Good use of 5 night certificate

slomac · Jun 25, 2015

Trying to get some ideas on what to use our 5 night Marriott certificate for. We are a family of 5 and are tied to school schedules.

LAX Mom · Jun 25, 2015

What category is your certificate? Are you willing to bump it to a higher category with additional points?

What type of vacation are you looking for? Beach? City? Europe?

We have used MR certificates in Rome (twice), Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Paris. The best value is usually in Europe or Asia.

jancurious · Jun 25, 2015

We just used a 7 night, category 8, certificate at the Residence Inn in New York city. It was this one that overlooked Central Park. http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/nycpr-residence-inn-new-york-manhattan-central-park/

They gave us a spectacular corner room just like the picture on the 47th floor. We couldn't even hear street noise up there.

It was wonderful and at $400+ per night we felt we received good value and were able to stay in the U.S.A.

Jan

BocaBoy · Jun 25, 2015

LAX Mom said:
What category is your certificate? Are you willing to bump it to a higher category with additional points? The best value is usually in Europe or Asia.

Or New York City or Hawaii.

Toppermom · Jun 25, 2015

I would also like opinions on using MR points for a stay in Hawaii. On the Big Island the choices are a Courtyard (Cat 7), a Marriott Resort/Spa (cat 7) and an Autograph collection (cat 8). What is the collective wisdom of Tuggers?? i am planning a 5 night stay.

Thanks

Nyla

dioxide45 · Jun 25, 2015

Toppermom said:
I would also like opinions on using MR points for a stay in Hawaii. On the Big Island the choices are a Courtyard (Cat 7), a Marriott Resort/Spa (cat 7) and an Autograph collection (cat 8). What is the collective wisdom of Tuggers?? i am planning a 5 night stay.

Thanks

Nyla

I think the Big Island is the worst choice for Hawaii to use MR pionts or a five or seven night certificate for redemption. You can usually get hotel there for a fairly good price. Think the $200-$250 range. Better uses are on Maui or Oahu where prices tend to be higher. They are a high category for such a cheap hotel on cash.

alchook · Jun 25, 2015

Toppermom said:
I would also like opinions on using MR points for a stay in Hawaii. On the Big Island the choices are a Courtyard (Cat 7), a Marriott Resort/Spa (cat 7) and an Autograph collection (cat 8). What is the collective wisdom of Tuggers?? i am planning a 5 night stay.

Thanks

Nyla

I just booked a 5 night package at the Mauna Kea. From what I've read it's clearly an upgrade over Waikola.

Safti · Jun 25, 2015

We are using our 5 night TP certificate this summer. We have a 5 night category 5 certificate. We are staying at the Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Vancouver. It's a category 7. We upgraded by spending 35K points. The hotel is $649 a night otherwise so we feel like it's a good use of our TP.

Mr. Vker · Jun 25, 2015

Costa Rica? St Kitts? Europe? IMHO look for high cost properties that will allow you to visit and wouldn't want to pay for. That's what we use them for.

MichaelColey · Jun 25, 2015

It's a tough call for us. If we're staying 5 nights, we would much rather stay in a TIMESHARE than a hotel. And if we're staying in a timeshare, it's much cheaper to just exchange in (for us).

But the general wisdom is Europe, Asia, NYC, Hawaii, etc. Those are the places where you usually get the best redemption value.

BocaBoy · Jun 26, 2015

Toppermom said:
I would also like opinions on using MR points for a stay in Hawaii. On the Big Island the choices are a Courtyard (Cat 7), a Marriott Resort/Spa (cat 7) and an Autograph collection (cat 8). What is the collective wisdom of Tuggers?? i am planning a 5 night stay.

Thanks

Nyla

The Mauna Kea is a wonderful resort. It is not cheap and I would use MR points there is a heartbeat.

Toppermom · Jun 26, 2015

BocaBoy said:
The Mauna Kea is a wonderful resort. It is not cheap and I would use MR points there is a heartbeat.

I just booked 5 nights at the Mauna Kea for April 2016 and am looking forward to the stay! Interestingly, the cancellation policy is 2 weeks prior to arrival. Not a problem, but I have not seen that before!

Thank you,

Nyla

dioxide45 · Jun 26, 2015

Toppermom said:
I just booked 5 nights at the Mauna Kea for April 2016 and am looking forward to the stay! Interestingly, the cancellation policy is 2 weeks prior to arrival. Not a problem, but I have not seen that before!

Thank you,

Nyla

I think most of the Hawaii properties is 7 days before arrival. Since this is really an independent hotel with an affiliation with Marriott, a longer cancellation policy isn't too surprising.

Big Matt · Jun 27, 2015

My suggestion would be to try to use the 5 night certificate as part of a ten day trip where you are getting five nights via points Sunday through Thursday. That way you can maximize the airfare portion.

Don't be afraid to stay in a Residence Inn. You get a full kitchen and can transition easily to/from a timeshare.

Your best values for using the five night certificate is going to be in places that are lower priced to begin with. It would be real easy to do something like Orlando (timeshare) then a beach oriented stay with the certificate somewhere a couple hours from Orlando. Same trick could work with Newport Beach and San Diego or LA. Maybe Williamsburg and Virginia Beach or Williamsburg and Washington, DC or Baltimore.

BocaBoy · Jun 27, 2015

Big Matt said:
Your best values for using the five night certificate is going to be in places that are lower priced to begin with. It would be real easy to do something like Orlando (timeshare) then a beach oriented stay with the certificate somewhere a couple hours from Orlando. Same trick could work with Newport Beach and San Diego or LA. Maybe Williamsburg and Virginia Beach or Williamsburg and Washington, DC or Baltimore.

Perhaps I am not understanding your point, but it seems to me that the best values for using a 5-night certificate are the higher priced properties. Could you elaborate on your reasoning?

BocaBoy · Jun 27, 2015

Toppermom said:
I just booked 5 nights at the Mauna Kea for April 2016 and am looking forward to the stay! Interestingly, the cancellation policy is 2 weeks prior to arrival. Not a problem, but I have not seen that before!

You see a 14-day cancellation deadline at several of the top Hawaii resorts. As one example, it is the policy at the Grand Wailea on Maui, where we stayed last November. All of the Marriott timeshares in Hawaii except the Kauai Beach Club also have 14-day cancellation policies for stays booked on marriott.com.

Big Matt · Jun 27, 2015

I disagree that the best option is to use on higher priced properties. The properties are already priced on a per point basis so lower or higher are already adjusted. My suggestion is about getting value out of both airfare and staying in properties (Residence Inn) that allow you the same kitchen, etc. and leveraging the same rental care, etc. Staying where you can leverage the lower priced five night stays just saves you money.

If you are looking at the flight and five night stay as totally separate transactions, then do whatever floats your boat.

BocaBoy said:
Perhaps I am not understanding your point, but it seems to me that the best values for using a 5-night certificate are the higher priced properties. Could you elaborate on your reasoning?

dioxide45 · Jun 27, 2015

Big Matt said:
I disagree that the best option is to use on higher priced properties. The properties are already priced on a per point basis so lower or higher are already adjusted. My suggestion is about getting value out of both airfare and staying in properties (Residence Inn) that allow you the same kitchen, etc. and leveraging the same rental care, etc. Staying where you can leverage the lower priced five night stays just saves you money.

If you are looking at the flight and five night stay as totally separate transactions, then do whatever floats your boat.

So what you are saying is to only get a category 5 certificate instead of a category 9?

MichaelColey · Jun 27, 2015

I would certainly go for a category 5 (or the lowest category that met my needs). The hotel portion of the package is the worst value, so I wouldn't want to waste more points on that than I had to. I'd rather have more points left over towards my next package, and maximize my miles.

radmoo · Jun 28, 2015

We opted for 5 night Category 5 cert when we cashed miles to fly biz class to Asia. Imwas able to extend cert and now using it for stay at fairfield inn ( cat 5) in San Carlos, CA. Going to visit grandkids over the Fourth and staying at the house is tight, to say the least. We only need to pay one night and marriott agent split res so we pay for week-end night which us $100 less than week night. So no, it us not luxury property but it does afford us opportunity for comfortable visit. Aldo cashed in miles for first class flights outbound . This is reality when families reside thousands of miles apart.

dmharris · Jun 28, 2015

Safti said:
We are using our 5 night TP certificate this summer. We have a 5 night category 5 certificate. We are staying at the Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Vancouver. It's a category 7. We upgraded by spending 35K points. The hotel is $649 a night otherwise so we feel like it's a good use of our TP.

What is a "TP" certificate? TIA.

dioxide45 · Jun 28, 2015

dmharris said:
What is a "TP" certificate? TIA.

TP=Travel Package

Fairwinds · Jun 28, 2015

I don't know how the math works but I always feel like I can splurge on accommodations when using points. I know in the long run I'll just have to use the wallet sooner but that's when I wear my pants with deep pockets.

Big Matt · Jun 28, 2015

Yes. That's why my examples included places that you can get category 5 stays in a Residence Inn for a good value. I'd be fine with category 6 if that's what it takes.

My definition of value is based on a number of things including space, proximity to attractions, free breakfast (and more), a kitchen and BBQ grills to save on eating out, a pool, on site washer and dryer, and multiple beds and sleep sofas.

For example, take my Williamsburg and DC ten day stay. It is simple to get a Sunday to Thursday at Manor Club. Use minimal points and drive up to DC and stay at any number of RIs from Old Town Alexandria, Arlington, or even in DC proper for category 5 or 6. Use the airfare for either flying into DC or save the miles for a better value.

dioxide45 said:
So what you are saying is to only get a category 5 certificate instead of a category 9?

ccpinternational · Jun 28, 2015

Safti said:
We are using our 5 night TP certificate this summer. We have a 5 night category 5 certificate. We are staying at the Marriott Pinnacle Downtown Vancouver. It's a category 7. We upgraded by spending 35K points. The hotel is $649 a night otherwise so we feel like it's a good use of our TP.

I still like the Renaissance cross the street with more rooms overlooking the harbor. And it has better service than the Marriott (at least for platinum guest).

Good use of 5 night certificate

slomac

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LAX Mom

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jancurious

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BocaBoy

Toppermom

dioxide45

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alchook

Safti

Mr. Vker

MichaelColey

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BocaBoy

Toppermom

dioxide45

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Big Matt

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BocaBoy

BocaBoy

Big Matt

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dioxide45

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MichaelColey

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radmoo

dmharris

dioxide45

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Fairwinds

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Big Matt

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ccpinternational