Changes to be announced next week for MR

[GreenTea]

We will get night credit on award stays now! http://thepointsguy.com/2015/10/marriott-rewards-program-changes-coming/

 

[Bill4728]

Here are the main points:

More details are coming on Monday, but for now we know the following, based on the post (and confirmed with a Marriott representative):

Points Advance – Available now! Marriott Rewards and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards members are able to book redemption stays before having sufficient points to cover the cost of that stay.
Points Sharing – Beginning Oct. 12, 2015 Marriott Rewards and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards members will have the ability to share points with friends and family. Members can transfer up to 50,000 points from their account each year!
Redemption Stay Credit – Starting Nov. 1, 2015 Marriott Rewards and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards members will earn Elite night credit on redemption nights paid for with points.
NEW Cash + Points – Coming in early 2016, the NEW Cash + Points will give Rewards members the flexibility to use a mix of cash and points to cover single or multi-night redemption stays.


Read more: http://thepointsguy.com/2015/10/marriott-rewards-program-changes-coming/#ixzz3nvsLE0Ss

 

[mpizza]

Yes!!!

Points Sharing – Beginning Oct. 12, 2015 Marriott Rewards and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards members will have the ability to share points with friends and family. Members can transfer up to 50,000 points from their account each year!

Maria

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

This is good news. This makes me wonder if one is able to "sell" 50,000 MRP's each year to another member in need...



.

 

[UK Fan]

This is great news!

 

[GetawaysRus]

Frankly, this may be too little and too late for me. I'm likely to jump ship. I have both Marriott Gold status and Starwood Gold status. I think I get much more value from SPG points in the Starwood program than from Marriott reward points. Marriott has devalued their program heavily. I've been loyal to Marriott for years, but in 2016, I'll probably focus more on SPG stays and earning SPG points than MRPs.

 

[SueDonJ]

Here's the thread on Marriott Rewards Insiders - Exclusive News: Introducing the Fab Four "More information regarding the Fab Four will be provided on Monday, October 12."

 

[dioxide45]

Will you still be able to transfer an unlimited number of points between spouses when redeeming a reward? Just waiting for our points from converting our Harbour Lake week to MR points to show up in my MR account so we can convert a bunch of points to a travel package for Europe next year. Though that will require transferring more than 50K points from DWs account to mine.

 

[dualrated2]

Will you still be able to transfer an unlimited number of points between spouses when redeeming a reward?

I called and asked about that for the Travel Packages a little while ago and the answer was yes, it would continue if the spouse or relative didn't have enough points for the package.

Of course they didn't know about this new benefit of just transferring 50,000 points.

 

[IuLiKa]

I hope they will do something about the night that we get yearly on cc . Couple of years in a row I wasnt able to do it. Cat 5 is just not enough in california

 

[GrayFal]

Yes!!!

Points Sharing – Beginning Oct. 12, 2015 Marriott Rewards and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards members will have the ability to share points with friends and family. Members can transfer up to 50,000 points from their account each year!

Maria

They must have gotten really annoyed with ALL our phone calls!

 

[Fairwinds]

We will get night credit on award stays now! http://thepointsguy.com/2015/10/marriott-rewards-program-changes-coming/

Good news indeed. I'm glad they are going in the right direction for a change. I've always Ben able to book a points reservation without having enough points in my account so I'm not sure why that's listed as new.

 

[taffy19]

They must have gotten really annoyed with ALL our phone calls!

That is good news!

 

[MALC9990]

Good news but it comes just as I cross the line for lifetime Platinum status.:whoopie::whoopie:

 

[BocaBoy]

I've always Ben able to book a points reservation without having enough points in my account so I'm not sure why that's listed as new.

I agree, unless they mean that you can actually go to a negative points balance and complete the stay before you get enough points to replenish the account. Members have always (or at least for 10-15 years) been able to book a stay before having enough points to cover it as long as there are enough points in the account at the time of the stay (or maybe a week before the stay). It is not new but maybe it was never published.

 

[AlmostRetired]

Any additional benefits are welcomed no matter how small the real benefit differences are. It would be nice if thIs was retroactive to Jan 1 (I know it won't be).

My biggest challenge to the MR program from a timeshare view is and will always be the fixed nature of the relationship between exchange of timeshare to MR points. I get 130k points if I was to exchange. This is the same number of points I got when my MF was 360 per week. You couple this with the continued increase in categories of hotels and challenge gets worse. The travel packages while slightly better in value still continually get worse as a choice with increased categories.

I am happy with my Marriott timeshares and the MR program as each stands on their own merits. I am not crazy about the linkage but it is a choice I control. This is more a recognition of facts and not a real complaint,

 

[bogey21]

Frankly, this may be too little and too late for me. I'm likely to jump ship....... Marriott has devalued their program heavily. I've been loyal to Marriott for years, but.......

This describes me many years ago. Back when I owned my 4 Marriott Weeks I was also a loyal Marriott Rewards Member. Because I traveled extensively for business and stayed (almost) exclusively at Marriott hotels I had tons of points. I used them for multiple family vacations, a week's golf school for my Son, etc. I watched as Marriott continuously devalued both my TimeShares and their Rewards Program. Finally I had enough and bailed on both.

George

 

[pwrshift]

What's next ... Category 10 and more points devaluation?

 

[macster43]

Email from marriott

So last night I received an email from Marriott and I suspect most here have stating:

1.Itching to book but low on points? No problem, you can reserve a room now. Simply earn enough points in advance of check in.

2. Now you can transfer your points to friends or family. Group travel just got easier.

3. Liberate your travel plans! The new Cash + Points gets you there faster by mixing cash and points for a single or multiple night stay*.

4. Go ahead, use your points for that stay*. You'll earn credit toward Elite status. That's what we call a win-win.

 

[FlyerBobcat]

I believe this topic was discussed somewhat in [link deleted after threads merged]

 

[rthib]

Color me unimpressed

So last night I received an email from Marriott and I suspect most here have stating:

1.Itching to book but low on points? No problem, you can reserve a room now. Simply earn enough points in advance of check in.

2. Now you can transfer your points to friends or family. Group travel just got easier.

3. Liberate your travel plans! The new Cash + Points gets you there faster by mixing cash and points for a single or multiple night stay*.

4. Go ahead, use your points for that stay*. You'll earn credit toward Elite status. That's what we call a win-win.

First, I love MR and get great value but these changes are no big deal.

1. We already could do this, so nothing new here.
3. I use points when rate is high, this never seemed like a good deal at other chains.
4. Just add more with higher status, so less upgrades.

But #2 has me worried.
You could already do this with spouse, so no big deal. But I have a bad feeling about this. Call me paranoid but:
Seems like the prelude to category 10.
Will start charging to combine with spouse.
Fraud will go up. On airlines it used to be easy to move points, certificates and awards around. Then brokers starting gaming the system and we saw more restrictions and prices increase. My guess is that we will see fraud on this quickly and Marriott will start clamping down and raising rates.
Plus this also puts more pressure on inventory, so supply/demand means redemption costs will rise.

 

[pwrshift]

I wonder if the transfer to friends and family is a change in the policy that if you're not married and die Marriott keeps all your MR points. Perhaps we can put them in our wills?

 

[StevenTing]

First, I love MR and get great value but these changes are no big deal.

1. We already could do this, so nothing new here.
3. I use points when rate is high, this never seemed like a good deal at other chains.
4. Just add more with higher status, so less upgrades.

But #2 has me worried.
You could already do this with spouse, so no big deal. But I have a bad feeling about this. Call me paranoid but:
Seems like the prelude to category 10.
Will start charging to combine with spouse.
Fraud will go up. On airlines it used to be easy to move points, certificates and awards around. Then brokers starting gaming the system and we saw more restrictions and prices increase. My guess is that we will see fraud on this quickly and Marriott will start clamping down and raising rates.
Plus this also puts more pressure on inventory, so supply/demand means redemption costs will rise.

I'm wondering if #2 can help get me to Lifetime Gold sooner.

 

[GrayFal]

Works for me.

Transferring Points from One Account to Another

1 This Member benefit is available between any two accounts in good standing whether sending or receiving points. A Member may authorize the transfer a maximum of 50,000 Points per calendar year into the Rewards Program account of friends or family provided the recipient account is also in good standing. Once per calendar year and only at time of Reward Redemption a Member may exceed the 50,000 Point maximum into the Rewards Program account of a friend or family member in order to qualify for a specific Reward in accordance with this section.

2 Immediately prior to Reward Redemption and only once per calendar year, a Member may authorize the transfer of the necessary number of Points into the Rewards Program account of a friend or family member, in order to qualify for a specific Reward. This transfer may exceed the 50,000 Point maximum per calendar year.


3In the instance of transfer exceeding the 50,000 Point maximum only the necessary number of Points needed to redeem the specified Reward, rounded to the nearest 1,000 Points, may be transferred — no more, no less.

4 Authorization to transfer Points must be initiated by the account holder with the Points to be transferred by contacting Rewards Program Guest Services by calling Rewards Program Guest Services at 1-801-468-4000 (Marriott Rewards Program) or 1-866-922-6882 (The Ritz-Carlton Rewards Program). The account holder requesting the transfer must provide the Marriott Rewards account number of the Points recipient at the time of the Point transfer request.

5 Once the authorization for transfer is received and processed, the transferee relinquishes all rights to the transferred Points, and they become the recipient’s Points.


Using number 2, I was able to transfer 90,000 points to a friends account. At the time of transfer, the e-certificate was issued for our reservation.

Works for me.