IRA-

A follow up.

If I understand you correctly....the TP (cat 6) I ordered will HAVE to be used for a reservation I currently have (under the pre-1/15 points change) or it will be returned for LITTLE to no points????

Ok..as a followup-what if the hotel leaves marriott? I am currently booked at a hotel that has filed a LAWSUIT against marriott and wants out???? Will I still be stuck???? Please advise!!!

Reagrding #2, I hope Marriott don't do what Hilton did when they said there are no blackout dates for standard rooms - all of a sudden some hotels just do not have standard rooms.

So why must the patrons play the guessing game..then follow up through you guys to find out whether or not a hotel is really sold out, getting around the rules or didn't load their award inventory into the system yet? That's a lot of guesswork and my understanding is the new rules supposed to make it easier for last minute redemption.

While I know it's going to be difficult....I'm looking at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square for 12/31/09-1/1/10 and they have a standard room for something like 600$ but nothing on points. The reservation system only let us try to make reservations 3 or 4 days ago so I can't figure out if they're already sold out...the hotel didn't open up any award inventory or they simply modified the "Standard room" for 600$ to be a "holiday rate" for the said standard room.

Sorry, but most do. The sentiments that you express are not accurate.

MC has assured me here and elsewhere that if one made a 7 night rewards reservation for a Category 7 hotel prior to 1/15/09, then one would be able to order the "old" travel package for such a reservation after 1/15/09, presumably up to a couple of day before the hotel reward is to take place.

With resepct to up-converting a pre 1/15/09 hotel rewards certificate, I was given to believe that it likely would be permitted by Marriott on an "exception" basis. The difference in points to up-convert, however, might be the difference between the old Category 7 and the new Category 8 -- a pretty hefy sum, I think.

Hope this helps.

that is New Years Even in Times Square with 1,000,000 in attendance. that probably qualiifes as a special event and can be limited by the program rules as such.

The Derby is also out, Indy 500, DC in January and the like

Sorry, but you are being unrealistic. That is a high demand extraordinary date, and IMHO, I do not believe that you have realistic expectations.

If you really want a TS room, then perhaps a reward stay of several more days bookending that date will yield what you seek -- I often found that I could accomplish same under the old rewards system.

If you hold fast to your demands, I am confident that you will be disappointed and I think that you will only have yourself to blame. Under the rules ennunciated by the MC, they can legitimately deny your request, and I for one have no problem with them doing so as it does not affect the integrity of the program, IMHO.

I don't live too far from the city so it's not THAT important to me that I stay there. But I did try your suggestion by booking a longer stay and the result was the same. I'm not looking to book 2 months at the Marquis just to get a 1 night stay I want there.

Then it is a high demand period. I encountered a similar thing with the Berlin Marriott vis a vis NYE and the Brandenburg Gate. Blacked out.

Fortunately, I also have links with Hilton, Hyatt (Which is often very very good in such situations, by the way) and SPG.

It would appear that if I wanted to spend time in Berlin over that timer period on a reward stay, I will have to look to other chains.

Such is life and the vagaries of the different rewards programs.

I wish it were otherwise but accept this as it seems to me to be legitimate under the rules that they have proscribed.

Other situations mentioned above, however, do demand investigation.

Good luck in your request!

I don't know where you got that impression, but during peak periods and/or at high demand properties the result would be just the opposite or at least the same as previously experienced. When all Standard Rooms are sold out there will be NO rewards available. Last minute reservations means that other folks have had months to purchase or reserve awards from the available Standard Room inventory. Standard Rooms are the least expensive rooms at the hotel, and are the first inventory to be exhausted. At popular locations and during peak periods this may happen months in advance, leaving nothing for last minute award redemption. Under the Stay Anytime scenario at SOME hotels, under the old system they used rooms a step up from Standard Rooms for Stay Anytime availability thus increasing the availability for last minute redemption - albeit at double the points. FWIW, many of us refused to use Stay Anytime awards.

2nd post down from this thread. Quote from Ira's post.

And yes, I saw that one bit about limiting "special nights". above that in the linked thread....

You obviously missed my previous post (#46) in this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...-thread-4.html. The Marriott Marquis is sold out on the night of 12/31/09. The room you are seeing for sale is a result of your Platinum Override going into affect. Go to Marriott.com and click on the Sign Out link at the upper right corner of the page. Then check for availability at the Marriott Marquis and you will see that there are no rooms available for sale. No rooms for sale, means no award availability. As a Plat you can reserve a room under your override, so consider yourself much luckier then the Golds, Silvers, and general members in this regard.

Nice buzz, and very true in some cases. BUT, only hotels that are NOT sold out of Standard Rooms; hence my comment saying this will not be the case for peak periods and popular hotels that are sold out of Standard Rooms weeks or months in advance.

No, you can use your Travel Package cat 6 for any category 6 hotel at the moment you make your reservation till it expires. If you do not use it (or want to upgrade to cat 7) you have to return it for whatever partial value Marriott gives you which is very small since they count the miles at the full value and discount the hotel portion.

Your second question has nothing to do with the changes; this is a known issue for any program and any award reservation. There is no clear answer on that; sometimes the hotel will honor award reservations (or the rewards program will make it happen anyway), other times they will try to put you in a different hotel. The times I've read this and people really wanted to stay at the hotel usually they are able to work something out with the GM and the rewards program. However, if your hotel is suing Marriott.. then I am guessing the relationship is somewhat frosty and it may be a little bit harder. If you dont mind sharing, what hotel are you talking about?

I once had a one-night rewards stay scheduled for a FI in Orlando (pretty sure that was the city) but two days before my stay, I got an email telling me the property was no longer an FI. The hotel gave me the option of staying there for free, anyway. No points. No hassle. Just a free stay! IMO, that was the classiest thing the hotel could have done. It was above and beyond.