Marriott has announced that a number of changes will be going into effect on September 14th, 2019. These changes are the following:
- Introduction of peak and off peak pricing
- Fifth night free changed to Stay 5, Pay 4
- Changes to point advance
- Changes to cash & points
Contents
Peak & Off Peak Pricing
The award chart will be as follows:
Peak and off peak pricing will be determined by a computer algorithm and properties won’t be able to affect this. Dates will be recalculated once per month, with Marriott ensuring there is an almost equal amount of peak and off peak dates – although most dates will fall under the standard pricing. Existing reservations won’t automatically reprice, meaning you’ll need to cancel and rebook if a property changes in price for your specific dates.
Fifth Night Free Change
Fifth night free will be renamed to stay for 5, pay for 4 and your cheapest night will be refunded.
Points Advance Change
When using points advance you’ll effectively be able to hold a room, but you can’t hold the price you receive. So if you use points advance when a property is off peak and then it becomes standard or peak you’ll be required to pay the higher price.
Cash & Points Change
There will be a new cash & points award chart as well.
Our Verdict
We have known that this peak and off peak pricing was coming for some time, overall I think the implementation is worse than expected but I guess there will be a lot of people booking rooms at standard/peak pricing only to cancel them if the price decreases.
Hat tip to TPG
