It is reportedly there is a big internal memo distributed to the reps today.

Yours was done on Weekend Aug 10. Today is Aug 13. With things now coming down the wire I am not sure information on the weekend or Friday which was August 10, the date of issuance of your cert, are even relevant.

If you have read my long post regarding the experiences I had this morning, you would read about the rep I got this morning initially reissued new cert with Aug 13 date but he took the trouble to IMMEDIATELY canceled it and redid one backdated to June 1st. If he is not being told to pay attention of keeping the original expiration date, I doubt he would go back to fix his inadvertent mistake which would not have been a mistake based on the usual practice, but apparently the unofficial extension mechanism is now being stopped.

With an N = 1.

Mine is not an upgrade, it is a detachment, or a cancellation of an existing award booking using the cert. The original upgrade date was June 1st. The rep took the trouble to cancel the reissued Aug 13th cert the minute he issued it as the 2 emails that came hours later at almost 1:30pm - one redemption one cancellation, has the same time stamp, not a minute difference. After that he reissued another cert with backdating. I never receive an email on that one but the cert finally shows up in my account when I checked at about 9:30pm EST.

Why would he take the trouble to cancel the cert issued with today's date and then reissue a cert that is backdated? The 3rd rep I talked to, said to me that "it looks like he returned the original cert to you." But it isn't the original cert because the number is different.

Because it takes a more careful rep to actually remember what they are told to do as from today. Being doing things the old way for so many times, it is hard for them to remember what they have to change their ways of doing things starting today.

Though the argument we have here is actually not much meaningful as whatever it is, the time left to still tweak whatever one wants to tweak, is not much. Marriott already sent out emails that system would be sporadically down starting on the 15th, 3 days before the lock down begins.

I bet that email has pushed many finally sprang to action - I got a busy signal trying to call Australia (actually it is in Malaysia), and then have to wait when calling China. Those 2 numbers have reps picking up the call less than 2 min just a few nights ago before weekend came.

I'm getting lost with all the changes.... :confused::confused::confused:

Talking to reps is like talking to one another here, unclear and in different directions. The amount of memos the call center reps have been getting related to this merger has been absurd (just ask them!), and from the times I've called about various reservations and added an inquiry about this, I've gotten a different answer every time. We'll know when we know, I guess...

I called the 1-800-321-7396 number 30 mins with one rep then asked for a supervisor and another 40 mins with supervisor. No one can confirm whether my reservation for June 2019 will be subject to On-Peak / Off-Peak pricing or not.

Maybe I should just re-attach the 7-night Cat6 back to it, despite it dropping to 25K after Aug 18, to avoid potentially running into the On-Peak and Off-Peak pricing issues.

on/off peak pricing only comes into effect for bookings made NEXT year. Until then, it's all standard pricing. Doesn't matter if the reservation is for June 2019.

"

• On August 18, standard redemption rates for hotel Categories 1-7 will go live. Peak, off-peak and Category 8 redemption rates will be introduced in early 2019."

So if you're planning to book for June 2019 - as long as you attach before January, there's no on/off peak pricing.

so net 30k more (30 K refund + 30K new)?

I actually had a Cat 8 before the properties were mapped to the new categories, which is its current category. Got it refunded, used the 90K difference for a another 1-5.

I have 240k points. Is there anything with regards to travel packages I should try to take advantage of before Aug 17?

One last question from me, and I'm probably way over thinking it.... I have 540K points. We're considering going to Hawaii or the Westin in northern Costa Rica. Both would be higher Cat properties. Think I'm better off just straight up buying 1x T5 with max'd miles, so I'm covered for whoever the properties land in the new chart? Or is there any way to buy 2x Cat 1-5 certs, getting double the miles, and then cash one certificate out after the merge to upgrade the other one?

By intentionally withholding information about how Travel Package certificates will be converted until it's too late to act on the information, Marriott is being really SHADY and DISHONEST. I no longer trust Marriott to do the right thing.

Called 3 weeks ago to get a 5-night package, was placed on long hold, and then disconnected before I was able to provide my airline FF number Lo and behold, the 5-nights showed up and they deducted 30K points from my account. Called back to get the miles but no dice. They allowed me to keep the 5-nights for 30K points which I think it's a bargain for category 1-5 properties. Valuation-wise this amounts to around $50 per night in some really nice properties and with my Platinum benefits, it's a real bargain.

Is there any property that increases from current category 8 to new category 7? I know about the cat 9 Domes of Elounda going to new cat 8, but I don't have enough points for a 9 right now.