Tag Archives for travel packages.
Last week Marriott dropped into their terms and conditions that they were eliminating travel packages effective January 19, 2022. This was apparently published in the terms and conditions too early, and Marriott removed this from their published terms telling me they “published prematurely..[w]e will have additional details for members in the coming days.”
However Marriott never told members in advance about this change.
Marriott snuck a change into their terms and conditions saying that they’re eliminating hotel and airline mile ‘travel packages’ from the program. These haven’t been useful in several years because of price increases and the elimination of 5-night packages. Except those 5 night packages still exist and you may have a short window to claim them.
Marriott travel packages – a multi-night hotel stay bundled with a transfer of airline miles – used to be one of the great sweet spots of Marriott Rewards, just as ‘Nights and Flights’ was a great value option in the Starwood Preferred Guest program. Effective January 19, 2022 though these redemptions are no more.
As part of American’s plan to extend elite status through January 31, 2022, the airline shared that they would be offering up to $400 credits with American Airlines Vacations.
This benefit will vary from $300 to $400 depending on level of elite status held on June 30. Here’s how it will work.
Marriott travel packages used to be the best value in the program, combining hotel stays with airline miles transfers. The new program gutted the value of Marriott travel packages. It seems though that this may have been in anticipation of peak season award pricing which is another step towards Marriott’s cost containment efforts, and driving the program towards delivering consistent average value on each stay rather than having peaks and valleys (which create opportunity for exceptional value). Bonvoy confirms to me that Marriott travel packages do not have restrictions on use during peak nights. Marriott reward night certificates can be used for their permitted category whether the standard room redemption is for off season, standard or peak season. As a result you get the most value during peak season. There’s a whole lot more value…
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
