Marriott Destination Points

[icydog]

I’m confused. Why would the points from a canceled few days go into holding?

Also, I was able to add a night to a Hawaiian DC reservation. I did it in August for a July reservation without any issue at all. I can’t spell the name of the place but it’s the newly converted resort on the Big Island.

There was lots of availability so that may be why. But I just don’t get why points, taken off the back end or front end of a reservation, would cause those points to be placed in holding?.

 

[JIMinNC]

I’m confused. Why would the points from a canceled few days go into holding?

Because of this language in the program documents that Fasttr quoted above:

If a reservation is modified prior to the first day of a confirmed Use Period to result in a shorter duration than would have been permitted at the time the reservation was made, any Exchange Points restored to the Program Member shall be placed into the Program Member’s Holding Account, subject to the restrictions on Holding Accounts as set forth in these Exchange Procedures.

 

[dioxide45]

Because of this language in the program documents that Fasttr quoted above:

If a reservation is modified prior to the first day of a confirmed Use Period to result in a shorter duration than would have been permitted at the time the reservation was made, any Exchange Points restored to the Program Member shall be placed into the Program Member’s Holding Account, subject to the restrictions on Holding Accounts as set forth in these Exchange Procedures.

But if you reserve a 10 night stay at 12/13 months and cancel the first three prior to the 10 month mark. Those points shouldn't go in to a holding account? If one is a level where you can book 1+ nights at 13 months, it really wouldn't matter when you cancel as long as you do it before 60 days from checkin.

 

[JIMinNC]

But if you reserve a 10 night stay at 12/13 months and cancel the first three prior to the 10 month mark. Those points shouldn't go in to a holding account? If one is a level where you can book 1+ nights at 13 months, it really wouldn't matter when you cancel as long as you do it before 60 days from checkin.

What you say makes sense, but then so did Fasttr when he posted that verbiage. I don't know what the answer is. As I said earlier in this thread, thinking through all these ways to stretch a reservation makes my head hurt...

 

[Fasttr]

But if you reserve a 10 night stay at 12/13 months and cancel the first three prior to the 10 month mark. Those points shouldn't go in to a holding account? If one is a level where you can book 1+ nights at 13 months, it really wouldn't matter when you cancel as long as you do it before 60 days from checkin.

The concept contemplated is a bit diffferent. The example was wanting to rent a 7 night ressie...but the desired check in date has not yet been released to be booked yet, so you book more days than the 7 you really want with the sole purpose of getting a jump start on the nights you really want. Then after the fact, you cancel the extra nights you had to book at the beginning of your string of nights in order to game the system into allowing you to secure the 7 nights you really wanted . We are contemplating MVC would cite the policy as applying to that situation as well.

To summarize....had it not been for adding the extra nights at the beginning, you would not have been able to book the 7 nights you end up with on the day that you actually booked the initial 10 night ressie.

 

[1Kflyerguy]

I read about this in some forum, do not remember which one. It is a terrible situation to be in, once you close a sale and find out that accounts cannot be combined.

agreed, that does not sound good. I will need to research that more before i add additional points.

 

[dioxide45]

The concept contemplated is a bit diffferent. The example was wanting to rent a 7 night ressie...but the desired check in date has not yet been released to be booked yet, so you book more days than the 7 you really want with the sole purpose of getting a jump start on the nights you really want. Then after the fact, you cancel the extra nights you had to book at the beginning of your string of nights in order to game the system into allowing you to secure the 7 nights you really wanted . We are contemplating MVC would cite the policy as applying to that situation as well.

To summarize....had it not been for adding the extra nights at the beginning, you would not have been able to book the 7 nights you end up with on the day that you actually booked the initial 10 night ressie.

Thanks for the explanation, that makes sense now.

 

[rahulgopi]

This will work for us as we travel week 50 / 51 / 52. School close around Dec 15 and we are good to travel after that. I have no intention to game the system but if I can get 14 days from Dec 15/16/17 to Dec 30, that will be more then sufficient . I am hoping this is doable 13 months out.

 

[rahulgopi]

agreed, that does not sound good. I will need to research that more before i add additional points.

I read about this from a redweek.com post. I am not sure whether this is true, someone who have attempted this may confirm. Here is what the poster said

<QUOTE from redweek.com>
A realtor who deals in timeshares has told me that something changed recently. If you have some existing points and your anniversary date is July 1, and, you buy point from someone who has an anniversary date of Jan 1, then, Marriott will no longer combine those, you'll have 2 accounts. This changed, if true, within the last month or so. Has anyone else encountered this? So, makes it a little harder to find suitable resale candidates if you already have some points.

 

[VacationForever]

I read about this from a redweek.com post. I am not sure whether this is true, someone who have attempted this may confirm. Here is what the poster said

<QUOTE from redweek.com>
A realtor who deals in timeshares has told me that something changed recently. If you have some existing points and your anniversary date is July 1, and, you buy point from someone who has an anniversary date of Jan 1, then, Marriott will no longer combine those, you'll have 2 accounts. This changed, if true, within the last month or so. Has anyone else encountered this? So, makes it a little harder to find suitable resale candidates if you already have some points.

I do not know if this is true. But since most DC points accounts start in January, it is far more likely you find accounts that start in January as opposed to other months. Marriott makes January the anniversary month for DC points when a weeks owner buys DC points so that they coincide with the weeks start month, which is always January; similarly when a new owner buys a combo/hybrid package.

 

[SueDonJ]

It's always been true that the Use Year of Trust Points can't be changed when resold, but I don't think there's ever been a question of whether Trust Points with different Use Years can be in the same owner account. It doesn't make much sense that they wouldn't allow different Use Year DC Points in the same account but a combo of DC Points and Weeks is allowed.

Hasn't the requirement always been that everything in a single account must be similarly titled? Is it possible that this realtor is confusing the deeded Use Year issue with the titling issue? Or maybe s/he thought that Use Years could be changed when resold, to realign the Use Years of all DC Points in a single account?

 

[GregT]

I think there is a terminology issue here -- I've rented Trust Points with different Usage Period than my Elected Points, and they were never combined into the same Usage Period -- they always kept their original Usage Period (ie, October - September).

The comment is written in a manner that suggests that those Transferred Points aren't accessible in my original account -- which makes no sense because I would have to provide an account number to be able to receive the Trust Points. So, perhaps something is different, but it's not clear to me what it is. I would speculate that things have not changed systematically, and it is the User's experience that is different.

Best,

Greg

 

[rahulgopi]

The important question here is, if I have 6500 points with Dec anniversary and buy another 1500 points with July anniversary, how does the final account look ? Will it all be combined to have Dec anniversary ? . If the accounts are not combined, will the owner still be eligible for exec benefits as he have more than 7000 points BUT with to different anniversary dates.

 

[SueDonJ]

The important question here is, if I have 6500 points with Dec anniversary and buy another 1500 points with July anniversary, how does the final account look ? Will it all be combined to have Dec anniversary ? . If the accounts are not combined, will the owner still be eligible for exec benefits as he have more than 7000 points BUT with to different anniversary dates.

If this recent report is just a misunderstanding, as it appears to be, and not a change in how MVW is processing accounts, and everything you own is titled similarly, then yes, you should have a single account with 6,500 DC Points with a Dec-Nov Use Year and 1,500 DC Points with a Jul-Jun Use Year, and your status usage/benefits will be based on the combined total of 8,000 DC Points.

 

[Fasttr]

If this recent report is just a misunderstanding, as it appears to be, and not a change in how MVW is processing accounts, and everything you own is titled similarly, then yes, you should have a single account with 6,500 DC Points with a Dec-Nov Use Year and 1,500 DC Points with a Jul-Jun Use Year, and your status usage/benefits will be based on the combined total of 8,000 DC Points.

I agree. As additional evidence....even if you have two batches of Trust points with the SAME use year, the points are segregated within the same account as to the date the points purchase contact was signed or closed....so its easy to identify specifically each basket of points within your account. So if you purchased 3000 points on 10/1/16 and 2000 more on 5/1/17, regardless of use year, your account will not simply show you having 5000 points, it breaks it down into 3000 points from your 10/1/16 purchase and 2000 points from your 5/1/17 purchase. So since they are already broken out no matter the Use Year, I find it hard to believe having different Use Years adds any more challenge to the tracking process inside the same account.

 

[kds4]

Because the 'use year' for resale points will not be adjusted to match the 'use year' of other existing points a buyer already has it is a good idea to ensure you know what the use year is for particular resale points before you purchase (unless managing multiple use years does not bother you or this is your first points purchase - meaning it may be the only use year you will have to worry about). When we shopped for resale points, we looked for a use year to match our weeks and other points owned for just this reason. While it narrowed down the available resale points for us to choose from using this criteria, it has made managing our portfolio much simpler.

 

[dioxide45]

Having different use years/periods just seems like it would limit the period of time where you can combine the points for a single reservation. So if you have a Jan-Dec use year and a Jul-Jun use year, if you are using your 2017 Jan-Dec points, you can only combine those with the other points for a reservation from Jul-Dec. Of course there is always borrowing and banking, so effectively this may or may not matter much.

 

[Dean]

Having different use years/periods just seems like it would limit the period of time where you can combine the points for a single reservation. So if you have a Jan-Dec use year and a Jul-Jun use year, if you are using your 2017 Jan-Dec points, you can only combine those with the other points for a reservation from Jul-Dec. Of course there is always borrowing and banking, so effectively this may or may not matter much.

I doubt it'll matter much because you can always bank/borrow. The main issue is whether the system will pull the most restricted points first but it doesn't now when you have banked and non banked points as it pulls the ones that expire first ignoring banking options. I think it's always a good idea to take a screenshot of your points before you do any reservations. If it pulls the wrong ones and you let them know relatively soon, they'll easily fix it. After a while they aren't as willing to do so. I deal with 2 DVC UY and have had as many as 3 in the past. I also have 2 home resorts with as many as 3 in the past which is pertinent since DVC has a home resort priority. I also have 4 different UY with Bluegreen. DVC is a little more difficult to deal with in this area because of the home resort priority, BG not so much. I'd think the process would be more like that of Bluegreen and easier than DVC.

 

[urfriend]

The operative language may be:

to result in a shorter duration than would have been permitted at the time the reservation was made

So in this case you are suggesting, the inventory would go into holding not because it was cancelled inside of 60 days, but because the resulting shorter duration trip after you cancelled the extra days "would not have been permitted at the time the reservation was made"

The only time the holding account would happen is if you were Standard or Select owner and you booked 7+ nights, then lowered it to 6 or less nights. Because those 2 owners can't book less that 7 nights until 10 months in advance. So, if you book 7 nights at 12 or 13 months in advance and at any time shorten the stay to less than 7 nights, those points go into the holding account to prevent lower owners from booking outside their booking window. Executive, Presidential & Chairman's can book 13 months 1 + nights and change and cancel without receiving holding points until 61 days prior to arrival. On release days if those dates area available you can book out as far as it is available. Some owners book 10 - 20 days out on release days, it just depends on how far out MVC releases dates.

If you cancel the entire reservation then there isn't any penalty, unless you are within 60 days then you get holding points no matter what the reason is the reservation is being canceled. So, if the reservation is available then just cancel the reservation and re-book what you want to avoid holding points.

 

[dioxide45]

The only time the holding account would happen is if you were Standard or Select owner and you booked 7+ nights, then lowered it to 6 or less nights. Because those 2 owners can't book less that 7 nights until 10 months in advance. So, if you book 7 nights at 12 or 13 months in advance and at any time shorten the stay to less than 7 nights, those points go into the holding account to prevent lower owners from booking outside their booking window. Executive, Presidential & Chairman's can book 13 months 1 + nights and change and cancel without receiving holding points until 61 days prior to arrival. On release days if those dates area available you can book out as far as it is available. Some owners book 10 - 20 days out on release days, it just depends on how far out MVC releases dates.

If you cancel the entire reservation then there isn't any penalty, unless you are within 60 days then you get holding points no matter what the reason is the reservation is being canceled. So, if the reservation is available then just cancel the reservation and re-book what you want to avoid holding points.

I think what Jim was trying to convey is that if you cancel the leading nights of a reservation, then technically you were not permitted to make the reservation when you did. If I call on 11/14/2017 to book an 11 nights on starting on 12/18/2018, that gives me early access to that holiday week as someone booking for a reservation starting on the 19th or after would have to wait until 11/21 to call. If I then later cancel the night of 12/18, I have technically modified the reservation to something that I wouldn't have been eligible for when I called on 11/14/2017. It seems though that Marriott is not sophisticated enough to identify when this happens, or they aren't worried about it.

 

[urfriend]

I think what Jim was trying to convey is that if you cancel the leading nights of a reservation, then technically you were not permitted to make the reservation when you did. If I call on 11/14/2017 to book an 11 nights on starting on 12/18/2018, that gives me early access to that holiday week as someone booking for a reservation starting on the 19th or after would have to wait until 11/21 to call. If I then later cancel the night of 12/18, I have technically modified the reservation to something that I wouldn't have been eligible for when I called on 11/14/2017. It seems though that Marriott is not sophisticated enough to identify when this happens, or they aren't worried about it.

They know owners do that and allow you to. Owners do the same when booking multiple weeks at 13 months. They use their weeks to get consecutive dates and then later call in and cancel the earlier date they don't want. There isn't a penalty "currently" for doing that. Who knows if they will change the rules, but right now there isn't a penalty.

 

[dioxide45]

They know owners do that and allow you to. Owners do the same when booking multiple weeks at 13 months. They use their weeks to get consecutive dates and then later call in and cancel the earlier date they don't want. There isn't a penalty "currently" for doing that. Who knows if they will change the rules, but right now there isn't a penalty.

Good to know, thanks!