Combining Trust and Exchange Points

[Superchief]

I can confirm that you can now combine trust and exchange points for a DC reservation, and there is no longer a restriction against combining sources for one of the nights. I just reserved 6 nights in Lake Tahoe using 900 trust points and the remainder in exchange points. It would have been impossible to use this exact amount previously, because I would have had to use trust for 3 nights (975), and exchange for the remainder. I am very happy that this enhancement has been made to the program.

I was also able to reserve these 6 nights for June 15 next year without a problem. I have had an ongoing request in II for 6/5-28) using my NCV week without any luck.

I have also been very impressed with the customer service staff I have encountered on my last several calls. Their level of knowledge and accuracy has improved dramatically. Since the spinoff, my experiences with MVC have dramatically improved, while Marriott Corp continues to take away key benefits to its most loyal customers.

 

[SueDonJ]

Trust Points have direct access to intervals in both the Trust and DC Exchange Company "buckets." It's been possible all along to combine Trust and Legacy Points for a single night/interval, but only IF the interval is made available through the DC Exchange Company. That has been happening since the day the DC was introduced.

So, it isn't only the origin of the Points used to reserve an interval that matters, it's also the origin of the interval. It's possible that every night of your reserved interval came from the Exchange Company "bucket" or, that two nights of your reserved interval came from the Trust "bucket" with the remainder coming from the EC "bucket." What would not have been possible is for three of your nights to come from the Trust "bucket" because you did not have enough Trust Points to reserve three Trust nights.

The DC reservation system discloses the origins of Points but doesn't disclose the origins of intervals being reserved. (Except insofar as we can make educated guesses based on whatever Points usage is recommended by the system.) The litmus test for whether material changes have been made to the DC inventory controls is still whether a single night of Trust inventory can be directly reserved with a combination of Trust and Legacy Points. Until that can be done, or until they show us the revised documents showing how it can be done, it doesn't appear that anything has changed IMO.

I agree that it appears the majority of VOA's are having an easier time dealing with everything related to the DC. It seems they've followed the same learning curve we have.

 

[FractionalTraveler]

I can confirm that you can now combine trust and exchange points for a DC reservation, and there is no longer a restriction against combining sources for one of the nights. I just reserved 6 nights in Lake Tahoe using 900 trust points and the remainder in exchange points. It would have been impossible to use this exact amount previously, because I would have had to use trust for 3 nights (975), and exchange for the remainder. I am very happy that this enhancement has been made to the program.

I was also able to reserve these 6 nights for June 15 next year without a problem. I have had an ongoing request in II for 6/5-28) using my NCV week without any luck.

I have also been very impressed with the customer service staff I have encountered on my last several calls. Their level of knowledge and accuracy has improved dramatically. Since the spinoff, my experiences with MVC have dramatically improved, while Marriott Corp continues to take away key benefits to its most loyal customers.

Agree with Sue, this has been available since day 1 of DC.

I recommend the following as a strategy when you need to combine legacy points (use year elected) with Trust points: Use up all your legacy points first then allocate Trust points as needed.

Why does this matter? A few reasons below:

1. Trust points are a lot more costly than Legacy elected points.
2. Trust points are automatic every year as opposed to elected points. As a result of this, you can always do searches without electing any legacy points.
3. Trust points allow you to access more inventory than just elected points alone.
4. Trust points will be the KEY to unlocking future program enhancements.

 

[bogey21]

I'm sure there are legal reasons for all of this but it makes my head spin.

George

 

[BocaBoy]

Since the spinoff, my experiences with MVC have dramatically improved, while Marriott Corp continues to take away key benefits to its most loyal customers.

I want to make sure I did not miss something. Has Marriott Corp. taken away some more elite or MR benefits in recent months? I am not aware of any recent takeaways.

 

[FractionalTraveler]

They keep adding benefits like being able to book MR stays at AC hotels in Europe.

Also, they have added about 20 new Autograph hotels that are within 50 miles of my home in the last 24 months.

 

[SueDonJ]

I want to make sure I did not miss something. Has Marriott Corp. taken away some more elite or MR benefits in recent months? I am not aware of any recent takeaways.

None that I've seen, either.

 

[Superchief]

Trust Points have direct access to intervals in both the Trust and DC Exchange Company "buckets." It's been possible all along to combine Trust and Legacy Points for a single night/interval, but only IF the interval is made available through the DC Exchange Company. That has been happening since the day the DC was introduced.

I don't believe this is true. I have been an enrolled owner and have owned trust points since the inception of the program. I was clearly told several times that I could combine both point sources for a single reservation, but not for a single night (regardless of the source of inventory). I made at least 3 reservations where both sources were available, but I had to allocate on a nightly basis. As a result, I ended up with a few unusable points for each type of points. I recall several posts (I think by GregT) stating the same thing.
I believe this improvement in point flexibility is a very positive enhancement.

 

[Superchief]

I want to make sure I did not miss something. Has Marriott Corp. taken away some more elite or MR benefits in recent months? I am not aware of any recent takeaways.

These are some of the platinum (and other MR) benefits that have been taken away in the past year:
BOGO certificates for weekend nights and meals
20% discount on restaurant purchases
All inclusive awards
Dinner for 2 certificates
Suite upgrades (now excluded in T&C); 2BR upgrades in RI

Additionally, many of the hotels who previously provided breakfast certificates or opened CL lounges on weekends have been told to conform to the 'corporate standards' (no breakfast). Several hotels have significantly increased their award category levels, while few have decreased.

I suggest you check flyertalk and Marriott Insiders because I'm sure I have forgotten some. There have been more downgrades in the program in the past year than all of the years I have been a member (inception of program). I believe it is a result of Bill M's retirement.

 

[dioxide45]

These are some of the platinum (and other MR) benefits that have been taken away in the past year:
BOGO certificates for weekend nights and meals
20% discount on restaurant purchases
All inclusive awards
Dinner for 2 certificates
Suite upgrades (now excluded in T&C); 2BR upgrades in RI

Some of these did disappear before the spin off.

Additionally, many of the hotels who previously provided breakfast certificates or opened CL lounges on weekends have been told to conform to the 'corporate standards' (no breakfast). Several hotels have significantly increased their award category levels, while few have decreased.

As for no breakfast on weekends. This has been something that was there for a long time. Many properties still provided it but it wasn't required by the properties. In a tough economy property owners are gong to want to save money, and cutting this benefit may be a way to do so.

Category levels change every year and has nothing to do with the spin off. It happened before the spinoff and it will continue to happen every year.

I suggest you check flyertalk and Marriott Insiders because I'm sure I have forgotten some. There have been more downgrades in the program in the past year than all of the years I have been a member (inception of program). I believe it is a result of Bill M's retirement.

 

[FractionalTraveler]

These are some of the platinum (and other MR) benefits that have been taken away in the past year:
BOGO certificates for weekend nights and meals
20% discount on restaurant purchases
All inclusive awards
Dinner for 2 certificates
Suite upgrades (now excluded in T&C); 2BR upgrades in RI

Additionally, many of the hotels who previously provided breakfast certificates or opened CL lounges on weekends have been told to conform to the 'corporate standards' (no breakfast). Several hotels have significantly increased their award category levels, while few have decreased.

I suggest you check flyertalk and Marriott Insiders because I'm sure I have forgotten some. There have been more downgrades in the program in the past year than all of the years I have been a member (inception of program). I believe it is a result of Bill M's retirement.

The Food and Beverage stuff over the weekends was trivial anyways since it’s a known fact that most frequent travelers only on occasion book weekend stays. I also used these on weekends close to home. Not a big money saver in the first place but just provided a reason to go out to dinner at a local hotel instead of another venue.

You still get suite upgrades! I booked last year a Jr. Suite at the Niagara Falls Marriott for New Years and was upgraded to a Corner Executive Suite.

What you are probably referring to is those who book a standard guest room for $129 bucks and wanted an upgrade to a Presidential suite that costs $499/night. Yes, these have been eliminated.

If you book a suite, you can still get upgraded to a larger suite if available. It’s only fair IMHO since you are spending more to access that type of hotel inventory.

The hotels that previously provided breakfast coupons did so as a courtesy for their Platinums. It was not required now for at least 5 years now.

In the USA, CL access on weekends was eliminated years ago except for some that did this of their free will until the recession hit in 2008 when most all of them closed.

In Europe, you can still get the breakfast coupons and some lounges are open depending on location and facility. I just got free breakfast on the weekend in Amsterdam at the Renaissance.

There have been lots of enhancements over the last two years which easily overshadow these trivial items IMHO.

FT
MR Lifetime Platinum Elite

 

[dioxide45]

We actually got free breakfast at the Renaissance in Plantation Florida on a weekend this month.

 

[SueDonJ]

I don't believe this is true. I have been an enrolled owner and have owned trust points since the inception of the program. I was clearly told several times that I could combine both point sources for a single reservation, but not for a single night (regardless of the source of inventory). I made at least 3 reservations where both sources were available, but I had to allocate on a nightly basis. As a result, I ended up with a few unusable points for each type of points. I recall several posts (I think by GregT) stating the same thing.
I believe this improvement in point flexibility is a very positive enhancement.

I recall many discussions about all this but pretty much all of them came down to the origins of requested intervals, with no way for us to verify if the VOA's who said they knew the origins, actually did. Certainly we've never had the capability to see or verify interval origins, other than any that are only available using Trust Points.

I think the program as designed is definitely running much more smoothly now than it did at the DC inception, with extensive co-mingling among the "buckets" such that we are seeing fewer and fewer instances of having to wait for whatever it is Marriott must do to make intervals available through the Exchange Company "bucket." And perhaps they have made some type of change so that the process for co-mingling among the buckets is more fluid now than it was at inception. Any changes they're able to make, all the better for us! But I still haven't seen anything that tells me they've made material changes related to inventory controls - not ones that would require amendments to the original governing docs. And based on those, Marriott must keep separate inventory controls for Trust and Exchange inventory, and Trust and Legacy Points.

 

[SueDonJ]

These are some of the platinum (and other MR) benefits that have been taken away in the past year:
BOGO certificates for weekend nights and meals
20% discount on restaurant purchases
All inclusive awards
Dinner for 2 certificates
Suite upgrades (now excluded in T&C); 2BR upgrades in RI

Additionally, many of the hotels who previously provided breakfast certificates or opened CL lounges on weekends have been told to conform to the 'corporate standards' (no breakfast). Several hotels have significantly increased their award category levels, while few have decreased.

I suggest you check flyertalk and Marriott Insiders because I'm sure I have forgotten some. There have been more downgrades in the program in the past year than all of the years I have been a member (inception of program). I believe it is a result of Bill M's retirement.

Ah, I misunderstood and thought you were saying that the spin-off has had negative effects on the Marriott Rewards-related benefits of our timeshare ownerships.

Reading TUG, flyertalk and Marriott Insiders I get the distinct impression that folks have been complaining about Marriott Rewards devaluations for a good long number of years; certainly not only since Mr. Marriott's recent retirement. BOGO's have come and gone at different times, the properties' Hotel Categories change routinely based on supply and demand, suite upgrades from basic rooms weren't ever guaranteed by status, restaurant perks have always been fluid, etc etc etc. I've never expected any of the status perks to be guaranteed for life. Marriott giveth, Marriott taketh away. I actually prefer the relatively new Rollover Nights and VISA-spending perks to any of the others.

 

[Superchief]

Based on my personal experiences and several other posts on TUG, I don't believe that trust and exchange points could previously be combined for a single night stay. I can confirm this from 3 specific experiences, and there were several others mentioning the same issue. I do not recall a single post from anyone who was able to accomplish this. The advisor also confirmed this was a recent program enhancement based on feedback from owners. Therefore, I consider this to be a major improvement to the program.

 

[Superchief]

I recommend the following as a strategy when you need to combine legacy points (use year elected) with Trust points: Use up all your legacy points first then allocate Trust points as needed.

Why does this matter? A few reasons below:

1. Trust points are a lot more costly than Legacy elected points.
2. Trust points are automatic every year as opposed to elected points. As a result of this, you can always do searches without electing any legacy points.
3. Trust points allow you to access more inventory than just elected points alone.
4. Trust points will be the KEY to unlocking future program enhancements.

I agree with your recommendations, and use that strategy with the following modifications:
1. Use banked points (exchange and trust) first. They will expire and cannot be transfered.
2. Some of my MV weeks receive poor DC point value. I don't convert any week for points if MF's are more than .45 per point.

I am finding it easier to exchange to my desired resort using DC points than through interval, and appreciate the greater flexibility in renting my points vs. renting weeks (thanks to GregT).

 

[FractionalTraveler]

I agree with your recommendations, and use that strategy with the following modifications:
1. Use banked points (exchange and trust) first. They will expire and cannot be transfered.
2. Some of my MV weeks receive poor DC point value. I don't convert any week for points if MF's are more than .45 per point.

I am finding it easier to exchange to my desired resort using DC points than through interval, and appreciate the greater flexibility in renting my points vs. renting weeks (thanks to GregT).

Superchief, Yes! good recommendations.

I did the same analysis with my portfolio. For me the Trust points were the highest but I do agree, anything higher and it's probably best to just use, exchange, or rent the legacy week instead of converting to points.

 

[GregT]

I don't believe this is true. I have been an enrolled owner and have owned trust points since the inception of the program. I was clearly told several times that I could combine both point sources for a single reservation, but not for a single night (regardless of the source of inventory). I made at least 3 reservations where both sources were available, but I had to allocate on a nightly basis. As a result, I ended up with a few unusable points for each type of points. I recall several posts (I think by GregT) stating the same thing.
I believe this improvement in point flexibility is a very positive enhancement.

All,

This is great news -- I am with SuperChief on this one -- this is a new capability. I can confirm the finding here that the Trust Points and the Legacy Points can be combined for a single night stay.

As TUGgers will recall, I ran an experiment several months ago (here's the thread) where FT transferred me 25 Trust Points -- and I was not able to combine them with Legacy Points to book Cypress Harbour (which could only be sourced from the Exchange Pool, not the Trust).

However, I can now book a reservation that I could not book at that time. I can see a reservation that requires the exact number of points I have (including the 25 Trust Points).

This is good news for Trust Point owners!

Thanks very much,

Greg