Master Thread of Discussion on Marriott / SPG Merger

[how]

I booked a cat 1-5 package but gave my wife United account number by mistake. Will the points still transfer to United if the first names don't match?

[Geshmak25]

I attached the cert but never received a confirmation email which makes me think something went wrong. Is this how the reservation is supposed to look?

[Ygold]

If I book 4 or 5 nights under the current lower rate at a hotel, can I later modify the reservation to 2 or 3 nights after the rate goes up, without losing the lower rate? Or is it better to just book each night individually?

Also, would I be able to switch the arrival dates later?

[shwarmabob]

how long does it take to see the miles in my Alaska account?

[shaulyaakov]

I want to transfer Marriott points to my wife's account, but I realized that the addresses in the account don't match. The policy is that the addresses need to be the same for 30 days. If I try the transfer anyway, will I be at risk of being shut down?

[Moshe26]

I want to transfer Marriott points to my wife's account, but I realized that the addresses in the account don't match. The policy is that the addresses need to be the same for 30 days. If I try the transfer anyway, will I be at risk of being shut down?

IIRC the 30 day rule is for SPG transfer. for Marriott you can transfer up to 50K to any account

[mochjas]

I want to transfer Marriott points to my wife's account, but I realized that the addresses in the account don't match. The policy is that the addresses need to be the same for 30 days. If I try the transfer anyway, will I be at risk of being shut down?

Marriott addresses do not need to match

[shaulyaakov]

Marriott addresses do not need to match

Sorry - I meant SPG.

I want to take care before the merger since she has about 25k spg which will be above the limit for a free marriott transfer.

[mochjas]

Sorry - I meant SPG.

I want to take care before the merger since she has about 25k spg which will be above the limit for a free marriott transfer.

its probably too late for SPG to SPG transfer at this point. Your best bet is to do 50k mt to mt now and once all the craziness calms down do the rest.

[how]

Have a 7 day Cat 1-5 certificate. No real plan to ever use it. Any reason to wait for the 45k point refund. Is there a real chance that Marriott will give more after the merger.

[Moshe26]

Have a 7 day Cat 1-5 certificate. No real plan to ever use it. Any reason to wait for the 45k point refund. Is there a real chance that Marriott will give more after the merger.

"Of course if you just want the miles at an amazing rate and a less expensive hotel stay you can book a category 1-5 certificate and attach it to the Calgary Airport Marriott as that hotel will be a unified category 5 hotel and you might just luck out and have your certificate remain valid for a category 5 hotel. Just be prepared for questions about why you’re spending a week in an airport hotel like DDF reader “zow” encountered 😀

I don’t see any good reason to leave a certificate unattached to a hotel at this point."

https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/marriott/marriott-travel-packages-purchased/

[how]

"Of course if you just want the miles at an amazing rate and a less expensive hotel stay you can book a category 1-5 certificate and attach it to the Calgary Airport Marriott as that hotel will be a unified category 5 hotel and you might just luck out and have your certificate remain valid for a category 5 hotel. Just be prepared for questions about why you’re spending a week in an airport hotel like DDF reader “zow” encountered 😀

I don’t see any good reason to leave a certificate unattached to a hotel at this point."

https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/marriott/marriott-travel-packages-purchased/

I'm following all that. But is there a chance that Marriott will not allow me to refund it once it's attached to a hotel.

[Yehuda25]

Supposedly new MT program will limit sharing at 100k sending, 500k receiving. That is terrible.

I hope this is one of the nonsensical stuff they have been saying: E.g.  One SPG rep told me that their program is actually continuing through 2018

A supervisor yet...

[KSMH]

I understand, while making a reservation there is no limit on the amount of points allowed to transfer [for the reservation being made] for savvy users this is amazing.

[Geshmak25]

I understand, while making a reservation there is no limit on the amount of points allowed to transfer [for the reservation being made] for savvy users this is amazing.

Currently yes, not necessarily true under the new system.

[ludmila]

I understand, while making a reservation there is no limit on the amount of points allowed to transfer [for the reservation being made] for savvy users this is amazing.

Let us hope it stays the same under the new program.

[Yehuda25]

Let us hope it stays the same under the new program.

unfortunately seems like not.

[ludmila]

unfortunately seems like not.

Agreed, mostly not.

[ssteinthal]

Hi everyone,
I got a good agent on the phone yesterday who was willing to help but I didn't know how to make the best decisions on what to do with my 700k Marriott points I'd just transferred in from SPG. In the end, I decided to do this:

1. bought 120k southwest miles plus a 5 night cat 1-5 cert for 235k marriott points
2. bought 120k southwest miles plus a 7 night tier 1-3 cert for 420k marriott points
3. upgraded a 7 night cat 1-5 cert I already had to cat 9 for 120k miles

Now I'm having a little nervous buyer's remorse about spending the extra on the hotels.

did I need to spend almost 200k more points to get a 7 night tier 1-3? I feel that I should have used those points to get more southwest miles instead. I wonder if I can sell the certificate for at least what its incremental cost was. Was it worth it to upgrade the 7 night cert from cat 1-5 to cat 9 for 120k miles?

What's the actual value of those certificates if I decide to try to sell them? Thanks a lot...I hope I didn't mess up!

[gross5g]

Marriott finally explains what happens to existing certificate

https://onemileatatime.com/marriott-travel-package-mapping/