I received it and all my certificates are attached to reservations. It is just the usual Marriott IT incompetence.

Interesting. At least we know now and can quit the scolding and speculation.

Nice spin job though, travel packages have a 1 year validity, meaning that the peak values they are showing in the table will be applicable less than 50% of the time since those only go into effect next year. That table should have been based on standard night value, or if you are going to include max you should include min as well.

I encourage those who feel they weren't treated fairly, to do something (social media, BBB complaint, etc) and not whine here. That was effective for SPG LTPs.

Some assess based on points value, I base it on old to new hotel coverage. Here are those results:
Cat5- 99%
Cat6- 70%
Cat7- 97%
Cat8- 69%
Cat9- 76%
T3- 83%
T5- 21% *after next year

Cat6 and Cat8 not only lost 30% of hotels, but also unnecessarily paid 30k more. Cat9, the 'winner', lost 24% of hotels. T5 next year loses 79%.

Marriott published ratings of all the hotels a long time ago. So you should not attach TP to the ones that get downgraded. Only to the ones getting upgraded.

For the lower tier hotels, you should have downgraded the Cat-6 TP, or dummy book the stay with points. Then you can try to change and re-attach again.

Anyhow. I do not think all are final yet. This is still the first day of the black-out.

As someone who is not afraid to admit it. You are right that I was wrong about a certificate conversion. However, you also confirmed for me that an old Category 9 will not be a New Category 7. Thank you. :) 5 out of six predictions isn't too bad.

I don't understand why some people are upset. If you can't afford to loose on a gamble, you shouldn't have gambled at all. The value is similar, expecting anything more is reckless. Had you attached your certificate you would have been able to request a refund of points where your reservation now requires fewer. People were encouraged to "atrach" their certificates in the old program for maximum benefit. If you didn't, should you expect maximum benefit?

Whatever you are feeling today, self inflicted or not, at least you have a whole month to look over the properties and choose that perfect vacation spot. Tier 4-5, enjoy your Bora Bora or Maldives stay. There won't be a lot of competition from the irrational thinkers, just as I had predicted. :)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

James

The way I am interpreting the new chart, these future Category 8 properties won’t be bookable even with a Tier 4-5 certificate.

It says that Tier 4-5 will be valid for a Category 7 property. My sense is that this is irregardless of the fact that Category 8 properties are bookable at Category 7 rates through EOY. Instead, I am interpreting it as only actual Category 7 properties can be booked. The “Max 70K” on the new chart implies peak pricing of Category 7, and similarly for Tier 1-3 (I don’t believe we can use Tier 1-3 certificates at 60K Category 7 properties just because the new chart says “max 60k”, as that is refering to peak Category 6 pricing).

Another Cat8 loser here, I was planning on using at Maui Sheraton or Westin but will need to figure something else out now. I sure wish I would of just spent the extra 30k points and got the Cat9.

Here's where I think it's different: Marriott knew what they were going to do (not like a regular bet where no one knows the outcome in advance). People gave them 30,000 points to upgrade from 1-5 to 6, from 7 to 8, and from 9 to Tier 1-3 in the last few days. Yes, many were gambling that they would get higher value. But Marriott knew they were getting nothing for their 30,000 points and took the points anyway. Why would a business do that to its customers? Are you really defending that?

I am not sure what clever point you think you are making, but having been told over the phone at the time of purchase by the telephone rep that I would be able to upgrade at will, I am not amused by this. It means I was induced to enter into the contact to purchase by a misrepresentation. The loss of this flexibility - if true - would be the biggest devaluation of the certificate.

Nothing definitive about this merger but yes we knew what category SPG properties were going to convert to and today answered the question of where old TP's will convert.

There is no Category 9 anymore. You are talking about the old categories. I am saying that if someone has been mapped to the NEW category 6, let them pay extra to upgrade to a Cat 7 (based on new rates) as a one time gesture. So that way you can get the higher category if you want (e.g. someone with a Cat 1-4 cert can upgrade to a Cat 5, 6 or 7 based on the new rates here: https://www.marriott.com/loyalty/red...el/packages.mi).

I don't get it why Marriott tries to irritate so many loyal customers on the first day of the new company?
You are not a casino company, don't force people to gamble.
If you had published the "mapping" months ago, everyone would be calm and well prepared now.