriott has a cat 8 there-Renaissance Resort which is about 10 miles from where kids are

seems to make sense(to me) to transfer 50K SPG to Marriott and purchase for 360K 7 nights and 132K Miles

or is my math off?
Not traveling(flying) much at all, so little opportunity to earn
Would a transfer to to Alaska/Avois or some other program make better sense?
Have not looked at flights

This is somewhat off topic, but might be useful to people who are deciding where to credit the flight portion of TPs they're about to purchase. Each frequent flyer program has its pros and cons, of course. Here's a brief summary of the four programs most often used for TP transfers:

1) AS - Pros: Currently the most valuable currency. Great for transpacific flights (on CX, JL, etc). Stopover on one-way flights. Good domestic flights (including Hawaii) if you live on the West Coast. Cons: Award availability sometimes scarce on partners. Devaluation is likely on the horizon soon.
2) UA - Pros: Lots of partners. No fuel surcharges. Excursion perk for those can take advantage of it. Short distance intra-region flights outside of US. Cons: Awards on partners cost more in J/F.
3) AC (AP) - Pros: Generous stopover rules on RT flights. Reasonable award pricing on transatlantic flights. Cons: Fuel surcharges on its own metal and most partners. Uncertainty beyond 2020. Miles expire in just 1 year and not as easy to extend for those not living in Canada.
4) BA (Avios) - Pros: Great for short-distance direct flights (especially outside of US). Cons: Exorbitant fuel surcharges (except in regions where they're prohibited). Expensive for long-distance flights in J/F.

Out of LAX, Alaska is better [cheaper in J] than Aeroplan for Japan, New Zealand, Europe (looked up Paris), South America (looked up Buenos Aries and São Paulo). So that's all of them except the South Pacific - it doesn't seem CX flies to any of those islands on first glance.

Assuming "A Capital City on The East Coast" is D.C...and not in Y is a must... your one stop options are taking the NH/UA flight direct from IAD to NRT then a connecting flight (so not Alaska or Avios). If you are OK with taking a train from Tokyo, then that opens up a CX redemption on the new IAD - HKG route via Alaska.