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New Marriott Rewards Property Categories and Travel Package Requirements effective Aug '18

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Saintsfanfl

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Yes, they can still upgrade you. Upgrades are based on the individual property. It can even be influenced by the actual owner.
 

NJDave

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Any new info on the mapping? It looks like all the categories from 6-9 are really dropping down two levels give or take. I cannot imagine buying a cat 7 package and being able to use it to reserve a new cat 7 category. I just don't see them doing that. That said, is there any harm is buying the highest category packages and then seeing how it plays out? Is there any downside to that, besides not being able to get as many packages before 8/1?

I am sitting on 1,064,000 points. I am leaning towards doing four Cat 6 packages. If I go any higher in cat, then it drops to only 3 packages. Unless I buy SPG points on my DW and transfer them. Then I could do four Cat 7 packages.

I have never redeemed for a travel package so I am looking for advice. I definitely want to do them before 8/1.

I am also thinking that a category 6 is the sweet spot. It is logical that if they remap that 6 and 7 both get categorized as 5. Category 5 has some possibilities. I don't think a new 4 has many options so I would reserve a current 5.

Having said that, since the hotel that I am targeting is currently a category 7 and becoming a 5, I plan on booking a 7. I don't want to risk reserving a category 6 even though I think Marriott will map a current 6 and 7 the same if they map by category and don't do a pure points value mapping (i.e. provide credit for the number of points under the old system and charge the additional points under the new system).

If I had 1 million points and no targeted hotels, I would hedge my bet and not get all the packages all in the same category. May get two 6's, one 7 and one 8? You wouldn't need many more points.
 

JanT

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I see a lot of people are booking 5 night packages vs 7 night packages and the reference to it being a better value. Can someone explain why the preference for 5 day? Anywhere we typically would use the package we would go for 7 days but I'm just curious about the 5 night package being a better deal.
 

jeepie

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I see a lot of people are booking 5 night packages vs 7 night packages and the reference to it being a better value. Can someone explain why the preference for 5 day? Anywhere we typically would use the package we would go for 7 days but I'm just curious about the 5 night package being a better deal.
Many people find the most value is derived from the airline miles portion of the TP. You can do the math and see what is best for you. If you do intend to use the 7 day package, then I believe you really need to compare the cost now vs. after August 1. I think you will find it quite beneficial to get them before 8/1. Cheers.
 

Saintsfanfl

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5-night has been the default because over time you end up with more packages, and therefore more miles. It doesn’t mean much right now because if you only have the points for one or two, it’s the same miles whether you do cat 5 or 7.

My situation is a little different because if I add another 21,000 points I can do five cat5 packages. Or I can sit tight and do three 6 and one 8. I’m leaning toward the five packages so I get another 120,000 miles and then deal with the mapping or converting later.
 

NiteMaire

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I’m leaning toward the five packages so I get another 120,000 miles and then deal with the mapping or converting later.

That's what I would do.
 

Steve A

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I always buy the seven night packages since we use them to go to Europe and it doesn’t make any sense just to go for five nights. I often add one or two nights using points.

Our May 2019 trip to London will probably be the last time we use Marriott points to go on any major trip. I just don’t see how I can accumulate enough points. I’m considering getting rid of my Marriott and SPG credit cards and finding something more useful. I might keep them though for the free nights.
 

JanT

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How many miles do the 5 night packages receive?

5-night has been the default because over time you end up with more packages, and therefore more miles. It doesn’t mean much right now because if you only have the points for one or two, it’s the same miles whether you do cat 5 or 7.

My situation is a little different because if I add another 21,000 points I can do five cat5 packages. Or I can sit tight and do three 6 and one 8. I’m leaning toward the five packages so I get another 120,000 miles and then deal with the mapping or converting later.
 

NiteMaire

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You can’t use the hotel certificates portion for timeshare, can you? Just curious you mentioned the cove?
You can, but I've yet to find an MVC property with availability during the time I wanted. The ones I've looked at were Cat 8 with no openings...ever, or at least when I wanted.

Refresh my memory about the cove. It doesn't sound familiar to me.
 

jewls

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You can, but I've yet to find an MVC property with availability during the time I wanted. The ones I've looked at were Cat 8 with no openings...ever, or at least when I wanted.

Refresh my memory about the cove. It doesn't sound familiar to me.
I’ve never seen one available either. That’s why I didn’t think they could be used. Has anyone ever had any luck?
 

NiteMaire

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Frenchmans Cove, st. Thomas
I was able to get Frenchman's Cove on an instant exchange, not a certificate. I'm sorry, but I don't remember my comment about using a certificate at MFC. I'll edit this if it comes to mind.
 

skifast

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We were able to get a nice 2-bedroom home at the MVC Village-D’ile-de-France resort outside of Paris (near Disneyland Paris) on a travel package. It was late March spring break, so certainly not high season for Paris. People were amazed that we got it.
Great trip, nice resort and location.
Highly recommended!
 

billhall

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I purchased several 7 day travel packages but added 2*5day 100k miles packages
(215,000 each) to use up my last 430,000 MRP. 200k airline miles was better than just 120k miles with a single cat 5 7 day package at 270000 or 5 day at 235000.

Now to see what August brings for upgrades or hotel rules.
 

hpy2go

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As this is the right community to think out loud, and get constructive feedback, I'm going to chime in a bit. I have probably three different topics in this (long) post, but I'm not sure where else to post, so I'm starting here. Sorry.

I did talk to a Customer Service representative late last week. She was tremendously helpful and effective for the issue I called about, but she was also knowledgeable and practical when it came to advice about these changes. I felt she was honest and open about what she knew, vice what she thought. Here are my key takeaways from that conversation:

1) Yes, the value of points will be going down.
2) Marriott will be honoring reservations made with certificates before 8/1. (She said 8/1, because she knows August but not the precise date). Having the reservation is the only guarantee of value.
3) For the cat 1-5 certificate that I have, but intend to "upgrade" when I settle my plan, it is not clear what the upgrade will mean. I'm better upgrading and making the reservation before that 8/1 date. Only upgrading may not get what I want, points/value wise.
4) She wasn't 100% that there would be travel packages after 8/1 (although I see others have posted the tables with expected new values).

As others have said, this makes me wonder about the long term value of the MRP for travel packages. :( :(

So, what to do? I'm frustrated that I am too busy to sort through all these changes right now. I've all but given up hope to get to Lifetime Platinum by 12/31. (Although I'm not really sure of the value between the new Lifetime Platinum Elite [from my current Lifetime Gold] and the Lifetime Platinum Premier Elite [from a potential Lifetime Platinum by 12/31]). I've found the travel packages to be a tremendous value to us. We've flown to Hawaii for $44.20 (for 2) from the East Coast. We've spent a week at the Mauna Kea Resort (due to great advice from fellow TUGGers). My wife has made about a dozen Southwest flights on companion passes with me, including Cancun, Punta Cana, Aruba, San Antonio, multiple Denver/Colorado Springs, Las Vegas, etc. (looking at weekends in New Orleans, Bahamas, Turks and Caicos). We're using the heck out of that deal between now and the end of the year. Here's where I welcome feedback and ideas.

1) I have a 7-day cert that I've extended once. I think I want to use it before the year ends (and the SWA companion pass), to complete our "Southwest Airlines Year". It seems to me the sweet spot is to use that at a place that Southwest flies (free flight, free stay). JW Marriott in Cabo seems the top choice right now, for 90K more points. Other suggestions? Maybe I should disconnect the certificate and the Companion pass in my thinking and consider different options.

2) With the rest of the points I currently have, I'm thinking that I may want to get another 7-day package and try for a week in Santorini at a Starwood property, followed by a week in Son Antem with my MVC points. I have no idea if I can:

a) Use my MRP for a Starwood location on Santorini
b) How many points that would be (what category)
c) If I could get a reservation, at a time that it would work (weather, work, etc.) Thinking next May or July-September.
d) I could sequence those two visits with availability.

If that could work out, I'm think about this itinerary: Fly to Athens (which airline is best to use for potential upgrades to Business???). Spend a day there. Fly or ferry to Santorini, spend a week. Fly to somewhere that I could get to Mallorca - maybe spend a day there if that breaks up the trip nicely. Spend a week at Son Antem. Return home, even if it means another stopover day (Barcelona is nice! :) )

Any thoughts, fellow TUGGers?

Thanks in advance, and again, sorry for the long post. Also sorry if this isn't the right topic.
 

Jwerking

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Just booked three 7-night and two 5-night travel packages for a total of 1.16M MR points using both my account and hubby's account. We have not booked a TP for probably 10 years. Now booked for a 3 week trip in May 2019 to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Brussels. Will use American miles over and Alaskan air miles back with free stopover in Iceland for 7 days where we will rent AirBnb accommodations. Will be a nice vacation even though unplanned - glad we are retired and have plenty of time.

Data Points:

1. Called MVCI executive line: Rep was NOT able to transfer MR points between the spousal accts. I booked 4 TPs with her and made one 7-night award hotel reservation - however, the rep was NOT able to attach the hotel certificate to the reservation. This rep admitted that she was new to booking TPs, so it could be possible she did not know to do some of the processes required.

2. Transferred by MVCI to Marriott Rewards and was on hold for only about 15 minutes - hooray! The rep transferred MR points from hubby's acct to my account, booked the last TP, and made two 7-night award hotel reservations along with attaching the hotel certificates. She also attached the hotel certificate to the award reservation previously made by the MVCI rep.

Questions:

1. While I received email confirmations for all 3 TPs in my account, I only have 2 hotel certificates and 2 TPs deducted from my MR account ( I am missing one of the 7-night packages). Should I give the system a few days to post all transactions to my account before calling the MR number to seek correction.

2. Upgrade to Executive Level Room with Lounge Access: Have a 7-night award reservation at the Brussels Marriott Grand Palace (Cat 7) for an Executive Room - which requires more MR points (240K) than a deluxe room (210K). The 7-night cat 7 hotel certificate was successfully attached to the reservation with no problem. Will the hotel notice upon check-in and request additional points for the upgrade?? Will they provide us Lounge Access by switching the reservation to my MR number, since I have Gold status, upon check-in?
 

Jwerking

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1) I have a 7-day cert that I've extended once. I think I want to use it before the year ends (and the SWA companion pass), to complete our "Southwest Airlines Year". It seems to me the sweet spot is to use that at a place that Southwest flies (free flight, free stay). JW Marriott in Cabo seems the top choice right now, for 90K more points. Other suggestions? Maybe I should disconnect the certificate and the Companion pass in my thinking and consider different options.

We liked Cabo San Lucas when we spent a month there in Jan/Feb a few yrs ago as we could easily wall into town from our timeshare and get some very reasonable authentic Mexican food. However, the JW Marriott is located in St Jose del Cabo - which is about 30 miles from where we stayed. So cannot speak to this part of Cabo. It is hot there - so if you are visiting this year, I would suggest in Nov or Dec after the hurricane season is over and temps are milder.
 

ejp

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I'd like some advise. We only have about 350k points but would like to take advantage of the highest mileage to transfer (120k for Southwest), not sure which category hotel level I should buy - either 7 or 8, or 9. We have no immediate plans for travel, we'd like to go to Australia/New Zealand or Barcelona/Madrid by taking a Collette tour. Should I also try to purchase spg points and convert to get more points to then buy another package. We are set to choose Southwest since my husband has many trips to go up the Northern California for football games this coming season. Any comments would help clear my confusion. THANKS
 

Saintsfanfl

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I'd like some advise. We only have about 350k points but would like to take advantage of the highest mileage to transfer (120k for Southwest), not sure which category hotel level I should buy - either 7 or 8, or 9. We have no immediate plans for travel, we'd like to go to Australia/New Zealand or Barcelona/Madrid by taking a Collette tour. Should I also try to purchase spg points and convert to get more points to then buy another package. We are set to choose Southwest since my husband has many trips to go up the Northern California for football games this coming season. Any comments would help clear my confusion. THANKS

I would if it is by the 20th so you get the 35% off. Otherwise I would book the cat 9 5-night package for 345,000.
 
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