Need help using points

[Zac495]

We deliberately bought Manor Club from Marriott direct (though we own a resale Aruba). If you're new and reading this - resale is usually the way to go. We made a decision after careful deliberation and help from the board for a particular reason.

We now want to book using the points - we want to fly business class (2 adults) and coach (3 kids) in late June of next year. When do I get started? Any help (as I'm pretty clueless) would be appreciated.

I hope we get a great deal so that we cover the extra cost of our purchase.
Thanks in advance.

 

[KathyPet]

First of all where are you going?

This is the order that I do my planning in when doing a rewards trip.
1. Locate a Marriott at my destination. If there are more than one all the better as you have a better chance for a points stay. Check to see if they have a room using points for the dates you want to stay there. You can use the Marriott rewards website for this. Fill in the applicable information on where you want to go. Fill in your rewards # and check the box that says you want to use rewards points. You will get a list back of hotels in that area that have rewards points availability for the dates you want. Note: you cannot book a rewards point stay more than 50 weeks in advance of the last date you want to stay. If you find availability at a hotel then the next step begins. Can you get a flight using FF miles to get you there and back on your arrival and departure date?

2. You have to know what airlines fly there that work with the Marriott rewards program and then you have to check either on line or by calling to see if they have flights using miles that you can book. If you find a flight that suits your needs some airlines will let you hold a reservation while you get the Marriott points moved to the airline FF mileage account. Pls note that you have to have a FF account # with the airline that you want to use first before you can have the FF miles deposited so you need to get that account # set up before you call Marriott. You can usually open a FF account with any airline on line. You also cannot book a trip more than 330 days in advance of your return home day using FF miles either although this does vary slightly by airline.

3. If all is good then you call Marriott and order the package that you need. Note: Pay attention to the amount of FF miles for each package since the amount of miles will usually only cover coach airfare. If you want to go business class you will need more miles which you can get by getting miles only from Marriott or by buying miles directly from the airline. Have marriott book your hotel reservation reservation while you are on the phone with them and then you will need to give them your FF mileage # at the airlines for them to credit the FF miles to your account.
4. Check your FF account a couple of days later to ensure that your FF miles are there and ifyou have a hold on a flight reservation then call the airlines and give them your reservatioin information and tell them that the miles are now in your FF account for them to debit out.

I would suggest that you try to do all of this at one sitting because if you check one day to see if their is a hotel room available for you and then wait two days to check the airline the hotel might be gone by the time you get your flights lined up. Be prepared to spend a couple of hours on the phone with the airline and Marriott web site doing all this. It is a very delicate balancing act to get all your ducks lined up nicely in marching order.

 

[ciscogizmo1]

Kathy gave great advice... check out the reward packages on the Marriott site here:

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morepack.mi

Good luck!!!

Let us know what happens. If you don't already, I always earn frequent flyer miles on any flight we book. You never know when you might need those miles for travel. Some people pay cash for coach and then, use miles to upgrade to business class. You are gonna need a lot of miles for 5 people so, that might be your best option.

Also don't forget to earn points with credit cards. Right, now we are hooked on Starwood's AE card so, we earn our miles through there. I'm curious how your experience is in using an award package.

We used points for 2 nights in Barcelona before and after a cruise it worked will for us.

 

[Dave M]

For another similar look at how to make travel package reservations, including some added details and Marriott's recommended procedure, see my two posts in this thread. Note that the AwardPlanner service referred to in one of those posts no longer exists.

 

[Beverley]

Hi Ellen,

Congrats on your recent purchase. Most if not all of my knowledge is using American Airlines ... having said this .... business class tickets are approximately 1.5 times the point cost of coach. For instance we are going to Spain this summer bus class AA and the seats are 90K each.

We booked this way: We are staying timeshare in Spain. The first week is a direct trade with another tugger , the second was an exchange through II. Our third week is in Northern England with family and our fourth week is a hotel stay at the Marriott in Edinburgh. :whoopie:

We secured the first week, took a chance for the second. At exactly 327 days out (I was 3 days late in calling) we called the airlines to make our reservations for the bus class seats. These were put on a 14 day hold with a "fake" return date because we weren't going to chance waiting a month to book (based on our return date). We then called on the 14th day to adjust our return and place another hold. We were not allowed the second hold so I booked the flight. At exactly the 330 day mark for Marriott hotel we reserved the Edinburgh location.

Depending on where you want to go, will drive how exact you have to be when making your reservations. Travel on points has become very competitive. I was surprised to see that the bus class seats booked out before the coach seats ... but they did.

Once I know that I am definately planning on a trip, I order my travel award and get the points deposited where they need to be. That includes both the airline and the hotel points. I generally check the possible areas first to see what Marriotts are in that area and what their level is. This helps me decide which travel award I will order.

Where are you planning on going and what time of year? I expect the kids are still in school so you may be thinking of summer or school vacations. It would be my guess you will have to be very precise in your calls. Good luck and have fun.

Beverley

 

[Dave M]

At exactly the 330 day mark for Marriott hotel we reserved the Edinburgh location.

Note that as Kathy suggested above and as detailed at my above link, you can - and should - make Marriott reservations further out: about 50 weeks in advance. Marriott normally (not always) makes dates available in its system for the 50th week in advance early each Sunday morning.

 

[Beverley]

Note that as Kathy suggested above and as detailed at my above link, you can - and should - make Marriott reservations further out: about 50 weeks in advance. Marriott normally (not always) makes dates available in its system for the 50th week in advance early each Sunday morning.

I stand corrected.

Actually in checking back I made the hotel reservation at approx 49 weeks. I also suggest just checking the Marriott calendar on Sunday mornings to catch it when they are released.

Thanks Dave.

Beverley

 

[Zac495]

Okay - I get most of what you said.
We want 2 weeks in Hawaii.
Here's the thing - we want to bring the kids. So we have plenty of points to get 2 RT coach plus 7 nights AND 2 RT business plus 7 nights (and then we'd buy one coach ticket for the 3rd child). The business class gives us 2 weeks which is good. The kids have one week. We need one week more - we hope to trade our Aruba gold OR our Williamsburg platinum (since we wouldn't need the points).

If we want to get into Kaui property (a studio would do - though a one bedroom would be best) - what would you recommend for the deposit into II? Lock off the Aruba? Give up a whole 2 bedroom and accept smaller? use Williamsburg? (I don't know if that's a lock off or not).

THANKS!!!!!!!!!
Oh - yes - summer only - Late June through early August.

 

[KathyPet]

I'm sorry Ellen but I am finding your last post about what you want to accomplish and how you are proposing to do it a little confusing. First of all I am assuming that you have lots and lots of Marriott reward points sitting in your account right now. Are you wanting to get a hotel reward for 7 nights on one of the Hawaii islands and then 7 nights in one of the Kauai Timeshares by trading one of your MVCI's for Kauai and you are trying to book these two weeks back to back? I don't know how you can fit three children and two adults into a studio unit. I know I couldn't do it and keep my sanity. Could you be a little more specific please and then we can help you?

 

[Zac495]

I'm sorry Ellen but I am finding your last post about what you want to accomplish and how you are proposing to do it a little confusing. First of all I am assuming that you have lots and lots of Marriott reward points sitting in your account right now. Are you wanting to get a hotel reward for 7 nights on one of the Hawaii islands and then 7 nights in one of the Kauai Timeshares by trading one of your MVCI's for Kauai and you are trying to book these two weeks back to back? I don't know how you can fit three children and two adults into a studio unit. I know I couldn't do it and keep my sanity. Could you be a little more specific please and then we can help you?

So sorry - no, no! Not 3 kids and us in one studio!

Let me try again.

Week 1 - Island #1 (whichever). Use 7 nights hotel for us. That goes with our business class flight. Use 7 nights hotel for the 3 kids. That goes with the 2 coach tickets (3rd kid we pay the flight)

Week 2 - Island #2.(Oahua - did I spell that right?) Use the other 7 nights for hotel for us. (Marriott says that if you book business, you MUST get 2 weeks of hotel). For the kids - get the timeshare IF possible. Trade our Aruba or our Williamsburg for the timeshare. Put the kids in it. This timeshare has a hotel right there - so the kids wouldn't be far. Realize the kids are 20, 14, 11 - so we're not child abusers. :rofl:

Did I make more sense? THANKS!!!!!!

 

[dioxide45]

Marriott says that if you book business, you MUST get 2 weeks of hotel).

I don't think this is completly true. Marriott isn't concnerned with how you book your flights once you get the flyer miles. Though probably in order to get enough miles for business class tickets you need to redeem two packages?

 

[KathyPet]

I will hae some additional comments for you after I think about this some more but I do think that you might have misunderstood what Marriott was telling you about having to get two weeks of hotel if you book business class. I think what they meant was that if you use a 7 night marriott reward package which gives you 7 nights at a Marriott hotel you wil get 120,000 Frequent flyer miles. That is not enough miles to fly business class. If you need more frequent flyer miles than 120,000 then if you use a second 7 night Marriott reward package you will get a total of 240,000 frequent flyer miles. That will allow you to get two business class tickets with some miles left over. However you can also use your reward points just for Frequent flyer miles without getting a hotel certificate by ordering a reward package that is just for miles alone. 50,000 Frequent Flyer miles are 125,000 Marriott reward points.

 

[KathyPet]

In order to take two people to Hawaii Coach and two people to Hawaii Business Class using either AMerican Airlines or United Airlines FF standard award programs you will need approximately 450,000 FF Miles. Both of these airlines offer "point saver" awards which require substantially less FF miles but these awards are capacity controlled and difficult to obtain. All the Hawaii hotels are either level 6 or 7. To get a 7 night package at a level 6 hotel with 120,000 FF miles it will take 250,000 Marriott reward points. To get a 7 night package at a level 7 hotel with 120,000 FF miles is 270,000 reward points. If you get three of these packages to give you a total of 21 nights in a hotel and a total of 360,000 FF miles you will need to have approximately 750,000 Marriott reward points in your account.

 

[Zac495]

In order to take two people to Hawaii Coach and two people to Hawaii Business Class using either AMerican Airlines or United Airlines FF standard award programs you will need approximately 450,000 FF Miles. Both of these airlines offer "point saver" awards which require substantially less FF miles but these awards are capacity controlled and difficult to obtain. All the Hawaii hotels are either level 6 or 7. To get a 7 night package at a level 6 hotel with 120,000 FF miles it will take 250,000 Marriott reward points. To get a 7 night package at a level 7 hotel with 120,000 FF miles is 270,000 reward points. If you get three of these packages to give you a total of 21 nights in a hotel and a total of 360,000 FF miles you will need to have approximately 750,000 Marriott reward points in your account.

GADS! I have 650,000. I actually have 2 accounts - apparently I can drain one and then use the other one. I may need to pay for some of this out of pocket - all making me wonder if my purchase was worth it.

I know that I bought the Manor Club (2 bed plat) for 19,500. It trades EY at 110,000. My thought was that if I got a huge trip like this - maybe worth 5000? - maybe a little more - and then 4 years from now get another (we also have a credit card) it would be worth it. Why I'm debating this after the fact is, of course, useless. But it is bugging me.

I will be booking 11 months out to the day (using all of your strategies including the hold on the airline to change the return date - THANKS). I will do this in early July - right now trying to get a direct exchange with my Aruba - I offered my 2 bedroom for a one bedroom - so I'm hoping someone bites on that one!

THANKS!!!!!!!!
I will be sure to report back!

 

[Big Matt]

Ellen,
my two cents only...

Forget about the business class tickets and think about splitting up the family on more than one flight if necessary to get the best flight options.

Even though the flights are long, and cramped, you'll be in Hawaii before you know it.

 

[KathyPet]

Well each to his own but when I went to Hawaii from DC 10 years ago we went coach. I found the trip to be absolutely exhausting and I swore that I would never go again unless I could go business class.
Also you can make up the points you need either by purchasing 100,000 Marriott Reward points for $1250 (I think) and add them to your account to get the points you need to transfer to the FF account or you can also purchase FF Miles directly from the airline you choose. You need to check the prices to purchase miles directly with the airline you select. I think that your major difficulty will be timing. You are going to ask for a trade for one of the Marriott Hawaii timeshares. I assume you are going to request a variety of check in dates at a variety of timeshares because you do not seem to care which of the time shares you get as you will then use the hotel package at the other island you go to. The problem is that until your timeshare trade comes through you can't make your hotel reservations and until you get your hotel reservations you can't make your flight reservations. Depending upon how long it takes to get your trade confirmed there might not be any FF mile seat availability to get you there.
Hawaii is very difficult to get into. You want a strong trader. I would book a strong week at your home resort to use for your trade.
I am not saying this cannot be done but the travel gods will really need to be smiling down upon you to get this all lined up.

 

[Zac495]

Well each to his own but when I went to Hawaii from DC 10 years ago we went coach. I found the trip to be absolutely exhausting and I swore that I would never go again unless I could go business class.
Also you can make up the points you need either by purchasing 100,000 Marriott Reward points for $1250 (I think) and add them to your account to get the points you need to transfer to the FF account or you can also purchase FF Miles directly from the airline you choose. You need to check the prices to purchase miles directly with the airline you select. I think that your major difficulty will be timing. You are going to ask for a trade for one of the Marriott Hawaii timeshares. I assume you are going to request a variety of check in dates at a variety of timeshares because you do not seem to care which of the time shares you get as you will then use the hotel package at the other island you go to. The problem is that until your timeshare trade comes through you can't make your hotel reservations and until you get your hotel reservations you can't make your flight reservations. Depending upon how long it takes to get your trade confirmed there might not be any FF mile seat availability to get you there.
Hawaii is very difficult to get into. You want a strong trader. I would book a strong week at your home resort to use for your trade.
I am not saying this cannot be done but the travel gods will really need to be smiling down upon you to get this all lined up.

I agree. I'm pretty sure I'm going to wait another year unless someone offers a direct exchange at the 11 month point. THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Kilby5924]

Stay away from US Air

I recommend a couple of things
1You live Philadelphia stay away from US Air they are notorious for not having seats available with FF miles.
2 I would make your trade for Waiohai because it is a two bedroom only resort it will accommodate 5 easy and you only need to use two hotel certs for Kauai beach club. Personally I find Waiohai more family friendly than Beach Club (Waiohai units have a full kitchen). Use your plat for trade. I have traded in with gold NCV week in the past so you should have no problem if you request has earlier as possible. Best to request little more than a year out so that you will be wait listed before Waiohai owners have made a decision to trade there week.
Sheldon

 

[ciscogizmo1]

Just to let you know on Oahu the timeshare (Ko'Olina) and hotel are not exactly next to each other. There are 3 lagoons and the timeshare is at one on the far end while the hotel is all the way at the other end.

I'd try to exchange into any of the 3 resorts: Maui, Ko'Olina or Waiohai. I also would exchange a 2 bedroom for a 2 bedroom. Also, remember that the Maui unit does have some 2 bedroom units that do not have full kitchens so, if that is something important to you then, you need to take that into consideration. Then, based on the exchange I received then, I'd use the hotel points for 2 rooms at a hotel at the opposite island that I got a trade at. All the islands have great characteristics so depending on what you are looking for you'll find great places to stay. With the hotel stay you can even throw the Big Island into the mix.

 

[MikeM132]

I ditto most of what Beverly said with AA except:
1. Call (don't go online) aa.com 331 days out (NOT 330!!!) after midnight EST. This is when FF miles first appear on AA. They DO NOT appear online until AFTER 329 days out. This from personal experience. Pay the 15.00 per ticket and call.
2. FF award ticket to Europe (saver tickets) are 40,000 miles. Beverly paid 90,000 for hers. That's more than double, not 1.5 times the price (OK, I'm splitting hairs---the regular mileage charge is different but I ONLY use the saver ones).
3. Not a dispute but this was strongly recommended to me by an expert---buy the cheapest "upgradable" coach fares and upgrade using points. You often have to use points AND pay a charge for this, but the net is many thousands (many, many thousands) of points less than an FF bus/first purchase. Plus, with upgradeable coach you get all those FF miles for the Europe trip added back into your account. This is cash out of pocket, but results in saving your miles for future business/first trips. This "expert" only flew first class. In your case, this might work for your 2 of the 5 tickets you need.
4. AA is changing their "hold" times as we speak. They used to be 14 days, now they are going down to a week, I think. It is still true, to the best of my knowledge, that you do not need the points in your account to make and hold a ticket reservation. You have to have the points before you purchase the ticket, obviously. We were also able to call and extend the hold before the expiration. AA is great to work with on FF awards. This is what we were told before we ever did this, why we established an account with them, and has also been my experience in a few FF award tickets with them. Easy to see what award seats they have online, too.
Oh yeah, all of our FF travel on AA has been out of PHL.
Also, we're going to Hawaii in 2 weeks, staying at our TS(s). Flying first class on AA on FF award travel, which was wide open when I called (at 331 days at 3AM). We have been before on coach and it did not kill me. I drive all the time in a car for hours and still love to fly (don't fly all that much) so flying is OK with me in any class. Not wife, however, so we're flying f/c for the first (and probably last) time. Too many points for a big chair and free booze, in my opinion. I'm happy looking out the window.

 

[Quilter]

I recommend a couple of things

2 I would make your trade for Waiohai because it is a two bedroom only resort it will accommodate 5 easy and you only need to use two hotel certs for Kauai beach club. Personally I find Waiohai more family friendly than Beach Club (Waiohai units have a full kitchen). Use your plat for trade. I have traded in with gold NCV week in the past so you should have no problem if you request has earlier as possible. Best to request little more than a year out so that you will be wait listed before Waiohai owners have made a decision to trade there week.
Sheldon

Zac,

I was thinking along the same lines as Sheldon. I would use my strongest trader with II and request Waiohai. Line up your hotel reservations for the same time. If the exchange comes through cancel the hotel reservations and use the certificates another time. They can be extended a year.

While I've read many times that Hawaii is a difficult exchange, I have always succeeded when I've requested it. I wouldn't be so quick to give up a 2 bedroom for a 1 bedroom on a direct exchange. For the $99 you give II, they are the ones who will be dealing with the largest amount of exchange inventory. Direct exchanges sound good but so many owners know nothing about them and go directly to II. Direct exchanges will be relatively few. If you want to pursue them more have you looked at ownertrades.com? While you're waiting for a direct exchange to show up you can always have your unit in II on a request first basis.

If your children are 20, 14 & 11 does that mean by the time you travel they will be 21, 15 & 12?

 

[ciscogizmo1]

Zac,

I was thinking along the same lines as Sheldon. I would use my strongest trader with II and request Waiohai. Line up your hotel reservations for the same time. If the exchange comes through cancel the hotel reservations and use the certificates another time. They can be extended a year.

While I've read many times that Hawaii is a difficult exchange, I have always succeeded when I've requested it. I wouldn't be so quick to give up a 2 bedroom for a 1 bedroom on a direct exchange. For the $99 you give II, they are the ones who will be dealing with the largest amount of exchange inventory. Direct exchanges sound good but so many owners know nothing about them and go directly to II. Direct exchanges will be relatively few. If you want to pursue them more have you looked at ownertrades.com? While you're waiting for a direct exchange to show up you can always have your unit in II on a request first basis.

If your children are 20, 14 & 11 does that mean by the time you travel they will be 21, 15 & 12?

What good does this do if she is going for TWO weeks? She wants to spend one week using the exchange with her timeshare and one week using hotel points. I think, because she is coming from the East coast she wants to spend 2 weeks in Hawaii and I don't blame her...

 

[Quilter]

Yes, I did realize Ellen was wanting 2 weeks. On week two she was going to use a certificate and try for a timeshare trade. I was thinking that if a trade came in for Waiohai, which is two bedrooms, she wouldn't need the hotel after all. If she put in a request for both the Beach Club and Waiohai, and had the hotel lined up for the same time, if the Waiohai came through she could cancel the hotel reservation and save the certificate.

 

[ciscogizmo1]

Yes, I did realize Ellen was wanting 2 weeks. On week two she was going to use a certificate and try for a timeshare trade. I was thinking that if a trade came in for Waiohai, which is two bedrooms, she wouldn't need the hotel after all. If she put in a request for both the Beach Club and Waiohai, and had the hotel lined up for the same time, if the Waiohai came through she could cancel the hotel reservation and save the certificate.

Ahhh... I was thinking something different. I figured she would need a 2 bedroom timeshare one week and TWO rooms at a hotel for the 2nd week because she has 5 members in her family and I don't know of many one room hotels that hold 5 but maybe she is getting a rollaway bed. So totally my misunderstanding...

 

[Quilter]

Personally, I would save my hotel certificates for trips to places like Nice, Rome, Capri, Ireland, Paris, Fiji. For places with nice timeshare rooms, like Ko' Olina and Waiohai, it would seem more comfortable for a family. After timesharing, hotels now seem cramped in just a few days. I especially don't like to have to eat out every night just because there's no kitchen to store and prepare a light meal. When we stayed at the JW at Desert Ridge, the room fridge wasn't even a fridge, it was more of a cooler. That way you can't even keep much in the way of restaurant leftovers to munch on the next day. Not to mention to the ridiculous charge for internet when wi-fi is free in the timeshare on the other side of the golf course.

But that's just my opinion.