If you order the sampler reward before the 15th, you will have one year from the date the reward is issued to reserve and stay on that reward.

Regarding your second question, if you make your reservation before the 15th, that reservation is locked into the current redemption structure. The only requirement is that reward is issued sometime prior to check in.

The structure for redemption is changing. It will no longer cost less per night the more nights you redeem consecutively. The fifth night free attempts to return some of the benefit; however, many of you have pointed out that for the higher categories it is still not as good as the old discounts for redeeming multiple nights.

The travel package will continue to offer a 7 nights stay.

These will be good for the hotels mentioned on the certificate regardless of its present or future status. You may want to look at the certificate information to verify which properties are covered by the reward.
http://www.marriott.com/rewards/more...points=150,000

If you cancel all three portions before they expire you will receive a full refund of your points.

Adding nights or changing the dates is what will force you to use the new rewards. Just reducing the amount of nights should not cause you to spend more points per night. Systematically, I could see it changing your rate though to one that requires the new rewards. If you decide to do this you may need to contact someone in guest service to help you sort it out.

You do not need to claim your reward prior to the 15th if you already have your reservation booked for reward redemption.

The Hawaiian Sampler can be ordered after the 15th if it is ordered to honor reservations made prior to the 15th.

Basically there are two ways to use the current rewards after the 15th. You can either order a current travel package or sampler reward before the 15th, or book a reservation for reward redemption before the 15th.

Ira

So I have a travel package Cat. 6 cert that is not attached to a reservation and doesn't expire till December. I don't have any reservations currently made that I could attach it to, and I don't plan on making any before the 15th. When I do decide where to use it will I be able to use it basically anytime, anywhere? (Not counting the limited amount of blackout dates the new program will have, and obviously at a Cat.6 or lower hotel at the time of reservation)

Am I correct in how this will work?

Thank you for your answers. However, I'm not sure that I understood what you explained about the possibility of reducing the amount of nights of a booking under the old point structure. Please clarify if you meant that it will be possible but it may not be doable online so I'd better request the change to a an agent on the phone.

This is an example of where redemption on the new schedule will cost you fewer points than the current one. There will not be an automatic credit to your account; however, guest services has a manual process where they can cause your account to be credited the difference between the new and the current schedule shortly after your stay begins. My recommendation is to contact guest services. If you have any difficulty getting it taken care of do not hesitate to send me a personal message with your account and reservation information.

Ira,

Did you find anything more definitive on this?

change date for Cat 7 (today) becomes Cat 8
 

I have reserved a Cat 7 room in NY city, which will become Cat 8 after 01/15/09, for travel package in summer. Might need to change the traveling date, but cannot confirm till early Feb. Do I have to pay additional points for new Cat 8, for changing date at the same location?

Thanks. I will contact guest services.

Ira, thanks for continuing to post especially considering most of us are unhappy about these changes. I am waiting until January 15 to weigh in, I have a couple stays I am looking for and they are stay anytime currently and I am expecting them to be available under the new structure, if that happens it will lessen the blow for me. If they are not available I will be looking at other hotel chains.

One question to better my chances on the morning of January 15, when will these changes be live? Midnight eastern or another timezone?

You are correct. As long as your stay is booked for reward redemption you will be able to use the reward.


I just made another inquiry and it appears we may not know until we start seeing these post. It appears that it will be based on the check out date. Meaning if you check out after the 15th the entire stay would get the new 50% Platinum bonus, all the same it is possible it will be set up just to pick the nights from the 15th on.

Unfortunately changing the dates after the 15th will cause you to need the new category 8 reward.

The plan is to have the changes go into effect at 12:01 eastern time. Keep in mind this is a big systematic change and there is some initial potential for glitches. I am aware of several programmers that will be spending the night just in case they are needed.

Another Question Ira
 

DH will order the Hawaii hopper certificate tonight so we'll have the option of breaking up a week-long stay between condo rentals or actually going to two different islands. Great.
Presently DH has a two week ressie on "hold" (doesn't quite have enough points) for Marriott Wailea for December. We're waiting for American to load in the seats in the system (this won't happen before Jan. 15th). Once this happens will he be able to "trim" the ressie down to have a full week while using the 150K week award or will it be reprised to the newer points? This will also probably be applicable for Marriott Waikiki which is presently offering a slight discount of 115K per week on pointsaver.
Many thanks for your advice.
Carolyn

Spreadsheet
 

I couldn't find the spreadsheet/website in this thread that has similar information so I made one of my own. I think this one is a little more detailed? Let me know if you see any mistakes.

Table 1 - Point comparisons up to 10 nights
Table 2 - Point valuations new to old (use if booking by tomorrow for cat/nights in the red using existing points)
Table 3 - The comparison of the 50% vs. 30% point valuation for future points

If you're a platinum it doesn't seem as bad as everyone is saying when you account for the 50% bonus value compared to the old 30%. I know some are moving to cat 8, a lot of people like to take 7 day vacations...but 5 nights aren't that bad!

Linky - Marriott Spreadsheet

Marriott Spreadsheet
 

I couldn't find a link to the website/spreadsheet that details the point valuation so I created my own possibly more in-depth one. Let me know if you see any mistakes.

Table 1 - Points required under new and old programs for up to 10 nights at all categories

Table 2 - Current Points Valuations (if thinking of booking by tomorrow)

Table 3 - Point Valuations comparing new 50% bonus for Platinums

Linky - Marriott Spreadsheet

If he orders the Hawaiian Sampler tonight he should be fine. He will have until the reward expires to make or change his reservations. Because you mentioned, "condos" I wanted to make sure you are also ware that this certificate will not work at the MVCI villas. A list of the hotels accepting this reward is available at the link below.
http://www.marriott.com/rewards/more...points=150,000

Ira

Thanks for the quick reply Ira..
regarding condos... meant breaking up our holiday and staying part of the time at hotel and then the rest in a private condo -- probably in Princeville area if we're going to Kauai.
Mahalo
Carolyn

Marriott Concierge
 

What is the latest status for timeshare owners? There has been discussion about a readjustment of points received from marriott when trading your timeshare for points.

As Marriott charges more for the rental rates of our timeshares and its hotel rooms, and also charges more points for the multinight stays at your hotel rooms, we timeshare owners need to be able to stay current with our compensation.

What is Marriott's latest position on this?