Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program will be introducing off-peak/standard/peak award pricing starting 14th September. While the category of the hotels stay the same, expect to pay more or less in future – depending on the demand of a particular hotel that you are interested in.
To gain a better clarity on how the Marriott Bonvoy will work in future, you need to understand the following points when it comes to booking an award stay:
i) If you have enough points, this is the redemption chart that you should refer to.
This is how the award booking calendar will look like (see below screenshot) when you try to book an award room at any point in time from 14th September onwards. As mentioned earlier, the points you see on the award booking calendar is subjected to changes – based on the demand of the hotel at any point in time.
Note that the above booking calendar is a screenshot taken from the explanation video posted by Marriott Bonvoy. As the seasonal award pricing will kick in on 14th September, we cannot tell if the screenshot is a true reflection of how the distribution of the pricing will be like in future.
ii) If you do not have enough points, you can opt for points+cash redemption.
Same rule as mentioned earlier, the cash+points you see on the booking calendar will be subjected to changes – based on the demand of the hotel at any point in time. If you do not catch it, here is a 1 minute explanation video:
iii) If you do not have enough points, you can also choose “Points Advance”.
“Points Advance” allows you to lock in a room but not the rate as you continue to earn your points until it is sufficient enough to secure the reservation. Confused? Watch this 1 min video here:
Note that “Points Advance” works for both i) points redemption and ii) cash+points redemption. For the latter, the cash component is fixed but the points component varies (peak/standard/off-peak rates) until you have enough points to secure it – depending on the demand of the hotel at any particular point in time.
Conclusion
The seasonal pricing that Marriott Bonvoy is introducing is a double edged sword. Although it offers us i) more room availability at more expensive rates and ii) cheaper rates on off-peak period, Marriot may have the interest to use this seasonal pricing to conceal their intention of raising their redemption rates (more redemption = more cost for the hotel).
Nevertheless, rules always come with loopholes. Perhaps we can use “Points Advance” to lock in the room when the redemption rate is high and discard this soft booking and book solely with points when redemption rate switches from peak to off-peak/standard.
We’ve been loyal Marriott rewards since 2006. Also vacation club points owners, to the tune of $60K in closing cost. Marriott’s one sole and only interest, is to sell you more points. The support and follow up after the sale, is no existent. They have your money. When you go to book at least 9 months in advance. There is always an excuse why you can’t book a specific time period.
The Pre-Arrival Team have no idea of who you are or have a record of your past stays. So they ask you to provide a profile request. Pathetic! The new BONvOY has retracted perks from Marriott’s loyalty programs. Dropping members from Platinum to Gold elite, which now provides less perks as before. ex: Club floor/ breakfast privileges, are no long offered. They’ll continue loosing loyal guess, because they are too big now and don’t care. Hilton Honors will capitalize on Marriott’s mistakes.
Marriott´s Marbella Beach Resort
I have been a long time Marriott customer and have points. I did the points with cash. But with tickets at work the price is $145 cheaper and I don’t have to use mu points. I may cancel and just use my work discount. We don’t need the hotel until Nov so I may check back after Sept 14th
It is so sad that Marriott is using this strategy to devalue hard earned rewards points from loyal customers. I am a long time rewards member with over 3,000 paid nights, so I have seen many changes to the program over the last 20 years. It seems like Marriott is more interested in growing membership through acquisition of hotel chains than making their rewards program more appealing.