If you’ve been following the Marriott-SPG IT merger over the weekend at all, you’ll know that it went about as seamlessly as expected. That is, it was a meltdown on multiple levels.
After keeping guests in the dark over how the old travel packages would map to the new program, Marriott finally released this information over the weekend. It wasn’t pretty. A few of the certificate levels (3 in particular) were major losers. Everyone who had bet that Marriott would upgrade some certificates to higher tiers was disappointed.
But Marriott is at least starting to do some damage control. They’ve released some updates regarding travel packages, two of which are quite encouraging for those (like me) who were disappointed at first.
Certificates are useable now!
Marriott previously announced that existing 7-night travel package certificates would not be available for use until September 18. They were supposed to go into a one month limbo. This was a bit disheartening, especially if you had an upcoming stay that could be impacted.
But good news! Marriott has confirmed that as of Monday, August 20, that blackout is over. New certificates can be purchased from Marriott at the new (read awful) prices, and stays booked with old certificates can be modified or canceled.
The certificates also map to the new program certificates if they haven’t already been attached to a reservation. I’m holding a Category 8 certificate that is attached to a reservation for next summer, but I’m now contemplating how to approach this, based on Marriott’s other offer…
You can downgrade or refund your certificate for points
When Marriott released the initial chart showing how old certificates map to the new categories, many people were left wringing their hands. A good number had wagered that certain categories would see a bump, but had lost that bet. Marriott rolled out the new certificates in the “least customer-friendly way” possible. Check out the chart:
| Old Package Category | New Package Category |
|---|---|
| Marriott 1-5 | Marriott 1-4 |
| Marriott 6 | Marriott 1-4 |
| Marriott 7 | Marriott 5 |
| Marriott 8 | Marriott 5 |
| Marriott 9 | Marriott 6 |
| Ritz Tier 1-3 | Marriott 6 |
| Ritz Tier 4-5 | Marriott 7 |
You can see that the Category 6, Category 8 and Tier 1-3 Ritz certificates are the biggest losers. The certificates one tier below each have the same booking power for fewer points.
However, Marriott has indicated that those holding a Category 6, 8, or Ritz Tier 1-3 certificates can ask for a one-time exchange to the lower category. This will net you the equivalent certificate in the new program, and also a refund of 30,000 Marriott points. Not too bad of a deal.
[Update: While this was communicated by Marriott, many people are noting that this isn’t being reflected by responses to requests for refunds. We are reaching out for clarification.]
You can also apparently still return your entire certificate for points. My Category 8 certificate, for example, would net me 135,000 Marriott points. Definitely not in the plans at the moment, but it is a good back-door option to have.
Conclusion
So, now that more details regarding how Marriott will handle certificate changes, does this change your plans of what to do with yours. Sure, if you bet that you’d end up with a higher category by picking a Category 6 or 8 certificate, that ship has sailed. But at least Marriott will refund the portion that was overpaid.
My biggest dilemma is having a package that is currently holding a reservation at a Category 6 hotel. I cannot change or cancel this and have another shot at that reservation. However, if I do cancel, Marriott will refund me 30,000 points since I’m sitting on a Category 8 certificate. It all really depends on how our plans develop, but right now I’m gonna sit tight.
How about you? Did you redeem any points for Marriott travel packages prior to the rollout of the new program?
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
The travel packages are not useable to book Starwood properties. I called yesterday and today. They don’t know when it will be available to do so. EPIC FAIL on Marriott’s IT.
The way they’ve set it up you HAVE to book SPG properties through SPG reps when trying to use the certificates. (Search for reward nights on Marriott dot com and the SPG customer service number pops up under SPG properties.) If, however, you begin by talking to Marriott Reward reps they will tell you that they can’t even see SPG properties on their systems and you will be transferred to SPG reps who will then spend a lot of time typing on their computers searching for the reward nights, even asking you for room type, etc, but after setting up the reservation will then either tell you that it: “errors out,” or for more fun: “You need to call the hotel directly and book the 7 night certificates through them, we can’t do that here.” The last one has now happened to me 4 times, even after some of them contacted their help desk, which means there is some serious wrong information up the chain of command at SPG customer service. I can understand if their are still problems with the IT integration, but tell people that. Quit spreading wrong information that we need to contact hotels and book directly with them. I can’t imagine that any SPG hotel would even remotely have an inkling of what a Marriott Travel Package Certificate is.
Tried this as well. Had a courtyard selected but a nicer 4 points Sheraton is just down the block, but no one can make it happen.
Any word on being able to upgrade certs? I have a Cat 8 that I want to use on a property that was an 8 before the merger, now it’s a 6…which the Cat 8 cert maps over to Cat 5…..
I’ve not seen anything in regard to this. I don’t believe it will be possible. This is the same dilemma I am in, as my Cat 8 certificate is attached to a stay at a hotel that is now a Cat 6. Changes aren’t possible anymore.
I emailed Marriott on Monday to request a downgrade from Tier 1-3 to adjust to Category 9, aka new Category 6 + 30k points refunded. They wrote back Tuesday that they can’t do anything before September 18. Not sure this is being applied across the board yet…
Sorry, Owen. See below. My guess is that their PR statements were premature.
Are you basing this “update” on anything other than what other bloggers (OMAT I think was the first) have said for the last few days? If not, that 30,000 refund for the 3 unlucky category purchasers is still, at best, highly questionable since no one I’ve heard of has been able to get such a refund (myself included) and, at worst, have been told by reps that no such refund has ever been announced by any official Marriott channel.
Would love to hear this update is based on anything other than previous bloggers’ apparently unofficial news that’s been passed around.
Same here. Tried to get refund on Tier 1-3 and they gave the generic ridiculous email response and it had nothing to do with getting a refund. They have a response that doesn’t apply to getting a refund. Just ridiculous
None of this is true. For the last couple days this prepared email is what you get if you try to book or get a 30K downgrade refund.
https://t.co/QAtLl3ecxx
It’s just weird that bloggers are posting this obviously faulty information and then just leaving it hanging out there with no comment or clarification.
The information regarding the single level exchange is from Marriott. I find it perplexing that they are not operating that way, and I apologize to you all. It’s possible that they haven’t rolled this out to front line staff.
The ability to refund your whole certificate comes from OMAAT, which is linked above.
Hmmm. Guess bloggers are just going to put out this faulty information and leave it hanging out there with no comment, let alone correction. Weird.
Brady – care to elaborate?
Starwood still not bookable. Asked Starwood agents when. They don’t know.
I booked a Category 7 (old) in Orlando with a certificate. I’d like to change it for an old Category 8 in Scottsdale. Both should now be a category 5 in the new chart. Will I be able to make this change?
Yes. The Category 7 certificate will be a new Category 5 certificate, so you should be able to make this change.
What about attaching a Category 6 to a category 6 reservation that was already made? Marriott customer service (prior to 8/18/18) said that it would work just fine. I haven’t tried yet… has anyone else tried to do this? One reservation I have is with a Marriott hotel and the other was for a Starwood hotel.
Did you hear this from Marriott? I tried to downgrade my Category 6 & got the same canned response, that no downgrades or upgrades will be given. Would calling work better than emailing?
Yes. Unfortunately, this communication seems to be premature. Front line staff don’t appear ready.
The information on one time exchange and ability to book starting Monday came directly from Marriott. I’m truly sorry to those of you who have attempted to request this via their contact form and been rejected. Hopefully they will get this rectified. It appears their “good news” was premature.