Marriott has increased the number of points you can use to top off a free night certificate from 15,000 to 25,000. That means 35,000; 40,000; 50,000; and 85,000 point free night awards – mostly generated via credit card, but that are also available as an annual 75-night elite choice benefit – can be combined with additional points to be useful at more hotels.
- This is a good move to ‘save’ these certificates from the costs of Bonvoy devaluation – they do not go as far as they used to today.
- But they should be increasing the base points value of the certificates to keep them useful – otherwise you’re getting less from your credit cards and status.
When Marriott moved away from award charts, these certificates stopped being valid for a specific ‘category’ of hotel and instead were worth a fixed amount of points. But the number of points Bonvoy charged for a hotel night at a given property kept going directionally up. As a result, each certificate was worth less and less (and so less an incentive to hold their credit card or stay a certain number of nights).
Marriott’s solution was to let members spend more points to book at the hotels that the certificates used to just cover. That addressed flexibility but not value. The certificates themselves were still devalued. But it helped preserve the co-brand card economics.
Of course Marriott kept increasing redemption prices. And those prices started changing more frequently (‘dynamically’, not once a year for a given hotel and night like Hyatt does it).
Moving from 15,000-point top off to 25,000-point top off doesn’t increase generosity. It is necessary so that members with these certificates, mostly from credit cards, can still redeem them at the same hotels as before (albeit with a points co-pay).
The practical effect of the change Marriott told you about is simple: the common certificate ceilings effectively move from 35k→60k, 40k→65k, 50k→75k, and 85k→110k. Marriott’s current ecosystem still includes 35k annual card certificates, the 40k 75-night Annual Choice Benefit certificate, a 50k Bevy spend-earned certificate, and an 85k Brilliant renewal certificate.
There’s no reason, of course, that Marriott has to cap points top offs at all, except that limits of using the certificates contribute to breakage. That’s also why the certificates expire if unused, versus just giving out 35,000; 40,000; 50,000; or 85,000 points.
Still, increasing the fee cap is especially helpful with dynamically-priced redemptions where too often it seems like a free night might be just 1,000 or 2,000 points about the current threshold. There should be more successful redemptions and fewer frustrations with certificate use. Plus, it encourages members to buy the points they need to top off sa well.
Put another way though, Marriott is making certificates easier to use again – at higher member cost – because Bonvoy pricing moved far enough up that the old top-off rule stopped doing the job.
Just one more reason for me to hate Marriott.
Yes, the certificate values should go up when points costs increase.
Sure Marriott could increase the points each certificate is worth but at least they have an option to add points and use them. I’m sure many Hyatt loyalists w category 1-4 certificates would love the chance to add points and book a category 5 hotel since, in many areas, a category 1-4 certificate isn’t very usable. At least Marriott has some flexibility-give them credit for that.
Twenty-six years of loyalty to Starwood/Marriott, and I can’t even recall the last policy change that benefited the customer. Fortunately, for me, loyalty is now a choice, not a necessity, and I can use my travel dollars where the most generous benefits apply.