Here Are The Marriott Travel Packages That I Purchased

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After months of speculation, I finally rolled the dice on some travel packages as we’re going down to the wire. These amazing packages will be discontinued tomorrow.

 

  • I “split” a tier 1-3 package (420K Marriott points) and a tier 4-5 package (540K Marriott points) with my brother-in-law. Neither of us are likely to stay 7 nights in one hotel and you can’t buy a 5 night travel package for the Ritz tier packages which are likely to map to the best hotels. My brother-in-law redeemed for a tier 1-3 package and I redeemed for a tier 4-5 package. The plan would be for him to use part of the tier 1-3 hotel stay and part of the tier 4-5 hotel stay while I’d use part of that same tier 1-3 hotel stay and part of that same tier 4-5 hotel stay. That will take some coordination to happen, but that way we can also hedge our bets based on how Marriott maps the old tiers to the new categories. My guess is that the tier 1-3 certificate will be good for hotels that are a unified category 7 or about 60K points per night. That would mean if we book a stay with that certificate by January that it should be valid in any SPG or Marriott hotel. My guess is that the tier 4-5 certificate will be good for hotels that are a unified category 8 or about 85K points per night. That would mean we would have more time to book a stay in any SPG or Marriott hotel and it would work even after January when category 8 properties go up from 60K points per night to 70K-100K points per night. We attached the tier 1-3 certificate to the Ritz-Carlton Toronto, which will become a category 7 property and we attached the tier 4-5 certificate to the Ritz Carlton Bal Harbour which will become a category 8 property.

As for the miles, I chose 120K Alaska over the 132K United. I love my United miles, but they’re so easy to earn thanks to the Chase quadfecta, so Alaska was an easy choice.

Of course if you just want the miles at an amazing rate and a less expensive hotel stay you can book a category 1-5 certificate and attach it to the Calgary Airport Marriott as that hotel will be a unified category 5 hotel and you might just luck out and have your certificate remain valid for a category 5 hotel. Just be prepared for questions about why you’re spending a week in an airport hotel like DDF reader “zow” encountered 😀

I don’t see any good reason to leave a certificate unattached to a hotel at this point.

You’ll get many more miles by buying a travel package that just transferring points into miles, read this comprehensive post for the exact numbers.

 

Are you buying travel packages before it’s too late? The new devalued certificates go for sale on Saturday.

  • You must call Marriott at 800-321-7396 if you want to book a miles+nights travel package. They can’t be booked online.
  • The miles will post within a few days of the transfer, regardless of when or if you use the 7 night certificate. You may also be able to pay to expedite the mileage posting.
  • The 7 night electronic hotel certificate expires in 1 year, though Marriott currently will extend them for 1 additional year if you contact them.
  • You don’t need to choose the hotel at the time of a nights+miles redemption.
  • The certificate must be used at one property for 7 consecutive nights.
  • You can have the certificate issued in anyone’s name.

Short on Starpoints/Marriott points?

Related Marriott Travel Packages posts:

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151 Comments On "Here Are The Marriott Travel Packages That I Purchased"

All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.

J

Just bought a 1-5 certificate, given that we can’t upgrade post 8/18, is it worth it to purchase marriot points for $12.50 per 1K to upgrade to category 6? Currently attached to Calgary per your suggestion. (Sorry for initially posting this in the wrong thread).

Levi

“I don’t see any good reason to leave a certificate unattached to a hotel at this point.”

Unless I’m misunderstanding you’d have to know which hotel you want now. No?

mike smith

how long does it take to transfer points to different accounts as my wifes account has a different adress & i’d change the adress & transfer points same day, would they let me book a package like this?

Leo

Hi Dan, can I book a later date after the certificate expiration date ? Say, my certificate expires 12/12/2018, can I book a hotel 12/25/2018 ? Thanks.

Mahyar

I bought a Cat 6 based purely on speculation for points but does it actually now make more sense to downgrade that to a cat 5 instead? I don’t have any travel plans

mark

@Dan, if I attach my certificate to a hotel now and want to cancel the reservation and certificate before my stay, will I still get a points refund for the certificate?

zow

Thanks for the shout out! I also had to explain it to my wife, but she was very understanding.

SBP

Any other hotels we can try for cat 1-5, other than the Calgary Airport Marriott?

Joey

Any point in attaching the anniversary night certificates to a hotel? If so, what’s a good property?

UrbanDweller

I’ve followed these mariott package deals for years, but never capitalized. I’d now like to. Do you presume I would still be able to book today for this fall the cat5 kosher hotel in Panama?

Joe

Would you recommend using pretty much all of your Marriott points for a Cert plus 120k Alaska miles?

Al

If you attach your 1-5 certificate it to YYC Marriott, isn’t there a risk that they will not allow you to cancel and use it at any other unified Cat. 5 ?

yori

can i use anniversary 1 night certificates between 8/18-9/18? and book during that time? if yes, is it redeemable for a spg hotel at that time?

Matt

Hey Dan, I have a cat 6 cert right now and the properties that I am considering are all going down in price to 35k/night. If you were in my shoes, would you upgrade it to cat 7 or sit tight? Can’t decide if it is worth potentially wasting the 30k to upgrade. Appreciate all your insight!

BG

I purchased a category 9 certificate last week and attached it to a reservation at Domes of Elounda for sometime in 2019… Let’s see what happens. As an aside, unless Marriott maps the certificates in an extraordinarily generous way, I am fairly certain that Marriott will have sufficient pushback on their decision to not allow upgrades/downgrades to certificates that they will change their policy sometime in September.

George

Hi Dan, I just stayed at the Domes Of Elounda in a premium suite for 5 nights and payed 60k spg points total which I transferred to 180k Marriott points and got the 5th night free! It was the most amazing hotel I’v ever stayed in. You’re gona love it!

Baruch

you only paid 60k spg points for a 5 night stay?? how !

Itsy

People who have been able to purchase the five night packages (due to poorly trained Marriott CSRs) even though they were not MVC owners and not entitled to it, have had their accounts audited and have had problems according to reports on FT.

Miriam Brooklyn

its all cool but I don’t enjoy drinking from paper straws in their bar…and smuggling in my plastic straws is just too much

John

I have a floater Category 6. Like you said previously, the Marriott’s Club Son Antem is the only property that would be worth booking to gamble on a later change since no other Cat6 will be Cat6 going forward. I show no award availability in their entire calendar, so I guess I should just let it float?

Mahyar

I’m in the exact same boat as you lol. I see there are some other current marriott cat 6 that are going from 30k to 35k, is that not useful to book as a placeholder?

Dave

After being on hold with Marriott for an hit trying to book st Regis Maldives on a package they transferred me out to spg who had no clue on how to book a travel package. How will I be able to book st Regis under the Marriott packages

Narinee

is there a reason to attach to a reservation now vs just leaving it alone? what if you are booking to a resort/hotel you have no plans to actually go to but attached it …I guess I am confused as to why attach to a reservation of some kind vs leaving it alone. I currently have 2 five night Cat 9 certificates.

Mark

I’m doing nothing with my 60k SPG AKA 180 Marriott. As this is all too confusing.

Maybe a simple blog post with a strategy for ppl that have minimal points and have no idea what their upcoming travel plans may be will help.

Bleave me I have always followed your guidance and succeeded, this one turns out to be way too confusing with all the options

David

Same here I’m sitting on 130k spg points with no clue what to do. Any beginner advise here dan ?

Eli

Not nervous about an audit from AS? Very common to happen when you transfer Spg

pointer

Dan is not selling his miles, so no reason to be nervous

moe

so if I have a cert attached to a hotel that the price will go down ( cat 6 which will be cat 4) it is better to detach it from that hotel and reattach it to a hotel w a category 6 that will get more expensive? any idea of which hotel might do that?

carol

I love your blog but I find it amazing that while you are willing to jump through hoops to find hotel deals but you amass timeshare owners into the category of “suckers.” This is akin to saying that you shouldn’t pursue credit card bonus offers because credit cards can ruin your credit rating – clearly if you know how to hack the system you can win.

Same goes for timeshares if you know how to hack resale purchases. There are some killer resale timeshare options if you learn how to hack the systems and avoid developer sales pitches. While the sales programs are terrible, the product is fantastic.

Our family stays at 4 – 5 star ocean front Hawaii in 2 bedroom condo units and in NYC penthouses (think Hilton, Westin, Hyatt) for a fraction of what it would cost to rent or use credit card points.

The problem is that too many people overpay the developer and don’t have sufficient income to buy one – it’s not for everyone. There is a community of hackers where you can learn whether you are right for a timeshare and how to hack timeshares and avoid being a sucker like you do with credit cards: https://tugbbs.com/forums/index.php

Dave

Dan, bought a CAT 7 Cert night plus points. i want to use it for the W in South Beach. Marriott wont let me attach it to an SPG hotel yet. should i upgrade my cert? W hotel will remain a category 7 until 2019 but i think they will downgrade my certificate in sept.

Deal Guy

If I bought a cat 1-5 and a rep notated the account that he assured me that I will be able to use it at a new cat 5. Would you trust him and the case number, or should I call back and upgrade it? To what?

Jen

How does cancelling a package work? Will I get my points back? I bought a 7 nights +United and I don’t think I would use the nights at all.

Avi

You mentioned that you don’t see a reason not to attach to a hotel . What if you have no intention of staying at the hotel you attach it to? What would the risks be of leaving it attached? Could there be a case where they don’t let you transfer to another hotel in the same category?

Elie

I have never done a points+miles before and am a bit novice/timid to do so.
I am looking at “Phoenician Residences, a Luxury Collection Residence Club, Scottsdale” (SPG Cat 7). I have 100k SPG points.
How do I make this work? I’m fine with 5 nights.

Joe

Best airline to fly to Hawaii from US49 in J is Alaska miles?

Joe

Dan, Copied you. Booked the Domes of Elounda as well but for 7 nights for 390k points with miles going to Alaska. Thanks and lets hope for the best

Baruch

i bet so many will do that today lol

dave

Dan is there a possibility that marriot will use peak and standard rates as separate categories so cat 6 would only be able to get cat 4 peak season in the new chart? Why didn’t you include that as a scenario?

jo

Is there an option for Jet Blue?

HapEmile
jew

Is there something unique with the Calgary airport as opposed to many similar options? Or is that just a random example?

jew

If category 6 is not possible at son antem, What is the next option?

Gene

Where can I find information about category changes for the Four Points in Havana?

Yman

Dan-
what do you mean by “As for the miles, I chose 120K Alaska over the 132K United. I love my United miles, but they’re so easy to earn thanks to the Chase quadfecta, so Alaska was an easy choice.”
Can you please explain yourself how you easily convert your Chase UR to United miles?

As for the Chase quadfecta and living in Israel, I have 4 cards:
1 CSR
1 Freedom
1 United Explorer
1 Marriott – Premium
Is there anything else that you would change? I am planning on getting a Business card sometime in the near future sometime after I finish reaching the bonuses on the last 2 cards.

Zack

I have 300k spg and no travel plans. Should I still be buying a travel package? I like the flexibility to transfer to Jal, Asiana, Alaska etc.

Morris

Booked a category 5 for seven nights I realized that the chances of using all 7nights were slim to none factoring in shabbos. I called and they switched it to a category 7 for 5 nights for the same amount of points. Thanks Dan as always for laying things down so clearly.

Maifriend

Is attaching a certificate to a hotel different from booking that hotel? The Domes of Elounda can’t be booked for the entire 2019 so I assume attaching is not booking.

Shulamit

I have 124k SPG points and have no plans on taking an extended vacation until Jan 2020 sadly. And even then have no specific destinations in mind.

1) Would you recommend getting 7 day certificate for category 8 (360 miles) or buying another 6k SPG points to reach category 9?
2) do you still recommend United/Alaska for the miles portion even to those people such as myself who fly Southwest often?

Steve

Worth holding onto my 360,000 Marriott points so have flexibility in terms of hotels and length of stay in future OR redeem for travel package since miles alone are worth then Marriott points?

Frankie

Can a relative gift me 10,000 Marriott? If yes, how long does it take?

Deme321

Do I have to call Marriott to attach a certificate to a specific hotel or can I do that online? I tried calling Marriott and they told me they could not access my account and I would have to call the hotel directly. Is this correct?

Avi

I had to do it over the phone. Just needed to give them my name and Marriott number. When you call, ask to make a reservation and then let them know about your certificate.

Natasha

Can I attach to the Atlantis property if I buy the lowest one?

James

Assuming after merger Marriott won’t be extending these 7 day certificates past the 1 yr mark, what happens to them if one is unable to use them? Are they really worthless?

Yosef_S

Trying to redeem for a 5-night Cat. 9 certificate. Have HUCA’d a bunch, including the overseas call centers, with no luck. Any suggestions? TIA

Bobby

Dan,
What number did you call to get the 5 night certificates? I’ve called probably 100-150 times and never had any luck and have called numbers others have had luck with as well.

Yosef_S

As a data point, I was just able to book a 5 night package on my third HUCA by calling the Latin America/Mexico line. I just waited silently through all the prompts and then when the agent answered I asked if they spoke English. All did.

Bobby

Thanks

Azar

Hi Dan,
I have 2x 1-5 Certificates, would it make sense to upgrade at least one of them with 7×5,000=35,000 Marriott points, and try to get Category 6 Marriott Club Son Antem?
Thank you

Sam

I ended with a few Cat 9 for 5 Nights and Tier 1-3 for 7 Nights. Just couldn’t pull the trigger on Tier 4-5. Worst case cancel the certificate if they don’t map out properly and just use the points to book rooms in 2019.

mike smith

dan, id like to use the cat 1-5 package, with 132 united, whats the benefit of booking the calgary hotel thats going up in price as opposed to lets say the “Great Northern Hotel London” which is now a category 5 but will turn into a combined cat. 6. thanks for all your help

DANFAN5773

So THANKS DAN FOR ALL THE GOOD ADVICE ALL THE YEARS AND FOR THIS ONE ALSO,so from following dan since 2013 i had a nest of about 600k SPg=1.8M Marriot points, I booked the Ritz in bal harbor for next Feb as a7 night pkg and 132k united miles and after this post i purchased a 5 night pkg Domes ac pkg 132 united but it wasn’t only after 3 huca’S and each 45 min wait. but still think its amazing deal THANK YOU AGAIN

Maifriend

For what it’s worth: https://members.marriott.com/tophotels/

Marriott said:
We’ll of course honor all redemptions made at current rates even if your stays occur after the new rates take effect. If your hotel is going to a lower redemption rate, you’ll want to rebook in August when the lower rate becomes effective.

YC

Hi, for those who attached the category 6 7 night certificate to son antem, did you have to pay 2 upgrade certificates (10K/night, total of 70k?) thanks.

Itsy

Well, your guess for a 85k value on your tier 4-5 was off. You are only getting a value of 70k a night per the newly released chart. Tier 1-3 is 60k. I am fine with my three packages as I didn’t want to get greedy and “hope” for a better outcome. Let the kvetching begin.

Agoldsc1

Alright Dan, everyone who bought a cat 6,8 and tier 3 hotel needs your help. Do your thing and get us out 30k back 🙂

Mark

@Dan any word if one is able to transfer a tier 1-3 certificate that is attached to Ritz Toronto to another Cat 7 hotel? Or if you want to rebook with another hotel will you be forced to going with a cat 6 as that is the current mapping for tier 1-3?

Barak

Dan – any updates about how travel certificates that attached to Marriott/Ritz hotels in different categories will work? I think there was lack of clarity whether Marriott will allow upgrades, change of dates etc?
I bought Ritz Category 1-3 Certificate and attached it to Ritz Carlton Toronto, hoping to get Le Meridien or St Regis Bora Bora after the merger – are there any news on that front?

Thanks,

Barak

Barak

@Dan – what happended with the attached certificates you’ve purchased? As you did, i purchased Ritz Carlton Tier 1-3 certificate, and attached it to Ritz Carlton Toronto (as Dan did). My hope was to be able to change it to Le Meridien or St Regis Bora Bora.

With the merger fiasco, it is clear what to do with unattached certificates, but i am super confused what to do with my certificate attached to Ritz Carlton Toronto (Tier 1-3, which i think corresponds to Category 6 in combined aware chart). I called Marriott reps, and they are completely clueless (they THINK i can use it only at other Ritz Carlton category 1-3 (which doesn’t make any sense), but they aren’t sure.

Anyone encountered with same issue? What do you suggest i do?

Thanks!

Barak

Barak Turovsky

Per lively discussion on Marriott flights & nights before Marriott & PSG system merger, i purchased Ritz Carlton Tier 1-3 certificate, and attached it to Ritz Carlton Toronto (as Dan did). My hope was to be able to change it to Le Meridien or St Regis Bora Bora.

With the merger fiasco, it is clear what to do with unattached certificates, but i am super confused what to do with my certificate attached to Ritz Carlton Toronto (Tier 1-3, which i think corresponds to Category 6 in combined aware chart). I called Marriott reps, and they are completely clueless (they THINK i can use it only at other Ritz Carlton category 1-3 (which doesn’t make any sense), but they aren’t sure.

Anyone encountered with same issue? What do you suggest i do?

Thanks!

Barak

HelpMe

The travel certificates can be booked in anyone’s name without issue?

Josh

Hi Dan,

I also applied a Cat 9 certificate to Domes of Elounda and now would rather keep the new Cat 6 certificate and just pay 45k points/night. Marriott is telling me that they cant honor this. That detaching certificate is a change in reservation and I would need to use 85k points/night. How is that fair?

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