In the last six months a majority of the hotels in the UK have gone up by 1 category. Even the Marriott Marble Arch in London is a category 7.

So in the UK there has been a mass devaluation already. This may heve been influenced by the $/� rate. However from the other posts around it does seem to be happening globally. Both SydneyMarriotts are now 6 and Rio is 6. If you look at the number of hotels that are cat6 or cat7 it is significantly higher than a year ago.

I am fairly new to MR. I thought only 10% of a reward could come from purchased points. Can Elite status use unlimited purchased points?

Please reply today, since midnight is approaching!

The rule you cite is the old rule, as well as the policy starting tomorrow. In between, there have been a few months with no restrictions.

Thanks for the reply.
If I buy points today, what rule will apply to those points after midnight? Will I only be able to use them with the 10% rule or the no restriction rule? Is it even possible to know until someone redeems purchased points?

Where did everyone get that there will be a 10% restriction again?

Perhaps it might be easier to reconcile if one understands that points.com is buying points wholesale and re-selling them. It's not the same as when a person contacts Marriott to buy points to round out an award. It's more akin to an airline, car rental or credit card company giving the customer MRP's, except that one is just giving points.com cash instead of spending on a product and receiving points as a perk. That's my take anyway. I don't think there will be a limitation.

Regarding category creep, that goes on all the time, in both directions; properties crept down post-9/11 and have been creeping back up recently. I believe socrates explained it best as a function of internal compensation levels (what Marriott pays the hotel for our award stay), which are based on some proprietary formula. The "big" devaluation will be when it costs more points to buy the same category award, or when more categories are added and properties are shifted en-masse. That's what I meant. We're overdue, IMO. That's why I've burnt my award points/miles down to minimal levels.

Pat

I don't see where I can buy MR points on points.com. Is there another way to buy MR points without going through the Marriott web site?

See the OP in this thread, an exact quote of what was provided to me. Assuming it's accurate, that restriction will become part of the T&C.

click the "use points" link

counterintuitive I know

You can also call Marriott Rewards to make the purchase. 801 468 4000. When presented with options, press 0 for a rep. Expect to wait a while before anyone answers. As discussed earlier, expect to be limited to one 99,000 purchase on your call, versus the multiple purchases you can make online.

Today is the last day....

Just went for another 125k points in the dying hours of the deal. This was the 3rd and 4th use of the same card and I received confirmation e-mails and the available balance on my (US$ debit) card has immediately fallen by the US$ 1250 used + another $70 odd. I wonder whether this means that the system has actually let me buy the points, or might I later hear that they did not go through despite this ??

The real test will be when it comes to redeeming them post 8 March. Sometimes one has to live dangerously and indecision always has its price !

It means they have indeed charged your card. This is unlikely to fail unless you have tried sticking the points into a brand new account, which is clearly not the case. You won't get the points until Friday.

Is points.com the merchant on the credit card? What if you call MR directly? Just curious as Marriott(Travel) yield 2% back on Costco Amex True Rewards card.

Bought a bunch on Tuesday and got an email from Marriott on Thursday saying the points had been credited to my account. But they haven't shown up yet. I'll make a call if they're not there by Saturday.

As of this AM (03/08) they're still a penny!