been on Marriott.com for a few months.............
https://www.marriott.com/marriott/qu...oup_booking.mi
and what this (OLD) "news" has to do w next years MegaBonus is beyond me...........

Aha, I thought that was for room stay...Then, the Megabonus is missing in her account...need to contact the team again...

Those who have reported being able to switch are Platinum members, they may not be allowing Gold members to switch this time around.

I am sure that MR considers a whole bunch of people calling to switch their Mega bonus promo, but Marriott, like most travel companies, would be well served to treat all of it's very loyal customers nicely, and not favor Plat members over Gold. Good and loyal customers are hard to come by for any company.

If someone is calling up and saying, hey MR, I am planning to be staying 20 or 25 nights in Marriott brands within a short period after February 1, and I do not like the stay 2 nights, get one 1-4 cert offer I received, please switch me to whatever "buncha points" Mega bonus promo, because SPG, or Hyatt, or Hilton, or the man in the moon is offering a better promo if MR is unwilling to switch me, but I would prefer to stay with Marriott. Also, my friend "Plat123" switched, so I want to be switched too. If MR answer to that is, "Sir, we only switch Plats for this promo period, and you are only Gold789," then if I was Gold789, I would be looking for the best deal out there for myself too. A company saying we are only doing nice things for 75 per year guests, and not for 55 per year guests, that is bad PR, very bad.

I am sure there will be a bunch of people who do not agree with me on this, oh well.

I got the 2 Cat5's one for the first time. Until now it has been 3 Cat4's. Finnish address.

I'm not too happy as I usually use these in CY Stockholm which is Cat4 anyway. But I'm not unhappy enough to try to change promo.

I called to get mine switched and I am Platinum. I didn't get a "no" but not quite a yes either. She said they really don't want them to switch anything--what you get it what you get. I really prefer the stay 2 get 1 promo--It works best for me. I told her that I am platinum because I am a meeting planner and not because I stay 20 nights a quarter. She could see that reflected in my points. She told me she wouldn't switch me right now, but to call back a few weeks before the promo ended and if I didn't earn what I had been enrolled in, then she would switch me over. I get that when they switch, they have to manually adjust it, but really--can we just pick from the beginning what will work best for our travel patterns! The reward is suppose to be obtainable, and I do stay a few more nights to get the free night most of the time. So they are getting more of my business.

One wonders if it wouldn't be easier for Marriott to just give everyone a choice to be made at registration with no later changes allowed, as SPG has done for some of their promos. OTOH, maybe it's just people from FT who call to whine and beg to be switched to a different promo. Maybe most others aren't even aware that different promos have been granted to different people.

Actually ljk, you just suggested a terrific idea! It would be oh so much easier if MR allowed us, their proven loyal elite members, to check a box on our Mega bonus registration, indicating that we want, something like this:

Choose any ONE option from below. Once you have made your choice below, and have completed your registration for Mega bonus, changes will not be possible. Please enjoy Spring 2013 Mega bonus, and good luck!

1 - Stay two nights, receive one category 1-4 certificate, receive up to three certificates.

2 - Stay two nights (or three nights), receive one category 1-5 certificate, receive up to two certificates.

3 - Stay 20 nights, receive 25,000 points, stay 5 additional nights, receive 15,000 additional points, for 40,000 points total.

4 - Stay 25 nights, receive 35,000 points, stay 5 additional nights, receive 15,000 additional points, for 50,000 points total.

Wouldn't offering Mega bonus in this way make a lot more people happy, and hold the "I want to switch" calls to MR to a minimum?

I don't see any one of the options in my account. What are my options now? Will it be of any use if I call them?

Same here... no promotion on my account. I am a platinum!!!

First, it would be helpful if you set up your FT profile, so that FT members reading your posts/questions can see what status you are, so your questions may be answered intelligently. Are you MR Silver, Gold, or Platinum Elite, or what?

Second, the promo does not even start until February 1, 2013, so relax and chill out. If it does not appear on your account by January 2, 2013, they yes, you can call MR to inquire and collect more information.

Browsed quickly so maybe I missed it but any other PP without any offer. This has happened every MegaBonus since making PP... I am a bit annoyed.

#1 is true whether you book a reg award or use a cert, so that's not a disadvantage to the certs. You won't get night credit or points for the room, although you will for incidentals.

#2 & #3. Sure there are some Cat 1-4s that are no great shakes, but there are also many that are in fab locales and/or are a great redemption when rates are high due to special events.

You've been off the forum for a while, but there are a few threads on great places/when to redeem Cat 1-4.

Michelle on Insiders said previously that both would be able to do it, so if someone gets turned down (whether Plat or Gold) I'd go to her & push the issue.

Agree that it would be better if one got to choose their own promo, but don't see that happening anytime soon. Michelle went into why they don't on Insiders.

Cheers.

For background on what Sharon is referring to, see here.

But there are two differences which are important. Certs have to be used within a fixed amount of time, or the certs expire, while points theoretically go on forever, as long as the account is still active.

So if someone is borderline on room nights for whether they will renew their status level or not for a given year, with certs, the member might have to just let them expire, or risk losing status. But with points, members have the choice to put off use until a year in which they are traveling more and not worried about making their room nights quota. Also, certs don't add to lifetime points, while Mega bonus points do, so it puts the certs award recipients at a disadvantage.