The changes to the Marriott Bonvoy program that I wrote about on August 15th are about to take effect. After tomorrow (i.e. starting on Saturday the 14th), the changes will be in effect.
In this article
The biggest things to note with the Marriott Bonvoy changes are:
- Peak and Off-Peak Pricing will take effect. If you have ANY bookings you are looking at now (as long as the cancellation period is reasonable), you should book now. If the date becomes off peak, you can cancel and rebook. If it goes up, you’re locked in.
- 5th night free will now be the lowest of the 5 nights if you book four nights peak and one off peak, this will make a difference.
And most importantly:
- Points Advance will Change: You will no longer be locking in a rate with points advance. The rate you will owe will be determined at the time you have enough points (which, I agree is ridiculous as you can’t plan). You are being permitted to make up to 5 Points Advance reservations now. These will (presumably) be honored at the price you are holding it at. I have four on hold now and will almost certainly book one more just in case. Starting Saturday you will only be permitted 3 Points Advance reservations (which, again, won’t even lock the rate on – only the availability).
What are you booking today / tomorrow?
Let me know here, on Twitter, or in the private MilesTalk Facebook group.
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“These will (presumably) be honored at the price you are holding it at.” I don’t believe this is correct. I have been holding one points advance reservation for about a month. The total points due just went up by 5000 points because one of the nights is now peak.
My understanding was that reservations before the 14th were locked in. I’ll see if I can get an official response from Marriott corporate.
This did happen during the last increase yet agents were able to make the reservations by adding in the difference.
Do let us know what you find out. I assumed it was locked in, but was unpleasantly surprised when I checked it yesterday.
Update… You are correct. I heard back from Marriott on twitter. “When you are ready to pull the points on the reservation, let us know, and we or reservations will make up the difference of 5,000 points, since you made this reservation prior to the 14th of September.
Thank you”.
Great to hear and thanks for reporting back 🙂