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Marriott Rewards backtracks on its changes to Travel Packages

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This will hopefully be our last mention of Marriott Travel Packages for a while.

The excellent news is that Marriott has decided to compensate people who were most affected by the changes to Travel Packages last weekend.

The full story is in this article, but to summarise – Marriott had not told people in advance of the merger of SPG and Marriott Rewards what would happen to unused Travel Package certificates.  When they revealed the answer, many people found themselves in a position which they could have improved with some advance notice.

The news is that anyone who has a Category 6, Category 8 or Tier 1-3 Travel Package can request a 30,000 points refund to reflect the fact that they would have got the same benefits from buying a cheaper Category 5, Category 7 or Category 9 certificate.

The refund is not automatic – you need to contact Marriott Rewards via the website and request it.

Marriott has also re-opened booking for Travel Package certificates so you don’t need to wait until 18th September to use them, as was previously announced.

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (April 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points. 

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Category

Marriott Bonvoy

Comments (111)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Lottietiger says:
    22 Aug22 August 11:17

    Has anyone had any luck negotiating a breakfast or half board deal at a hotel booked with a travel package? Now I’m gold with Marriott free breakfast is not part of the deal and expedia is showing the cost of breakfast at £27 per breakfast per day. For the 3 of us it works out more than the b&b rate on Expedia so would be a waste of the travel cert. not sure wether to e mail the hotel or save the cert for a country with cheaper breakfasts.

    • Alex W says:
      22 Aug22 August 14:36

      Not tried. There was talk of refunding the certificate for 45k points? If that still works, might work out better to cancel the cert and book for cash!

  • Alex says:
    22 Aug22 August 11:18

    How about merging the accounts together between Marriott and SPG? Can’t login to my SPG account anymore, but I had 12k-odd points in there…

    • momomo says:
      22 Aug22 August 12:37

      I was able to merge yesterday as others have reported; however, today I cannot login. Looks like IT issues…

    • Alan says:
      22 Aug22 August 21:36

      Mine won’t merge although can at least finally sign in to the SPG one. Not going to bother for a while, let some of the mess of the last few days settle first.

  • Peter Taysum says:
    22 Aug22 August 12:00

    Holiday purchase worry via BA

    I booked holiday on BA from NCL to SEA. I routed via LHR then ORD. I messed up that it’s not >2000 miles so I tried to cancel within 24 hours. I was told that online you can’t cancel a holiday (only flights) however if booked by phone 24 hours cancellation policy.

    I was able to change the booking to route via JFK and PHL so I’ll get 640 TP as it was within 24 hours.

    I just wanted to share…

    • Roberto says:
      22 Aug22 August 12:11

      Or you could have gone all in and started it in OTP , added the HEL shuffle via JFK and PHX for 1200+ TPs.

      Like the 30 odd Flyertalkers meeting there currently…????

      • Peter Taysum says:
        22 Aug22 August 12:35

        My point is that I thought (and possibly others did) that there’s a 24 hour cooling off period for online bookings; BA stated that this is for flights but NOT for holidays…

        This wasn’t a TP run; visiting friends for Christmas. My fave TP run involved BA3 as part of DUB to HNL with “proper First” on AA from LAX to JFK. ????

        Hope they’re all having a great time!

        • Genghis says:
          22 Aug22 August 17:04

          That’s right. I’ve mentioned it before and have quoted the terms. BA are essentially being generous for phone bookings as I don’t believe there is a legal requirement.

          • Rob says:
            22 Aug22 August 17:19

            It is a legal requirement for bookings from the US, I believe, which for an easy life BA has extended to all flights.

  • Scott says:
    22 Aug22 August 12:32

    Off topic but we’ve just hit our next 2-4-1 voucher on the BAPP card and wanted to check something.

    If we cancel the card (so that we can start the 6 month churn clock ticking again) will AMEX recall/cancel our 2-4-1 voucher?

    • Memesweeper says:
      22 Aug22 August 12:41

      Not once the voucher is showing in BAEC — it’s then safe.

      You will need an Amex at the point of booking.

    • AndyW says:
      22 Aug22 August 12:43

      No. They may say they will but they won’t. Have to pay on an Amex (any Amex) when you book.

  • Jb says:
    22 Aug22 August 12:59

    Can my wife use her Starwood card to refer herself for the Amex platinum ?(and get the 35k Amex points as well as Starwood referral bonus)

    • James says:
      22 Aug22 August 13:19

      No, sadly this doesn’t work. You need to find someone else to refer them. I would obviously be happy to do that, but she would only get the sign-up bonus, not the referral bonus.

    • KevMc says:
      22 Aug22 August 13:30

      Yes she can. Just paste the referral link into a different browser and apply

      • Chris says:
        22 Aug22 August 15:04

        Yeah shouldn’t be an issue, can self refer from BA card to SPG and get both bonuses for example.

  • X says:
    22 Aug22 August 13:23

    OT: I’ve cancelled my Amex Starwood CC on Friday, how long does it take to receive the refund of the annual fee?

    • KevMc says:
      22 Aug22 August 13:33

      Usually a couple of days, but it will show your SPG account in credit – you need to call them to arrange to transfer it to on to one of your other cards, or request a refund via cheque.

      • X says:
        22 Aug22 August 15:02

        Oh okay, I’ve removed my SPG account from my online banking as it wasn’t working … Should I give them a call?

    • thehornets says:
      22 Aug22 August 13:53

      Out if interest, did they make you an offer to stay?

      • Crafty says:
        22 Aug22 August 14:01

        I cancelled a week ago and specifically asked and was made no retention offer.

      • X says:
        22 Aug22 August 15:02

        They’ve offered me double points for 3 months, but I’ve rejected it

  • I A says:
    22 Aug22 August 13:34

    OT: does any one know when existing hotel bookings and points be shown post the SPG and Marriott
    rewards integration this weekend gone? Neither of their apps is showing any of my account activity and still says zero points and no incoming stays.

  • idrive says:
    22 Aug22 August 14:13

    +1 exactly the same

    • Rob says:
      22 Aug22 August 16:00

      This happened with Virgin, with closed 3 weeks earlier, but the miles did arrive in the end.

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