It appears that Marriott has been changing the reward categories of quite a few of their properties recently. Below is just a small sampling that I observed, and there are no doubt others:

Hotel Old Category New Category

Montreal Marriott 4 5
Monterey Marriott 5 6
Renaissance Aruba 5 6
Aruba Marriott 6 7
JW Le Merigot 6 7
Philadelphia Downtown 4 5
Philadelphia Airport 3 4
NY Marriott East Side 6 7

As I said, this is just a quick sampling - but my point is that Marriott is in effect devaluing our points. We may in effect still be earning 10 points per dollar, but it appears that there are now quite a few hotels that are requiring more points.

And this is different from any other hotel chain how?

As for me, this doesn't affect me as I only use my points for the most expensive of hotels, which have all been level 7 hotels anyways...so until they raise the points needed for level 7 hotels, I'm in the clear (although I do expect this to happen in the near future).

Under Item 4 of the General Membership section in the 2005-2006 MR Rewards Guide I just received it states as follows:

"The rewards structure is subject to modification, cancelation or limitation at Marriott's descretion, with or without notice (italics for emphasis - mine). The number of points or miles required to redeem any reward may be substantially increased , any award may be withdrawn, and restrictions on any reward or its redemption can be imposed at any time."

So, under the published Terms and Conditions they have every right to do it.

Whether it was smart to do so so soon, without notice (even though it's clear that it is permitted), after the mailing (which, in its title connoted that the values that were in effect were correct through "2006"), is debatable.

I get the impression that the Ts & Cs Dept's bean counters were not cognizant of what the MR promotions folks were mailing and publicizing (and vice versa).

I must be out of the loop. Did this change happen very recently? Was there an email or something? This is the first I've heard of it.

Most chains do this annually - it's not a shock. We're in a strong hotel market right now: occupancy is up, rates are up. Hotel points and categories are strongly correlated to avg. room revenues - all of the "lurkers" here on FT over the years have confirmed this.

Two reasons I don't think we're in a "devaluation" state:

(1) If you do a lot of business stays, you're earning a lot more points thanks to the higher rates. I know I am in 2006 vs. two or three years ago. Our negotiated rates at big-city Marriott are up close to $200/nt., whereas finding $150-160/nt. was easy in 2003-2004.

(2) With the new credit card, the base earning rate - if Marriott Points are what you seek - is 17 per dollar, up from 15 per dollar with the old card. So even if you are primary acquiring points from leisure stays, the couple of extra points per dollar takes at least a little bit of the sting out of your favorite property jumping up a level. Under the old system, I was actually opting for 12 MR points + 1 Starpoint per dollar , except when we were in the Visa 2x promo.

So yeah, Category Creep sucks, but I don't think the sky is falling.

Ah, the annual "devaluation" thread - seems to be one in every program. A quick Search turns up 20 hits in the last year, so that's about right.

It has become a ritual on the SPG forum - William often gives us a heads-up of level increases a week in advance so we can book stays at the previous level.

It's inflation. Points aren't an investment. They depreciate just like cash. There is no Money Market or CD for points.

I haven't done the math here, but if you add up the dollar equivalent of the increased levels, divided by all the points to stay at all the Marriott properties around the world, I bet you would end up with about a 3-5% inflation rate, similar to what someone who actually did the calculation at SPG last year found.

Burn 'em as you earn 'em.

As someone pointed out in the Starwood forum - if the trend continues every year - eventually all properties from the lowest Fairfield to highest JW will be Cat. 7

This is the main reason why you are better off spending your points ASAP rather than "banking for retirement" - inflation and/or devaluation is inevitable.

In addition, this points out a critical flaw for those who buy timeshares with the hope of converting them to a fixed # of points per year (a popular sales pitch with SPG - don't know about Marriott) - the points will buy less and less every year.

I love how "rising hotel rates and occupancy levels" are always provided as justification. Funny, but I don't remember hotels or airlines cutting award costs when times were tough. For some reason things only go one direction - not to the benefit of the consumer.

Judging by some of the properties in the OP's list, I wonder if it's more appropriate to call some of the changes a "reevaluation" by Marriott to reflect the quality of the hotel property experience.

Speaking for two of the properties we personally stay at a few times a year, I'm surprised to learn that the Philadelphia downtown Marriott was not already a category 5 hotel. Likewise the PHL Airport being a 4 is IMO the minimum category rating I would give the property given the overall property & the excellent restaurant they have at the airport.

Last year, Marriott raises the London Renaissance Chancery Court from a category 6 to 7. A move long overdue given the property's location, architectural aesthetics, and above all quality of service and guest experience.

I don't see moves such as these as a devaluation of our MR points. It speaks more to the diligence of Marriott and the quality of experience that the property holds for any guest.

Barry

. . .In addition, this points out a critical flaw for those who buy timeshares with the hope of converting them to a fixed # of points per year (a popular sales pitch with SPG - don't know about Marriott) - the points will buy less and less every year. . .

Boraxo,

I can speak as a Marriott timeshare owner, and I assure you that very few folks purchase MVCI weeks simply because of the MR point option. Those who do so probably should not have gotten into timeshare.

But of all of the companies who sell timeshare and link ownership to some sort of optional points reward system, the Marriott timeshare product is by far the strongest and most flexible on the market. Many owners at one time or another will utilize the points to good advantage. Like anything, there is a learning curve to the program and the process, but I assure you that if anyone knows how to get the most bang out of the points, it's those veteran MVCI owners who have been disciplined to plan their timeshare and other travel well in advance. MR points are simply another travel tool, and a very versatile tool even as Marriott tinkers with the MR program.

Barry

Rearding cutting award costs in tough times, I remember after 9/11 not only earning extra enhanced Marriott bonuses and taking advantage of what I believe were more pointsaver opportunities through Marriott Rewards.

I'm paying more for my stays now than when I was a year ago. When I pay more I earn more points both actual and in elite bonus points. Therefore I'm earning points faster than I was a year ago. I've not had time to do an analysis, but based on the above, I would suspect any devaluation of points is much less then the big deal critics are making it out to be. If you want an inexpensive program, go with Choice Privileges, and take your chances with the russian roulette method of ensuring a favorable stay. You get what you pay for and overall MR has been good to me.

Hilton has given us a six month notice of upcoming hotel level inflation. That's very classy. We have the chance to look at future travel and book them at present rates. Hilton has promised to honor such reservations.

Certainly true of JW le Merigot, IMHO. It was a bargain as a category 6 when staying there last year and no surprise from me to see it's now a 7.

Actually, they did - and they did it wildly.

They kept the award levels where they were, but went completely bonkers on promotions and bonuses, effectively reducing award costs drastically. For example, when the hotel economy began to soften in 2001 or so, Hilton was kicking out 54,000 bonus points for every 4 stays. 8 cheap Hampton nights = 1 free week in Hawaii with points left over. I quickly piled up about 300,000 HH points on a series of one-night stays in about a month's worth of business travel, bouncing around through every Embassy, Doubletree, Hampton, and Hilton in the Tampa-St. Pete area.

Airlines went just as nuts. Lots of bonuses, free status carryovers, lots of dirt-cheap fares. Again, the effective award costs were low. Because air miles earning isn't tied to airfares, the soft market was a double-bonus - lower paid fares and extra bonus miles.

Today, airlines and hotels are still running decent bonuses & promotions to win over customers, but they are staying away from price wars. There's enough demand to make that unnecessary.

Ah, the good old days. And don't forget 2000 (I think it was) when Hilton gave you one HHonors point for every mile flown on United. I made 1K that year, and it did wonders for my account balance; used the points for a week at the Conrad Dublin (on a PointStretcher award, of course). What with the added bonuses and the increased availability of the "40% off" PS awards, the effect was a "devaluation" in the actual "cost" of the award nights.

We now return you to your regular thread . . . . Listed above were increases in category, but were there any decreases? Seems with Starwood and Hilton there often are.

Yes there were....they use a ratio of points earned at a hotel versus those redeemed at a hotel to determine a hotels category....the more points being redeemed the higher the category