Jul 30, 2016, 4:21 pm
Last edit by: Slickw
LINK TO CHART
Legacy to New Travel Package Conversion (effective August 2019)
A Marriott supervisor can currently convert your legacy travel package into the new category mapping. If you hold a Category 6, 8, or Tier 1-3 legacy certificate, it's ideal to downgrade your certificate before converting so that points don't potentially get lost in the process.
The codes for the new partial packages are:
New Cat 1-4: QP83
New Cat 5: QP91
New Cat 6: QP99
New Cat 7:
The legacy certificates map to the new certificates as such:
Cat 1-5 => Cat 1-4
Cat 6 => Cat 1-4
Cat 7 => Cat 5
Cat 8 => Cat 5
Cat 9 => Cat 6
Tier 1-3 => Cat 6
Tier 4-5 => Cat 7
==================================================
If you are unsure where you will use your 7 night stay, when you request the package, just ask for a category 1-5 hotel. That way you are out of the least number of points. If later, you decide to book for a higher level category, then you can do so and pay the difference the travel package points. If you can't use your certificate within the year, then as close to the one year anniversary (without going over!) call to extend the certificate for one more year. That's as long as they will typically allow, one extension. There is an option to expedite the mileage delivery to within three business days (sometimes faster) for $15. There are reports that this fee may be waived for platinum members.
Effective April 1 2017 re: Southwest & the companion pass:
"Purchased points, points converted from hotel and car loyalty programs, and e-Rewards, e-Miles, Valued Opinions and Diners Club, points earned from Rapid Rewards program enrollment, tier bonuses, flight bonuses, and partner bonuses (excluding points bonuses earned on the Rapid Rewards Credit Cards from Chase) do not count toward Companion Pass."
************
Can I book SPG properties with my Marriott Travel Package? As of 9/1/2018 apparently not. see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30155836-post6529.html
Legacy to New Travel Package Conversion (effective August 2019)
A Marriott supervisor can currently convert your legacy travel package into the new category mapping. If you hold a Category 6, 8, or Tier 1-3 legacy certificate, it's ideal to downgrade your certificate before converting so that points don't potentially get lost in the process.
The codes for the new partial packages are:
New Cat 1-4: QP83
New Cat 5: QP91
New Cat 6: QP99
New Cat 7:
Originally Posted by Marriott Rewards Insider
Members who purchased a Category 6, Category 8 or Tier 1-3 certificate prior to 8/18 are able to request a one-time exchange for a Travel Package one category lower. This process will cancel your current Travel Package, reissue a Travel Package one category lower and result in a refund of 30,000 points to your account. To submit a request, follow these steps:
Source: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...es-update.html
- Select “Packages - Deals” from the “Topic” drop down menu
- Submit your request
Source: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...es-update.html
The legacy certificates map to the new certificates as such:
Cat 1-5 => Cat 1-4
Cat 6 => Cat 1-4
Cat 7 => Cat 5
Cat 8 => Cat 5
Cat 9 => Cat 6
Tier 1-3 => Cat 6
Tier 4-5 => Cat 7
==================================================
If you are unsure where you will use your 7 night stay, when you request the package, just ask for a category 1-5 hotel. That way you are out of the least number of points. If later, you decide to book for a higher level category, then you can do so and pay the difference the travel package points. If you can't use your certificate within the year, then as close to the one year anniversary (without going over!) call to extend the certificate for one more year. That's as long as they will typically allow, one extension. There is an option to expedite the mileage delivery to within three business days (sometimes faster) for $15. There are reports that this fee may be waived for platinum members.
Effective April 1 2017 re: Southwest & the companion pass:
"Purchased points, points converted from hotel and car loyalty programs, and e-Rewards, e-Miles, Valued Opinions and Diners Club, points earned from Rapid Rewards program enrollment, tier bonuses, flight bonuses, and partner bonuses (excluding points bonuses earned on the Rapid Rewards Credit Cards from Chase) do not count toward Companion Pass."
************
Can I book SPG properties with my Marriott Travel Package? As of 9/1/2018 apparently not. see https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30155836-post6529.html
Marriott Travel Packages
Aug 4, 2018, 6:54 am
#4636
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: USA
Programs: AS MVP; UA Gold; DL Gold; Marriott Titanium
Posts: 156
Now, with more upcoming new Marriott stayes, I'll be interested to see how quickly the new accrual rates re-fills the coffers.
Saturday (today): Virgin Atlantic miles posted (CSR rep indicated likely 3-5 days.) Alaska miles have taken one to two weeks to post for my other two TPs.
Aug 4, 2018, 7:24 am
#4637
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 746
Exactly. This is NOT a fair resolution. I purchased a Cat 8 and have it attached to a reservation, but there's a chance I may not be able to keep those dates. However, if I unlinked it and Marriott downgraded it to a Cat 4, regardless of whether or not they refund me points...I'd be pissed. I have ZERO use for a Cat 4 certificate, and had I been informed of that in advance of purchasing it (which we have not been), I would not have purchased it. That does not make me whole. It leaves me with wasted points and a certificate I can't use.
The ability to upgrade it back would not make me whole either because the difference in levels from the old chart to new is MASSIVE. Currently it costs 30,000 points to jump from one category to the next. However, after August 18th, it will cost 60,000 to jump from Cat 4 to Cat 5, and 120,000 to jump from Cat 5 to Cat 6 (because certs are priced at peak timing). So that upgrade you're saying will make us whole will cost 150,000 instead of the 90,000 it currently costs.. It would be worse for those with Cat 9's and RC certs. So for many this "solution" would be a devaluation.
The ability to upgrade it back would not make me whole either because the difference in levels from the old chart to new is MASSIVE. Currently it costs 30,000 points to jump from one category to the next. However, after August 18th, it will cost 60,000 to jump from Cat 4 to Cat 5, and 120,000 to jump from Cat 5 to Cat 6 (because certs are priced at peak timing). So that upgrade you're saying will make us whole will cost 150,000 instead of the 90,000 it currently costs.. It would be worse for those with Cat 9's and RC certs. So for many this "solution" would be a devaluation.
Aug 4, 2018, 7:26 am
#4638
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 746
Sure there is: for every unattached cert, give the member a new Cat 4 and a points refund matching the difference in cost between their old category and old category 5. Maybe the expiration date on all certificates be August 30, 2019 so nobody can complain that they're getting stuck with a low-cat certificate and no time to earn points and upgrade back to a higher new category.
Everybody's made whole on points, no one gets a windfall. You're subject to the new categories, which are bigger steps up than the old categories, but that's what you live with by not attaching the cert before the changeover.
Everybody's made whole on points, no one gets a windfall. You're subject to the new categories, which are bigger steps up than the old categories, but that's what you live with by not attaching the cert before the changeover.
Aug 4, 2018, 7:51 am
#4639
Join Date: May 2002
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, United Silver, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 2,276
After the new program kicks in August 18, a member could use the e-certificate "as is" for a week at a 35,000-point hotel, or a member could call Marriott to "buy" (with points) the level upward, or to partially "refund" (points) downward.
That seems the simplest to me. And the most fair.
Aug 4, 2018, 7:52 am
#4640
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 746
The problem is that would require Marriott to program rules for an entirely different class of certs that would all expire within 12 months.
Aug 4, 2018, 8:00 am
#4641
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: IL
Posts: 270
And no, it's neither fair nor simple. Try telling that to the Cat9 or Ritz TP holders, especially those who are receiving their first official communication from Marriott on the situation, without advance notice.
Aug 4, 2018, 8:05 am
#4642
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 746
Explain to me why it isn't fair; a Cat 9, for example, is only 45K a night. That isn't even a new Cat 6.
Aug 4, 2018, 8:27 am
#4643
Join Date: May 2002
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, United Silver, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 2,276
Also, folks on this forum have been confused that the levels in today's programs and the new program use the word Category, without recognizing that the numbers correspond to different point values in the old and new programs.
Aug 4, 2018, 8:27 am
#4644
Join Date: Feb 2014
Posts: 17
After reading many pages of the latest posts and multiple posts on blogs, I'm more confused than before. For someone with a 7N TP and no travel plans, since all cat5 hotels will cost 35k points (the only difference being that some hotels will go up in the required number of points while others require fewer points or the same number of points), is there thought to be any potential benefit (yes, everything is still up in the air) to booking a hotel (that I don't plan to stay at) that will require more points after August 18 over one that would require the same number of points?
Aug 4, 2018, 8:34 am
#4645
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: IL
Posts: 270
Because 76% of old Cat 9's went to new Cat 6. Under your argument, people would have to pay 60k more than the points they were refunded to new Cat4 in order to get 76% of the hotels they had availability to previously. 24% of the time they'd have to pay 120k to get into new Cat 7 where the rest of old Cat9's hotels went. And before you claim that is just normal recategorization/devaluation - that already happened earlier this year AND with advanced notice.
So in summary, paying 60k-120k more, 75k on average, to get the same thing you had without notice, is not fair, and simply not going to happen given Marriott's track record to this point and they have much bigger fish to fry on a deadline.
Aug 4, 2018, 8:38 am
#4646
Join Date: May 2002
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, United Silver, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 2,276
After reading many pages of the latest posts and multiple posts on blogs, I'm more confused than before. For someone with a 7N TP and no travel plans, since all cat5 hotels will cost 35k points (the only difference being that some hotels will go up in the required number of points while others require fewer points or the same number of points), is there thought to be any potential benefit (yes, everything is still up in the air) to booking a hotel (that I don't plan to stay at) that will require more points after August 18 over one that would require the same number of points?
Based on what Marriott has always done, cancelling a hotel reservation made with a travel package e-certificate returns the e-certificate to your account at its original value, as though it had never been used. If the hotel you reserve subsequently goes to a lower or higher category, there is no penalty or benefit. Otherwise members would have been able to game the system to improve the value of e-certificates.
Aug 4, 2018, 8:54 am
#4647
Join Date: Dec 2017
Posts: 746
But there is absolutely nothing stopping people from redeeming the current Cat 9 at one of those properties through the expiration of their current certificate.
Aug 4, 2018, 9:02 am
#4648
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: IL
Posts: 270
There is no benefit to booking a hotel now at which you don't plan to stay.
Based on what Marriott has always done, cancelling a hotel reservation made with a travel package e-certificate returns the e-certificate to your account at its original value, as though it had never been used. If the hotel you reserve subsequently goes to a lower or higher category, there is no penalty or benefit. Otherwise members would have been able to game the system to improve the value of e-certificates.
Based on what Marriott has always done, cancelling a hotel reservation made with a travel package e-certificate returns the e-certificate to your account at its original value, as though it had never been used. If the hotel you reserve subsequently goes to a lower or higher category, there is no penalty or benefit. Otherwise members would have been able to game the system to improve the value of e-certificates.
Marriott has unofficially advised to do the opposite, to attach the certs, to 'maximize' it, whatever that means.
Others have done the opposite as well, by attaching without firm travel plans, for a variety of reasons.
The old rules don't apply because the old cats won't exist to place the detacher back into.
A lot of strong *opinions* and *arguments* on this front - make your own informed decision based on these.
My thought is that Marriott wants to avoid a run on detaching by offering a points refund, so they'll be handled differently than floaters if those go to points. Also the unofficial maximize comments, they'll want to provide 'more' value than the floater decision, but that is a sliding scale depending on what they want to do there.
My prediction based on above, and more importantly on keeping it simple (for CS and IT) and erroring on the side of too fair is the way they will go, which clearly would be treating the carryover attached certs as if they were new certs, so detaching lands you with a cert in the new hotel cat. Yes there is some arbitrage to be had there, but in their own words, more hotels are going down in cost than up, it wouldn't be that much.
Silence is speaking volumes.
Aug 4, 2018, 9:05 am
#4650
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 787
Do we have a definitive date for the end of buying these? Some thought August 1, others August 4 (Today), and some think the 17th. Debating if I should grab 1 more today or not...