Hotel categories 1 through 8 and redemption rates which are classified as Off-Peak, Peak, or Standard will be replaced with Flexible Point Redemption Rates effective as of sometime in March of 2022 — which means that the amount of Marriott Bonvoy points that are needed to redeem for an award stay will be more flexible and will more closely align with the cash rates of hotel and resort properties…
Dynamic Pricing Announced With Marriott Bonvoy Point Redemption For Award Nights
…and availability and seasonality are only two of the factors on which the rates will be based — which is essentially the dynamic pricing of award nights which are based on supply and demand. For example: if you are traveling to a hotel property with a lot of rooms that are available, you can expect to redeem fewer Marriott Bonvoy points for your award stay — and if the destination is busier than usual during the dates when you prefer to stay, the redemption amount of Marriott Bonvoy points may increase.
Flexible Point Redemption Rates will technically mean that more rooms overall will be available for redemption stays because management at hotel and resort properties will be able to better manage room inventory — and you will be able to see the redemption rates per night via an animated slider.
Between now and March of 2022, the current award chart with Off-Peak, Peak, and Standard rates will remain in place — but effective some time in March of 2022, the award chart will be eliminated and dynamic pricing of award stays will be in effect.
The good news is that redemption rates for greater than 97 percent of all hotel and resort properties will continue to range between their current Off-Peak redemption rates and Peak redemption rates for stays throughout 2022 — which means that fewer than three percent of hotel and resort properties will change redemption rates to a higher range than where they are currently in the award chart. For stays beyond 2022, rates will be adjusted based more closely on the cash rates for hotel and resort properties…
…and hotel and resort properties will still have minimum and maximum limits pertaining to the amount of Marriott Bonvoy points which are redeemed for award stays, according to an e-mail message which was recently sent out to members: “Hotels and resorts will still have a minimum and maximum number of points for redemption rates that will more closely align to how they’re categorized today” — which means that the redemption rate of a hotel or resort property should not skyrocket from 20,000 points per night to 2,000,000 points per night. Rather, some wiggle room is given for hotel and resort properties to adjust redemption rates as necessary.
You will continue to earn points all the same ways — including on stays with Homes and Villas by Marriott International and All-Inclusive by Marriott Bonvoy resort properties. Now, you will simply have more flexibility when you are ready to redeem your points; and PointSavers and Cash & Points will continue to be offered as options.
Similar to today, Stay 5, Pay for 4 enables you to receive the lowest point-value night free when using Marriott Bonvoy points to book a redemption stay of a minimum of five consecutive nights.
New: Free Night Award Top Off
In early 2022, you will have the opportunity to increase your Free Night Award by adding up to 15,000 additional Marriott Bonvoy points, expanding the value of the award and possible options across the portfolio.
Your Marriott Bonvoy points and certificates remain valid and hold the same value. Free Night Award Top Off — up to 15,000 points — will be available across all Free Night Awards and Free Night Certificates in early 2022. This will allow you to add Marriott Bonvoy points to a Free Night Award certificate. Suite Night Award and Free Night Award policies remain the same at this time.
Free Night Awards with Top Off will be available for Standard and PointSavers redemptions. They are not available for upgraded Rooms.
The Top Off — up to 15,000 Marriott Bonvoy points — will be available for all Free Night Award certificates.
Suite Night Awards can be used in conjunction with Free Night Awards with or without the Top Off.
Final Boarding Call
The transition from the elimination of award charts with hotel categories to Flexible Point Redemption Rates in March of 2022 is being sold as a way to give members of the Marriott Bonvoy frequent guest loyalty program more flexibility and options to explore the portfolio of brands of Marriott International, Incorporated when redeeming Marriott Bonvoy points for stays — especially as more price points will be added than the fixed Off-Peak, Peak, or Standard rates when seeking the best redemption value.
…and while this may indeed be true, you can basically forget about getting a great value at an aspirational hotel property.
The news will likely be worse for members of the Marriott Bonvoy frequent guest loyalty program rather than better — but with every perceived devaluation are “sweet spots” which may be discovered for the best redemption values of your Marriott Bonvoy points.
Only time will tell whether this new policy is a trick or a treat as to just how bad is this perceived devaluation — but I do not necessarily believe that in many scenarios, this change to Flexible Point Redemption Rates means that you should suddenly redeem as many of your Marriott Bonvoy points as quickly as possible…
All photographs ©2015, ©2016, and ©2017 by Brian Cohen.
