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2013 Marriott Rewards Hotel Category Changes List

2013 Marriott Rewards Hotel Category Changes List

 
Old Feb 11, 2013, 6:25 pm
  #16  
 
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Originally Posted by VA1379
I think this devaulation is worse than the 2009 one for platinum members. There is no increase in bonus points for platinum members this time, and they basically made each category worth the previously lower one. Cat 5 is the new 4 and so on with the new category 9. A lot of solid category 3 properties are now 4. Some properties like La Jolla Marriott have gone from category 4 to 6 in two years.

If Marriott is going to charge these rates for award rooms, they need to stop the excuse of not offering free breakfast on weekends at USA/Canada properties for gold and platinum members.
This is very well said. I am going to post this sentiment on Marriott Insiders. Breakfast at CY is also warranted with the dozens of those increasing in value.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 7:01 pm
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by VA1379
I think this devaulation is worse than the 2009 one for platinum members. There is no increase in bonus points for platinum members this time, and they basically made each category worth the previously lower one. Cat 5 is the new 4 and so on with the new category 9. A lot of solid category 3 properties are now 4. Some properties like La Jolla Marriott have gone from category 4 to 6 in two years.

If Marriott is going to charge these rates for award rooms, they need to stop the excuse of not offering free breakfast on weekends at USA/Canada properties for gold and platinum members.
You make a very good point.
I think they should offer the following:
- Free breakfast 7 days a week for US/intl properties.
- Increase in bonus points
- Cat 1-5 instead of Cat 1-4 certs
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 7:01 pm
  #18  
 
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Are the upgrades from Category's really based on award redemptions? I see a few hotels on that list that I seriously doubt anyone uses points for. I know that hotels do this every year, but it seems like Marriott is always the most extreme with it.

When I asked why they stopped doing the gift cheques I was told the company that prints them would no longer print them. I wonder if their reasoning will be as good as that one.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 7:05 pm
  #19  
 
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Man this really stinks!

I never, ever, thought I would say this, but...time to start staying at a new hotel chain.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 7:20 pm
  #20  
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Many thanks to the OP to bringing this to our attention!

This list proves the lie that Marriott foisted upon us that hotels go up and down each year based upon redemptions because no way that not one of the hotels that went from Cat 4 to Cat 5 last year apparently fell back! And it is clear that with no megabonus redemptions at those hotels because they were then elevated to a Cat 5, did they see as much redemption traffic as in the previous years.

Second, with this second round of elevations from Cat 4 - Cat 5, I believe that there are hardly any decent properties left close in to major metropolitan population centers let alone in a city, itself!

Third, is there any Category 4 worth staying at now, or phrased another way, is it even worthwile to earn Megabonus Certs, anymore?

Finally, with the latter answer in the negative, it seems to me that I am going to take a hard look at Hilton again as it is simple to obtain Gold in their program with their new Reserve Visa card, and it holds out the prospect of Diamond status with a $40,000 spend. In addition, even though IHG recently devalued their program, it still seems that perhaps judicious spend there might be worthwhile.

This is, indeed, a massacre!


Oh wait, for all you Risk! players, you will be happy to know that the C/Y Irkutsk went down to a Category 2! Woo Hoo!

Last edited by NJUPINTHEAIR; Feb 11, 2013 at 7:26 pm
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 7:28 pm
  #21  
 
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This devaluation seems to significantly reduce the utility of the Visa cat 1-5 cert... as it is I barely manage to redeem it before it expires. On the bright side, now I don't feel as bad about shifting more stays to SPG
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 7:59 pm
  #22  
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EDIT - better data below

Last edited by CPRich; Feb 11, 2013 at 8:19 pm
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 8:02 pm
  #23  
 
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The annual devaluation joke. Every year a 5,000 point creep and a 20-25% hit in my spending power. I guess that's what inflation & the poor dollar is running now.

Think I am close to LT PLT and time to move on...
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 8:18 pm
  #24  
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Brutal in some areas - over half the 8s become 9s.

Rough count, ignoring RC changes

7 to 6 - 5
6 to 5 - 2
5 to 4 - 3
4 to 3 - 12
3 to 2 - 18
2 to 1 - 5

8 to 9 - 13
7 to 8 - 32
6 to 7 - 55
5 to 7 - 1
5 to 6 - 190
4 to 5 - 370
3 to 4 - 401
2 to 3 - 184
1 to 2 - 43

Est. 9.3% increase, weighted across all properties. Of course, the ones with the most redemptions are the ones most of want to redeem are the ones that likely went up. So a "weighted average" isn't exactly meaningful.

Last edited by CPRich; Feb 12, 2013 at 8:00 pm
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 8:19 pm
  #25  
 
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This is awful news - shocked to see an even more lopsided and overwhelming devaluation of Marriott points than I can remember before - this makes the MR points currency much less desirable to accumulate (especially since its become clear now that they've decided to devalue points about 15% a year on average - more like about 25% this year though). Much much greater than the inflation rate on hotel prices!

Originally Posted by sammyindc
You make a very good point.
I think they should offer the following:
- Free breakfast 7 days a week for US/intl properties.
- Increase in bonus points
- Cat 1-5 instead of Cat 1-4 certs
And bring back the BOGO weekend certs at least!!!

I was thinking about purchasing points to get me over the hump to lifetime Platinum status, now I just think I will let it come naturally. This also makes the cat. 4 and 5 certificates of very low value for me (there were already just a few cat 4 and 5 properties left that I could find enough opportunity at to use these) and makes the Marriott Rewards credit card less attractive. I may soon stop using it altogether with this latest and biggest devaluation move.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 8:21 pm
  #26  
 
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Originally Posted by CPRich
Rough count, ignoring RC changes

7 to 6 - 5
6 to 5 - 2
5 to 4 - 3
4 to 3 - 12
3 to 2 - 18
2 to 1 - 5

8 to 9 - 13
7 to 8 - 32
6 to 7 - 55
5 to 7 - 1
5 to 6 - 190
4 to 5 - 370
3 to 4 - 401

2 to 3 - 184
1 to 2 - 43

weighted average, about a 9.3% increase. Of course, the ones with the most redemptions are the ones most of want to redeem are the ones that likely went up. So a "weighted average" isn't exactly meaningful.
What were the metrics used in determining these increases?
How can they justify 370 cat 4 into cat 5 nows. Some of them I can understand but some random CY in the middle of nowhere - I don't get it.
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 8:24 pm
  #27  
 
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Originally Posted by CPRich
I'm curious how you figure that. Cat 4's still cost what Cat 4's used to, and only 36% of the properties went up a category.

36% of the properties went up, with an average of a 20% increase in points each (estimated - I'll need to look at the detailed data), that's just over 7% across the board. with inflation at 2-3% (thus, the points earned per stay up that much), it's a real devaluation of about 5%. Not pleasant, but nowhere near the impact of the wholesale 2009 changes IMHO.

Of course, if the one property you were targeting went up, the aggregate numbers don't make you feel any better.
Maybe I should have been more specific in writing that a lot of properties that used to give a redemption value of 1.1 cents/point have gone down in value. I wish it was just one or five properties, but the list is rather long for me with the category adjustment over the past two years. The ratio of properties going up versus down is not even close. Two of the properties going down are in Cairo, Egypt, and we know Egypt is not as safe as it once was for foreign visitors.

I consider many of the category 9 properties to be a poor deal for using points, and many of the category 6-8 properties are getting close to that point as well. Why anyone would redeem for the Virginia Beach properties at the new category 7 & 8 is beyond my understanding.

36 % of the properties going up is larger than the previous year's increase and is probably one of the larger ones since 2009. This year's adjustment redudes the edge Marriott has over Hilton for their award chart

I am referring to category 1-9 for Marriott and excluding the RC properties. For Hilton, I am comparing their category 1-7 and excluding their highest tier properties. Marriott still has an edge in the lower categories, but they used to have a bigger gap for the middle and higher category properties.

Last edited by VA1379; Feb 11, 2013 at 8:56 pm Reason: Noticed one of the VA Beach properties is going up to category 7
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 8:24 pm
  #28  
dw
 
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Wow. I think I'm done.

Last year's devaluation basically made the Megabonus Cat 4 certs useless for center city stays.

This year's devaluation is doing the same for the Cat 5 certs from Chase.

The Courtyard Philadelphia is now Cat 6! Unbelievable.
(EDIT to add the RI Philadelphia to Cat 6 as well!)
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 8:51 pm
  #29  
 
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Originally Posted by dw
Wow. I think I'm done.

Last year's devaluation basically made the Megabonus Cat 4 certs useless for center city stays.

This year's devaluation is doing the same for the Cat 5 certs from Chase.

The Courtyard Philadelphia is now Cat 6! Unbelievable.
(EDIT to add the RI Philadelphia to Cat 6 as well!)
And the CY Baltimore Inner Harbor moved to a Cat 5 so the certs are no longer of use there. With last year's change I lost the Bethesda Marriott. I'll be interested to see what they come up with for the next promotion. Free night certs for the Cat 4s are a useless promotion. Hopefully they'll up the usage to a Cat 5. I guess we'll all be complaining for awhile like every year.

Bobette
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Old Feb 11, 2013, 9:13 pm
  #30  
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Originally Posted by b1513
And the CY Baltimore Inner Harbor moved to a Cat 5 so the certs are no longer of use there. With last year's change I lost the Bethesda Marriott. I'll be interested to see what they come up with for the next promotion. Free night certs for the Cat 4s are a useless promotion. Hopefully they'll up the usage to a Cat 5. I guess we'll all be complaining for awhile like every year.

Bobette
You now have lost the Bethesda Suites as that has moved up to a Cat 5, now, as well.
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