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Marriott Bonvoy peak and off-peak points pricing is now live

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Marriott Bonvoy put its new peak and off-peak pricing into effect over the weekend.

It will take a while before I can see how much it impacts me.  Two Saturday nights I locked in at The Langley (the best ‘country house’ redemption near London bookable for points) for March and June 2020 have not changed and remain at 35,000 points per night (vs £400ish for cash!).

On the other hand, a midweek night I have at Renaissance Paris Republique next month has gone up from 50,000 points to 60,000 points.  Mid October should arguably not be ‘peak’.  That said, St Regis New York remains 85,000 points for a possible November trip I am looking at.

Marriott Bonvoy St Regis New York

Marriott sent me the following examples of times when you can expect to find hotels reduced to off-peak pricing:

Hawaii: October through mid-December (2019) and late September through October (2020) depending on market
California Wine Country: Mid-November (2019) through April (2020)
New York: January through February (2020)
Orlando: beginning in May with the greatest concentration in August and September (2020)
Washington DC: Late November (2019) through February (2020)
Cape Town: May through August (2020)
Dubai: May through September (2020)
European destinations: primary November (2019) through March (2020)
Maldives: May through June and end of August through early October (2020)
Bora Bora: January through March (2020)
Bali: November through mid-December (2019), mid-January through March (2020)
Phuket: May through June (2020)
Koh Samui: October through mid-December (2019) and September through October (2020)
Costa Rica: October (2019) and August through October (2020)
Macau: March through June (2020)

There is an element of ‘you don’t say’ at work here (Dubai in July anyone?).  However, you can potentially get a good deal on the shoulder seasons – Dubai in early May or late September, for example, is perfectly pleasant, so try the The Al Maha Desert Resort which we reviewed here.  A lot of southern European cities are also very pleasant in late March.

In reality, however, it does not appear to be like this.  Hotels are changing in points price from day to day, linked to the cash rate.  You may see a Monday at peak rate and then Tuesday at standard rate.  It makes it a lot more difficult to plan your stays if your points stash is limited.  The points required will flip between peak, standard and off-peak pricing as cash rates go up or down.

You will see one extra change to the Bonvoy website.  When you search for a reward stay, it now shows the price for the full stay rather than the price per night.  This makes is trickier to see if all or only part of your trip is in a higher pricing bracket.

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 (84)

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

  • Ben says:
    16 Sep16 September 11:23

    Hello,

    Does anyone know the best way to contact BA with a complaint and actually receive a resolution? BA are refusing to settle compensation for travel and accommodation when our flight was cancelled several months as the amounts are slightly over their limits which they failed to mention when leaving us to our own devices to sort everything out.

    Thank you

    • Rhys says:
      16 Sep16 September 11:26

      The only way to do something like this is via their customer support webpage email process. Just be aware that you will want to keep a copy of all your responses, as the BA system swallows them.

      It’s a slow process but at least you have it in writing then, in case you need to take it further.

    • Rob says:
      16 Sep16 September 11:30

      https://headforpoints.com/2017/05/10/how-to-take-british-airways-to-court/

    • Shoestring says:
      16 Sep16 September 12:22

      They will happily pay up to their limits – eg you had a hotel £250 – they will happily pay £200 towards it; your taxi was £60 – they’ll pay £50; your meal was £35 – they’ll pay £25.

      Don’t forget if there are 2 of you, split the bills and claim separately

      • Shoestring says:
        16 Sep16 September 12:24

        and I assume you are using the online complaint portal? not trying to do it on the phone?

      • Ben says:
        16 Sep16 September 16:39

        Thanks for the response. Yes we have gone through the portal and this is the exact issue we are facing. Our flight was cancelled the night they basically closed Heathrow due to a storm so we had little other option but to get a hotel in London with the associated additional taxi cost. It’s not going to bankrupt me if they don’t pay up however I don’t think it’s right that the onus to arrange transport/accommodation is pushed onto the customer without information on the limits and then the customer is the one penalised down the line.

    • Lady London says:
      16 Sep16 September 13:01

      If it was perfectly reasonable in that location at that time to have to pay what you did for your room, I’d push it. the ideal would be if you could show other comparative rates at that time. But I wouldn’t let them off the hook if I’d behaved reasonably. Same for food.

      Is there some other area where they owe you where you can prove you’ve been able to spend less than you might have, or perhaps not claimed, that you can point out to them to show you acted reasonably? or some other extenuating circumstance where no BA staff helped or 4 hour queue, and child not well and night almost gone so you literally”fell” into the only hotel at the terminal? etc.

      • Ben says:
        16 Sep16 September 16:43

        This is basically the issue we have. Many extenuating circumstances (time of night, lack of alternative accomodation, very few staff, no information or support etc) however there doesn’t appear to be a way to actually convey this to anybody at BA who can consider this.

        • Shoestring says:
          16 Sep16 September 17:06

          there’s no limit to the amount you can claim for duty of care in the EC261 legislation – BA’s guidelines are purely guidelines and plenty of people get more than £200 hotel/ £25 meal/ £50 taxi when it is reasonable to pay more

          yep, threaten MCOL, ask them to accept you have reached deadlock and file your claim

          I got swift resolution on mine when I emailed Alex Cruz but I think they stopped that now – however, you might be able to email (say) head of Customer Services

    • Lady London says:
      16 Sep16 September 13:04

      PS sometimes “the best way to contact BA with a complaint and actually receive a resolution” turns out to be mcol moneyclaim dot gov dot uk. Never forget that one of the tactics of an airline may routinely be to “wear down” customers who are claiming reasonably so that the claim goes away simply because of the customer’s exhaustion or lack of time.

    • Anna says:
      16 Sep16 September 19:19

      I used CEDR for delay compensation after BA initially refused to pay out. They were very efficient; BA caved within the 14 day deadline but still failed to actually pay up so CEDR chased them and we got our 2 x €600 shortly after that. It’s a bit of a faff filling in the forms but after you’ve done that CEDR do most of the work.

  • roberto says:
    16 Sep16 September 11:47

    OT & about the Amex to Hilton Bonus.

    Spoke to Amex today and they said that the offer is TARGETED.

  • Keith says:
    16 Sep16 September 14:57

    OT:

    Anyone cancelled a hotel booking paid with Avios via ba.com?

    How long does it take for Avios to return to your balance?

    • Anna says:
      16 Sep16 September 19:11

      I did this a few years ago, as fas I I can remember the Avios were returned within a couple of days.

      • Freddy says:
        16 Sep16 September 19:24

        I thought using avios is a general no no on hfp due to poor value

        • Shoestring says:
          16 Sep16 September 20:05

          0.5p? Depends if you value the cashflow/ get them free with work etc

          I used up a load of the IB90K stash on hotels through gritted teeth but it was use them or lose them

  • xcalx says:
    16 Sep16 September 15:39

    OT Billhop.

    Any sign up bonus around at the moment.

    Thanks.

  • Liz says:
    16 Sep16 September 16:28

    OT does anyone know how strict Qatar airways is on hand luggage size. The smallest of our usual hand luggage cases is 55x40x20 and on the Qatar site it says 50x37x25. We will be flying economy.

    • Kevin says:
      16 Sep16 September 20:41

      I flew with Qatar in economy before and their are quite strict with hand luggage weight.

  • will says:
    16 Sep16 September 16:36

    I thought BA’s taxes and surcharges were big until I checked emirates.
    GBP511 for a one way redemption to dubai in business!

  • Zed says:
    16 Sep16 September 16:42

    Slightly OT – I wanted to bid for a Manchester United auction on Marriott Bonvoy, but I missed it and it closed anyway with no bids.

    I asked if they might let me bid retrospectively as no one bid anyway.

    I don’t know how good their customer reps are but they said they handed all unsold packages back.

    I thought the Marriott Bonvoy suite is purchased by them in advance and was theirs for the year? Who would you hand back to? Is there a way to get hold of one of the unsold packages in there?

    • Rob says:
      16 Sep16 September 17:35

      Email me with all the details and I will pass to a Bonvoy person in the London office.

  • Liam says:
    16 Sep16 September 17:25

    OT — If you didn’t have any Waitrose offers on your card(s) last week, it’s worth checking again. As of today I have an offer showing on my Gold credit card (4% back on spends of £75+) and my Platinum (5% back on spends of £20+).

    I also now have “Spend £60 or more, get £10 back” with Ocado on my Gold.

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