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Originally Posted by mwk190
(Post 30103390)
Question for those who have upgraded a travel cert before the programs merged. I upgraded a cert from a cat 6 to a cat 9 on Friday, and then booked a cat 9 property all in the same transaction with customer service.
I expected the cost of the upgrade to be the difference between the cat 9 and and cat 6 package, which was 90K points. However, I ended up with 120K points deducted. My account shows the cat 6 certificate was cancelled and I was refunded 75K points, and then a new cat 9 "partial" certificate was issued for 195K. My assumption here is that the 75K is the point value of the certificate if one were to get it refunded as points instead of using it to book a cat 6 stay. I also assume this was the wrong method to upgrade the cert given I've never heard before that upgrading would cost more than the difference between the two packages. Any thoughts from those who have experience with upgrading under the old packages? |
Originally Posted by MasterGeek
(Post 30105567)
If Marriott had publicly announced the Marriott Travel Package certificate conversion chart in advance, nobody could legitimately complain. That's really the point and source of all the dissatisfaction.
Marriott was very coy and pretended they weren’t sure what’s going to happen (based on interviews/Q&As with travel bloggers). It’s inconceivable they didn’t know a final conversion chart on August 17 if it was announced early on August 18. Few people would complsin if the mapping was fair or generous but announcing N-3 category mapping a day after the fact is an absolute travesty. At worst, people expected N-2 mapping, e.g. 8->6. Pretty much all of Cat 8 hotels I’ve looked at (dozen or so), went from 8 to 6 so it was a fair expectation that’s how TPs would work. (Not even to mention all the times CSRs told me and others that mapping would be the same, e.g. 8 to 8). I say we give Marriott this week to change their mind and then FT army should come up with some template letters to appropriate authorities — something that lays out arguments in a clear & concise manner without too much emotion. |
With a stroke of luck I upgraded my 1-5 to 9 at the end of July. I attached that to Elounda with the thinking is the worst case scenario is I would get 7 nights at an amazing hotel. I'm slightly disappointed the 9 doesn't get to 7 in the new mapping but that was always a pipedream anyway. It's mostly disappointing that it doesn't get to 7 off-peak since it's "up to 60k" and a 7 off peak is 60k. It seems weird to have the credit card certificates points based but the travel package 100% category based, even when they mention the max points in their FT chart/post.
I genuinely feel for everyone who was screwed. My initial strategy was to upgrade my 1-5 to a category 6 and I would have been deeply disappointed. I also almost bought points out of pocket to upgrade to Ritz 1-3 - I would have been disappointed at that too. Even though I 'won' with this, I still am leary about continuing my loyalty with Marriott. The vibe in the Hyatt's has been much more endearing, and if I'm not getting free breakfast anymore anyway I see no downside. Good luck to everyone, I hope that they allow people to buy up or at the very least refund points. And I hope they allow certificate time/length extensions as sometimes plans change. |
Originally Posted by OssianBlue
(Post 30105161)
And this as of today appears to be how they will handle it.
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Regardless of what hotels will now be available or not be available for those who upgraded to the unlucky 3 cats, it doesn't address the fact that Marriott knew full well you were giving them 30,000 points needlessly - and they willingly took those points. They can try to obfuscate and shell game this fact all they want (and it looks like they will) but this is still a simple case of a company knowingly taking your points and giving nothing of increased value in return. They took your lunch money. But they're the biggest kid on the block now, so I don't think it bothers them much.
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Originally Posted by lexdevil
(Post 30105848)
Based on absolutely nothing but my own logic and intuition, I expect that they will ultimately allow upgrades of these certificates. So long as they hold the line and require people to pay at the new rates, they lose NOTHING by allowing us to buy up to a higher certificate. The net impact of doing this would be that people would book and pay (in points) for rooms at the rate that they are offering them. It is a way to generate a little bit of good will at no cost to Marriott.
I also think Marriott will ultimately allow these certificates' expiration dates to be extended, despite what one of the Lurkers posted on August 18. As with upgrades, it's good customer service and it's good for Marriott because some members will then wait until redemption points "costs" increase in 2019. The functionality is in Marriott's system, so it comes down to policy, not capability. When I ordered my travel package in July, I specifically asked about extending the expiration date of hotel part because I would not be using it until September 2019. I was told, yes, they do this regularly. It's a routine thing that I'll be able to do. |
Originally Posted by seankearns
(Post 30105666)
I can see it from both sides. If you were gambling and lost oh well, that's the game you played. If you're buying a travel package to use and overpaid by 30,000 points, were told incorrect information by a CSR (I was explicitly told I could extend the package if needed so if I can't extend two certificates by a couple months I'm kinda screwed) and received zero communication from Marriott I think you have every right to be pissed. If nothing else this has made me start looking into the other hotel loyalty problems. I haven't done a deep dive, but Hiltons diamond status match looks interesting: https://statusmatch.hiltonhonors.com/
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For reference of the chase free night category 1-5, in my profile this is what after the update shows "
"Premier Visa Anniv. 1 Free Nt up to 25,000 Points" |
True, for those who already held certificates there wasn't any choice since we didn't get any info which is why I'll be livid if I can't extend two by a couple months. Also truly ridiculous that they continued to see packages up to the last minute with no official word on who they would work (and it many reported cased incorrect information from the CSRs). Are customers now expected to ready travel blogs or forums before redeeming points?
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Originally Posted by figment7
(Post 30105933)
For reference of the chase free night category 1-5, in my profile this is what after the update shows "
"Premier Visa Anniv. 1 Free Nt up to 25,000 Points" |
Originally Posted by Soccerjoshj07
(Post 30105667)
Can you explain how you calculated these in more depth?
I have been caught with my hand in the cookie jar a bit, as I included all properties (including SPG), and it should really be Marriott + Ritz only. So I've updated and provide those numbers below with an example. Old Cat6 had 600 hotels. Those were distributed to new categories 10 @ 3, 464 @ 4, 125 @ 5 and 1 @ 6. The converted cert category of 4 would then cover 474 of the original hotels (sum hotels in Cat4 and below coming from old Cat5), or 79% (474 / 600). For Cat8, that is 69%, and Cat9 76%. The n-1 and n+1 was meant to show how if they rounded down/up the converted category, what the coverage would be. If the rounded up Cat6, 8, 9, and T1 then there would be little to complain about beyond the poor communication, because the hotels you can buy before and after are the same. So in terms of coverage, the biggest losers in order are Cat8, Cat9, Cat6, T3 (ignoring T5). It is easy to get caught up in the overpayment of 30k for the same cert, but getting those 20-30% hotels back is much costlier than that (if they allowed upgrading converted certs, which they supposedly won't). https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...240a50034b.png |
I could have upgraded from Cat 1-5 to either Tier 1-3 or Tier 4-5. However, upgrading to Tier 4-5 would require me to cancel a reservation. I would have gladly done so had I known the conversion chart at the time but here we are.
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Originally Posted by chongl
(Post 30105381)
Problem here is...many more people aren't on FT, nor do they read blogs summarizing the information. Official announcements need to be done through proper channels, not some forum post nestled in some thread with 5000 posts.
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Sorry if I'm behind the curve here, but am I able to reserve a new Cat 4 hotel now, without attaching my five night Cat 1-4 TP cert (formerly Cat 1-5) until Sept. 18th or do I have to sweat it out and hope award rooms remain available?
If the answer is no, can I reserve the room now with points I still have available in my account, then call after 9/18 and switch the "payment" method to the TP cert? |
Originally Posted by seankearns
(Post 30105666)
I can see it from both sides. If you were gambling and lost oh well, that's the game you played. If you're buying a travel package to use and overpaid by 30,000 points, were told incorrect information by a CSR (I was explicitly told I could extend the package if needed so if I can't extend two certificates by a couple months I'm kinda screwed) and received zero communication from Marriott I think you have every right to be pissed. If nothing else this has made me start looking into the other hotel loyalty problems. I haven't done a deep dive, but Hiltons diamond status match looks interesting: https://statusmatch.hiltonhonors.com/
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