One week left to book Suite Spots for 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points

March 5th.

That’s the day that Marriott’s top tier category comes online and, with it, ups the most expensive Marriott Bonvoy properties from 60,000 points to 85,000 points a night. On a 5 night (Remember, your 5th night is free on awards!) stay, that will ding you for an extra 100,000 points – or as much as the current entire Welcome Offer on both the Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card (Learn More) and Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card (Referral Offer).

I don’t know about you, but I hate spending more for the same thing – especially 100,000 points more!

What are the affected properties?

You can see all the affected properties by looking here at what is moving to Category 8.

All of the hotels and resorts that people have been buzzing about booking for 60,000 points are going up.

Hotels like the Gritti Palace in Venice, the St Regis Maldives, the W Maldives, the Al Maha Desert Resort near Dubai, and the St Regis Bora Bora are among those going up.

And that’s not all

Sometime later this year, peak and off-peak pricing will be introduced, taking that 60,000 point night that is now 85,000 points all the way up to 100,000 points a night – meaning that a reservation booked for a peak time at a top tier hotel will cost you two thirds more than booking it before next Tuesday.

Points Advance

Marriott does now allow one to hold any room without having the actual points. You just need to have the points by the weeks before your stay.

One bit of good news is that Marriott Confirmed Points Advance Rates will Apply to Category Changes. They also indicated, however, that it may not go smoothly and you may need to call to manually have the category held when you pay with points later, so I’ve advised pulling the points now for your most crucial reservations if possible.

But it’s a great time to take a few days and think hard about any stays you may want in the next 12 months. Better to book now at the current rates and cancel later – but with two caveats:

1. Some hotels have cancellation periods as long as a month out (or potentially longer) so review the terms to avoid possibly massive penalties for not canceling in time.
2. Other hotels are putting huge deposits on credit cards at time of booking as a form of deposit, but on award rates. While I think this is a bit of a slimy move by those hotels, all you can do is note it and either avoid those hotels or be aware they may charge your card now. Be sure to view the Rate Details in the booking channel to uncover this.

Here’s an example of the latter at the The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua:

What are you booking? Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.

New to all of this? My “introduction to miles and points” book, MilesTalk: Live Your Wildest Travel Dreams Using Miles and Points is available now.