MVC Travel Package Rewards

[douglasgage]

When buying (or getting updated) some years ago, I received a page with a section titled "Travel Package Rewards". This section displayed airline Miles combined with Marriott points (Bonvoy now). Example: "60K airline points" plus "185K Marriott points" equalled "Air for two Mexico or Caribbean" with (Category 1-5) "5 nights hotel accomodations, NO BLACKOUTS". Other categories for "Air to Hawaii"or "Air for Europe" combined with the usual hotel levels. So far I have been unable to talk to anyone at MVC or Bonvoy that recognize these. Anyone able to shed some light on this?

 

[bazzap]

When buying (or getting updated) some years ago, I received a page with a section titled "Travel Package Rewards". This section displayed airline Miles combined with Marriott points (Bonvoy now). Example: "60K airline points" plus "185K Marriott points" equalled "Air for two Mexico or Caribbean" with (Category 1-5) "5 nights hotel accomodations, NO BLACKOUTS". Other categories for "Air to Hawaii"or "Air for Europe" combined with the usual hotel levels. So far I have been unable to talk to anyone at MVC or Bonvoy that recognize these. Anyone able to shed some light on this?

I believe that this is the current 5 night Travel Package offer (sign in required)

Owners Login | Marriott Vacation Club

owners.marriottvacationclub.com

 

[douglasgage]

I believe that this is the current 5 night Travel Package offer (sign in required)

Owners Login | Marriott Vacation Club

owners.marriottvacationclub.com

It may be-certainly similar BUT anything I have seen in the last few years did not break the ticket categories into hemispheres or continents. And the current point prices are much higher now. i.e., 100k airline points (110k-United only) and 5 nights Cat 1-5 hotels require 310K points. No other point "prices" for shorter or longer flights that I am aware of. Thanks for the reply

 

[GetawaysRus]

The key phrase in the OP's post is "some years ago."

Yes, if you purchased your timeshare directly from Marriott, you may have the ability to trade your timeshare usage (perhaps every other year) for a certain number of Marriott (Bonvoy) hotel points. And if you amassed a large enough pile of these hotel reward points, they could be used to purchase a "travel package." This meant that you were using your Marriott (Bonvoy) hotel reward points to purchase a certain number of airline miles (for your airline of choice) plus a 5 or 7 night hotel stay.

"Some years ago" this wasn't such a bad deal. I remember taking a trip to Rome that included enough airline miles to cover business class air for 2 plus a 7 night hotel stay at the Marriott Grand Flora. Another time we had business class air for 2 and then a 7 night stay at the Marriott hotel on the Champs-Elysee in Paris.

But time has, in my opinion, ravaged this benefit. Hotel category inflation now means that you need a much larger number of Marriott hotel reward points to get air miles plus a nice hotel. I'll post the table from the link that bazzap provided. Look at how many Marriott hotel reward points are needed to get a stay at a higher category hotel.

Bottom line: I stopped doing this "some years ago."

 

[Quilter]

The key phrase in the OP's post is "some years ago."

Yes, if you purchased your timeshare directly from Marriott, you may have the ability to trade your timeshare usage (perhaps every other year) for a certain number of Marriott (Bonvoy) hotel points. And if you amassed a large enough pile of these hotel reward points, they could be used to purchase a "travel package." This meant that you were using your Marriott (Bonvoy) hotel reward points to purchase a certain number of airline miles (for your airline of choice) plus a 5 or 7 night hotel stay.

"Some years ago" this wasn't such a bad deal. I remember taking a trip to Rome that included enough airline miles to cover business class air for 2 plus a 7 night hotel stay at the Marriott Grand Flora. Another time we had business class air for 2 and then a 7 night stay at the Marriott hotel on the Champs-Elysee in Paris.

But time has, in my opinion, ravaged this benefit. Hotel category inflation now means that you need a much larger number of Marriott hotel reward points to get air miles plus a nice hotel. I'll post the table from the link that bazzap provided. Look at how many Marriott hotel reward points are needed to get a stay at a higher category hotel.

Bottom line: I stopped doing this "some years ago."

View attachment 44904

We haven't stopped this because of the inflation but because of the pandemic. In 2020 I just couldn't foresee international travel in the near future and we already had a stockpile of airline miles and hotel points that I didn't know how we would utilize. Since early '21 we've had extensive hotel stays as we've visited our daughter and grandchildren which accrued even more hotel points. Whenever I go to use the points for future stays at the TownePlace Suites we use it's just not a good value (e.g., relative to values we got at the special high end properties prior to pandemic).

What are you using your points for if not Travel Packages?

 

[GetawaysRus]

What are you using your points for if not Travel Packages?

Since we bought our first timeshare direct from Marriott (and before I found TUG), we can trade our timeshare usage EOY for 110,000 Bonvoy points if we wish. "Back in the day," I could get decent value for that, and this helped us to take several international trips.

I no longer trade our timeshare usage for Bonvoy points. I think we get more value by simply using the timeshare weeks we own.

We have a large stash of air miles (thank you, Citibank - unfortunately, the methods I used to accumulate most of those miles are no longer available). These days, I prefer to collect (and get more value from) Chase Ultimate Reward points. So most credit card spending goes on cards that earn Chase U.R. points. We do have several Bonvoy credit cards, but don't use them nearly as much. But the Bonvoy cards do get us 30 Marriott elite nights annually, and that's very helpful in maintaining high Marriott Bonvoy (hotel) elite status. (I find it amusing - my sweetheart appears to be one of Marriott's best customers based upon her status, but we rarely spend any real money at Marriott hotels.)

Yes, we still have a fair number of Bonvoy points. I use them for the occasional hotel stay. Because of Marriott hotel category/point inflation, those points get used up fairly quickly. (I'm waiting to see what happens later this year, because soon we will have the ability to add some Bonvoy points to top off the category 5 "free night" certificates that we get from the credit cards. This may, or may not, prove to be beneficial. I'm waiting to see how it will work.)

 

[Quilter]

I used all caps for clarification. . . . . . . .I'm not yelling.

Since we bought our first timeshare direct from Marriott (and before I found TUG), we can trade our timeshare usage EOY for 110,000 Bonvoy points if we wish. "Back in the day," I could get decent value for that, and this helped us to take several international trips.

I no longer trade our timeshare usage for Bonvoy points. I think we get more value by simply using the timeshare weeks we own. AGREE

We have a large stash of air miles (thank you, Citibank - unfortunately, the methods I used to accumulate most of those miles are no longer available). These days, I prefer to collect (and get more value from) Chase Ultimate Reward points. So most credit card spending goes on cards that earn Chase U.R. points. SAME HERE We do have several Bonvoy credit cards, but don't use them nearly as much.SAME HERE BECAUSE CHASE POINTS ARE MORE FLEXIBLE But the Bonvoy cards do get us 30 Marriott elite nights annually, and that's very helpful in maintaining high Marriott Bonvoy (hotel) elite status. WE'RE LIFETIME TITANIUM SO NO LONGER NEED THE ELITE NIGHTS FROM CC (I find it amusing - my sweetheart appears to be one of Marriott's best customers based upon her status, but we rarely spend any real money at Marriott hotels.).

Yes, we still have a fair number of Bonvoy points. I use them for the occasional hotel stay. Because of Marriott hotel category/point inflation, those points get used up fairly quickly. THIS IS WHAT I'M WONDERING. . .DO YOU USE BONVOY POINTS ONLY WHEN YOU'RE GETTING A CERTAIN "VALUE" PER POINT OR DO YOU MERELY USE THEM TO AVOID PAYING CASH WITHOUT CALCULATING VALUE? (I'm waiting to see what happens later this year, because soon we will have the ability to add some Bonvoy points to top off the category 5 "free night" certificates that we get from the credit cards. This may, or may not, prove to be beneficial. I'm waiting to see how it will work.)

 

[GetawaysRus]

THIS IS WHAT I'M WONDERING. . .DO YOU USE BONVOY POINTS ONLY WHEN YOU'RE GETTING A CERTAIN "VALUE" PER POINT OR DO YOU MERELY USE THEM TO AVOID PAYING CASH WITHOUT CALCULATING VALUE?

I'm not a stickler about what value we're getting when we're redeeming our Bonvoy points for hotel stays. Most of the time, when I do the math, it's in the range of 0.6 cents per point. That's pretty poor compared to the value we get when redeeming Chase U.R. points.

So if I have the points in my account, I'll use them. I assume that their value will continue to decline in the future, so there's no reason to hoard points.

I'll admit, though, that it's sometimes hard to value those redeemed Bonvoy points. If we get a room upgrade because of our status, that immediately raises the value. If the hotel has a concierge lounge that we can use, that also raises the value of those redeemed points. Upgrades and lounges were more common pre-Covid when we were visiting properties abroad. They still do happen sometimes when we stay at a property in the US, but they are less frequent with domestic redemptions.

 

[Dean]

THIS IS WHAT I'M WONDERING. . .DO YOU USE BONVOY POINTS ONLY WHEN YOU'RE GETTING A CERTAIN "VALUE" PER POINT OR DO YOU MERELY USE THEM TO AVOID PAYING CASH WITHOUT CALCULATING VALUE?

I pay attention to value and I'm OK paying cash to get a better value later. However, I'm not as strict as I used to be in that area or as some here are. I may compromise down to about 0.8¢ PP value but that's about it.

 

[Quilter]

Thank you both for your input.

We have been through several Hilton and Marriott brand hotels in our daughter's area (Pinehurst/Southern Pines, NC) and settled on a TownePlace Suites. It's fairly new, very clean and staff has been super. Sometimes we're there for multiple weeks. 3 hotels are on the same campus with parking lots connected by a single road. TPS, Hilton Garden Inn and Hampton Inn and Suites. I've been told one family owns them all. TPS and HGI have outdoor pools while the HIS has indoor pool in nice, sunny atrium. Guests from TPS and HGI are able to show room key to access indoor pool at HIS. HGI has nice bistro restaurant if we want to walk to that. They've been great place for toddler to get comfortable with pool and burn off energy.

Just for reference, checking the rate for tonight it's $167 (tax included)/senior rate. Category 3, 17,500/night for points ($.009/point or $.0119/point if going for 5th night free). $88 (tax included) + 8,500 pts./night cash + points. We've been paying. . . . . .which just means we've been accumulating more points.

Our next visit is during a deployment for SIL so we won't get hotel. DD will give us her master bedroom (quiet spot on back of house, king bed ) and she'll take the guest bedroom (queen bed, sits between toddler and infants bedroom, shares bath with toddler/infant, hear everything during the night). With omicron blazing across the country we don't even plan to overnight on the way down and will drive the 12 hours straight through. Once we're there we might as well get good and comfortable with her little nest because it's going to be SIP until we head to Ocean Pointe mid-February.

 

[douglasgage]

We haven't stopped this because of the inflation but because of the pandemic. In 2020 I just couldn't foresee international travel in the near future and we already had a stockpile of airline miles and hotel points that I didn't know how we would utilize. Since early '21 we've had extensive hotel stays as we've visited our daughter and grandchildren which accrued even more hotel points. Whenever I go to use the points for future stays at the TownePlace Suites we use it's just not a good value (e.g., relative to values we got at the special high end properties prior to pandemic).

What are you using your points for if not Travel Packages?

We haven't stopped this because of the inflation but because of the pandemic. In 2020 I just couldn't foresee international travel in the near future and we already had a stockpile of airline miles and hotel points that I didn't know how we would utilize. Since early '21 we've had extensive hotel stays as we've visited our daughter and grandchildren which accrued even more hotel points. Whenever I go to use the points for future stays at the TownePlace Suites we use it's just not a good value (e.g., relative to values we got at the special high end properties prior to pandemic).

What are you using your points for if not Travel Packages?

I have been hoarding them to eventually use for a travel package..but, with the ongoing point inflation (and airline point inflation) along with health issues beyond Covid I want to use them pretty soon as it won't get any better!

 

[douglasgage]

Since we bought our first timeshare direct from Marriott (and before I found TUG), we can trade our timeshare usage EOY for 110,000 Bonvoy points if we wish. "Back in the day," I could get decent value for that, and this helped us to take several international trips.

I no longer trade our timeshare usage for Bonvoy points. I think we get more value by simply using the timeshare weeks we own.

We have a large stash of air miles (thank you, Citibank - unfortunately, the methods I used to accumulate most of those miles are no longer available). These days, I prefer to collect (and get more value from) Chase Ultimate Reward points. So most credit card spending goes on cards that earn Chase U.R. points. We do have several Bonvoy credit cards, but don't use them nearly as much. But the Bonvoy cards do get us 30 Marriott elite nights annually, and that's very helpful in maintaining high Marriott Bonvoy (hotel) elite status. (I find it amusing - my sweetheart appears to be one of Marriott's best customers based upon her status, but we rarely spend any real money at Marriott hotels.)

Yes, we still have a fair number of Bonvoy points. I use them for the occasional hotel stay. Because of Marriott hotel category/point inflation, those points get used up fairly quickly. (I'm waiting to see what happens later this year, because soon we will have the ability to add some Bonvoy points to top off the category 5 "free night" certificates that we get from the credit cards. This may, or may not, prove to be beneficial. I'm waiting to see how it will work.)

I recall reading about some future Bonvoy changes...and perhaps I should wait a bit...have they indicated "when"?

 

[Fasttr]

I recall reading about some future Bonvoy changes...and perhaps I should wait a bit...have they indicated "when"?

Start booking stays: Marriott Bonvoy dropping award charts for dynamic pricing - The Points Guy

Marriott Bonvoy will remove its award charts in 2022. Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming changes.

thepointsguy.com

 

[dioxide45]

Start booking stays: Marriott Bonvoy dropping award charts for dynamic pricing - The Points Guy

Marriott Bonvoy will remove its award charts in 2022. Here's everything you need to know about the upcoming changes.

thepointsguy.com

With no word on how this change impacts travel packages. I suspect the travel packages will either go out the window or you will get the 50/100K in miles and a certificate good for X amount of points toward a hotel stay of any length.

 

[trev]

I am debating redeeming my points for a 5 night package, but haven't ever redeemed for these packages before.
Is there a way to see availability of a five night stay for a category 7 or 8, prior to redeeming the points? I'd hate to redeem and not have dates line up or not have availability. Appreciate any guidance or tips!

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[echino]

I am debating redeeming my points for a 5 night package, but haven't ever redeemed for these packages before.
Is there a way to see availability of a five night stay for a category 7 or 8, prior to redeeming the points? I'd hate to redeem and not have dates line up or not have availability. Appreciate any guidance or tips!

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Yes, search on marriott.com, click on "Use Points / Certificates" checkbox.

 

[trev]

Yes, search on marriott.com, click on "Use Points / Certificates" checkbox.

Thank you, another question. When searching, I see some properties listed with a dollar amount listed, others with a point amount, and some others with no availability (rate unavailable). Would only those that come up with an available point booking qualify, or would the cash ones also work with the certificate?

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

 

[echino]

Thank you, another question. When searching, I see some properties listed with a dollar amount listed, others with a point amount, and some others with no availability (rate unavailable). Would only those that come up with an available point booking qualify, or would the cash ones also work with the certificate?

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk

Certificate availability is the same as points availability.