Difference between revisions of "Marriott hotel + air packages"
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=== Cheap frequent flyer transfers when you are booking a multi-night stay === | === Cheap frequent flyer transfers when you are booking a multi-night stay === | ||
| − | + | Another way of looking at these packages is from the perspective of someone planning a hotel stay. | |
| − | + | <blockquote> | |
| + | If you are already planning a 7-night stay at a Marriott hotel, you can take advantage of Marriott's Hotel + Air packages to convert points to airline miles at discounted rates'''. | ||
| + | </blockquote> | ||
| − | + | We don’t normally recommend transferring points into miles until you have a specific redemption in mind. However, the potential discount can be significant enough, that it can be worthwhile to make a proactive transfer to a frequent flyer programs where you are mostly likely to need the miles. | |
| − | + | The best discounts will be for a 100,000 mile package, where you were planning on a peak-period hotel stay. | |
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Revision as of 17:03, 1 July 2018
Marriott Rewards is the only hotel program where it can worthwhile to transfer your points to frequent flyer programs, so that you can use them to book award tickets.
If you are are planning on converting Marriott points into frequent flyer miles, you can take advantage of Marriott's Hotel + Air packages, to get a discount on a 7-night hotel certificate. If you'll have an opportunity to stay at a hotel, for 5-7 days, this can be a better option than just a regular points transfer.
Before Marriott changed the Hotel + Air award charts as part of unifying the Marriott and SPG programs, these Hotel + Air packages were a tremendous deal. In some extreme cases, it actually cost fewer points to get a package (with the free 7-night certificate) than it did to just get the same number of frequent flyer miles.
WORK IN PROGRESS
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Get a discounted 7-night Marriott stay along with your airline miles
- When you redeem for a package, you get a 7-night hotel certificate—you can decide where you want to use it later. You can use the certificate anytime during the year following your points transfer, and you can use the airline points whenever you want. You don’t need to have a definite plan to use the hotel certificate at the time you transfer you points.
- You can upgrade your hotel certificate when you want to use it—so start out with a Category 1-4 certificate. To upgrade your certificate, you’ll simply need to pay the points difference between the different categories of hotels. Unless you have a specific hotel stay in mind, always start with the Category 1-4 certificate, and then adjust it later (if necessary).
- Hotel + Air packages can still be a good deal, even if you don’t plan to stay the full 7 nights. Depending on the package you're interested in, the discount can still make the package worthwhile, even if you only need to stay 5 or 6 nights. Unfortunately, you can’t split the certificate across two different hotels.
- The packages are a much better deal when you would need to pay the peak rate for the hotel. Certificates can be used regardless of whether the hotel is offering standard, peak, or off-peak award rates. Marriott has priced the packages assuming that you will take advantage of the certificate during peak travel times.
- Packages are a better deal on lower category hotels. Because the discount is fixed, it is a more significant discount on less expensive hotel stays. For example, saving 90,000 points on a Category 4 certificate represents a 50% savings, but saving the same number of points on a Category 8 certificate only represents a 15% savings.
- Packages can actually cost more than the separate cost of the miles and hotel room, if you wind up using the certificate during non-peak dates. The packages still provide a discount at lower category hotels, especially for 100,000 mile packages, but can be more expensive than the individual pieces in higher categories for the 50,000 mile packages. The calculations for off-peak dates are even worse.
- You get an extra 10% when you are redeeming for United Miles. United is a preferred partner of Marriott’s, and you will get 10% extra miles when you purchase a package. But, you get the same extra 10% on a regular points transfer, so it doesn't affect the value proposition of the packages.
You'll save 90,000 points on a 100,000 mile package, and 45,000 points on a 50,000 mile package, which can be a savings of up to 50% on the cost of 7-night hotel stay.
| Cat 4 | Cat 5 | Cat 6 | Cat 7 | Cat 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package Cost | ||||
| 330,000 | 390,000 | 510,000 | 570,000 | 750,000 |
| Normal cost for 100,000 miles | ||||
| 240,000 | 240,000 | 240,000 | 240,000 | 240,000 |
| Points required for 7-night certificate | ||||
| 90,000 | 150,000 | 270,000 | 330,000 | 510,000 |
| Normal cost for 7-night peak stay | ||||
| 180,000 | 240,000 | 360,000 | 420,000 | 600,000 |
| Package savings | ||||
| 90,000 | 90,000 | 90,000 | 90,000 | 90,000 |
| Percentage discount on certificate | ||||
| 50% | 38% | 25% | 21% | 15% |
| Cat 4 | Cat 5 | Cat 6 | Cat 7 | Cat 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package Cost | ||||
| 255,000 | 315,000 | 435,000 | 495,000 | 675,000 |
| Normal cost for 50,000 miles | ||||
| 120,000 | 120,000 | 120,000 | 120,000 | 120,000 |
| Points required for 7-night certificate | ||||
| 135,000 | 195,000 | 315,000 | 375,000 | 555,000 |
| Normal cost for 7-night peak stay | ||||
| 180,000 | 240,000 | 360,000 | 420,000 | 600,000 |
| Package savings | ||||
| 45,000 | 45,000 | 45,000 | 45,000 | 45,000 |
| Percentage discount on certificate | ||||
| 25% | 19% | 13% | 11% | 8% |
From another perspective, the 90,000 points you need to pay extra to get a Category 4 certificate with your 100,000 miles is the the same number of points that would normally be required for a 3 night peak stay. But, the 510,000 points you would need to pay extra to get a Category 8 certificate, is more than the cost of a 6 night stay.
| Cat 4 | Cat 5 | Cat 6 | Cat 7 | Cat 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points required for 7-night certificate | ||||
| 90,000 | 150,000 | 270,000 | 330,000 | 510,000 |
| Normal cost for 7-night standard stay | ||||
| 150,000 | 210,000 | 300,000 | 360,000 | 510,000 |
| Package savings | ||||
| 60,000 | 60,000 | 30,000 | 30,000 | 0 |
| Percentage discount on certificate | ||||
| 40% | 29% | 10% | 8% | 0% |
| Cat 4 | Cat 5 | Cat 6 | Cat 7 | Cat 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points required for 7-night certificate | ||||
| 135,000 | 195,000 | 315,000 | 375,000 | 555,000 |
| Normal cost for 7-night peak stay | ||||
| 150,000 | 210,000 | 300,000 | 360,000 | 510,000 |
| Package savings | ||||
| 15,000 | 15,000 | (15,000) | (15,000) | (45,000) |
| Percentage discount on certificate | ||||
| 15% | 7% | (5%) | (4%) | (9%) |
Cheap frequent flyer transfers when you are booking a multi-night stay
Another way of looking at these packages is from the perspective of someone planning a hotel stay.
If you are already planning a 7-night stay at a Marriott hotel, you can take advantage of Marriott's Hotel + Air packages to convert points to airline miles at discounted rates.
We don’t normally recommend transferring points into miles until you have a specific redemption in mind. However, the potential discount can be significant enough, that it can be worthwhile to make a proactive transfer to a frequent flyer programs where you are mostly likely to need the miles.
The best discounts will be for a 100,000 mile package, where you were planning on a peak-period hotel stay.
