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Marriott Bonvoy to scrap ‘Travel Package’ hotel redemptions next week

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It appears that Marriott Bonvoy is scrapping its ‘Travel Package’ redemptions next week. An update to the programme terms and conditions online, now removed, said that packages will not be offered after 19th January.

A ‘Travel Package’ allows you to redeem a large chunk of Marriott Bonvoy points for a seven night hotel stay plus either 50,000 or 100,000 airline miles.

Here is the price list, taken from the Marriott website here:

Importantly, there was no obligation to use the airline miles in conjunction with the hotel booking. The miles were dropped into your frequent flyer account and you could do whatever you wanted with them, whenever you wanted.

Back in the old days, before Marriott bought Starwood and the programme was called Marriott Rewards, ‘Travel Packages’ were – slam dunk – the sweet spot. The savings you could make over booking a seven night hotel stay and swapping points for 50,000 or 100,000 miles were significant. The only snag was that, pre the Starwood acquisition, Marriott didn’t really have many hotels where you would want to spend seven nights.

When Marriott Bonvoy launched, ‘Travel Packages’ were repriced and most of the value was removed. When peak and off-peak pricing launched, ‘Travel Packages’ staged a minor revival. Because the price was fixed irrespective of when you used it, there was some value if you redeemed it for seven ‘peak’ hotel nights.

Marriott to scrap 'Travel Package' redemptions next week

Redeem off-peak, of course, and you were clearly out of the money. For example:

  • 7 nights in a Category 8 hotel off-peak (one night free) = 70,000 x 6 = 420,000 Bonvoy points
  • 100,000 Avios = 240,000 Bonvoy points
  • Total when purchased separately = 660,000 Bonvoy points

Alternatively:

  • Cost of a Category 8 travel package + 100,000 Avios = 750,000 Bonvoy points

This isn’t why Marriott Bonvoy is scrapping the packages, however. It is scrapping them because from March, Marriott Bonvoy will move to revenue-based redemptions, with no category charts. With no category charts, you can’t price travel packages.

It isn’t clear what will happen to anyone with an unused ‘Travel Package’. Marriott will, apparently, be making a formal announcement next week – it looks like it never intended to give advance notice of this change.

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 (55)

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

  • Maciek says:
    15 Jan15 January 05:34

    I’m in two minds about the hotel+air packages. They may be a very good or a very bad deal when Marriott announces the changes next week… :/

    • BJ says:
      15 Jan15 January 07:05

      I had been considering them for first time since they changed as I wanted AA miles and I had good lower category but expensive hotels in mind. Looks like it has all become academic given this news and that I have insufficient MR or Bonvoy points at the moment. (Thanks to HfP for this useful and pertinent tip)

  • Marriott60valuation says:
    15 Jan15 January 07:10

    Are all the Marriott brands moving to dynamic pricing ?
    Protea in South Africa ?

  • Nick M says:
    15 Jan15 January 08:31

    I must have missed the revenue-based element that’s coming for Marriott… do we have any more details yet? – will it be wise to lock in a couple of potential redemptions? – I’d most likely be looking at Cat 2/3 in Spain/Eastern Europe

    • Rob says:
      15 Jan15 January 09:18

      Starts in March.

      Prices will be capped for a year, possibly at current category caps (so possibly no increases).

      Caps go after a year.

  • TimM says:
    15 Jan15 January 08:35

    I got a quote of £8.23 pcm for my non-pedigree rabbit insurance.

    • To dare is to do says:
      15 Jan15 January 09:12

      Best bet is a spayed female under year old house cat.That will be cheapest rate. Wether you have one or not is up to you.

  • M says:
    15 Jan15 January 08:40

    It’s increasingly hard to get any value from hotel points with programs moving to revenue based awards.

    • Peter K says:
      15 Jan15 January 09:07

      Indeed. The hotel loyalty programs feel like they can only be bothered with *very* frequent stayers. Basically, if you’re not top tier then get lost.

      • Brighton Belle says:
        15 Jan15 January 09:30

        Revenue based redemptions are a total trip killer. So I get a discount using points. Where’s the loyalty motivation in that? I might as well use any number of travel companies who’ll give me a cash discount. Destroy the aspirational redemption and the loyalty disappears.

    • Rob says:
      15 Jan15 January 09:16

      Wait until Monday ….

      • Thegasman says:
        15 Jan15 January 09:31

        You tease… If I Had to Guess would it be wise to book something over the weekend?

      • Thegasman says:
        15 Jan15 January 09:33

        Or if there’s no honour in the world anymore perhaps it’s time to bail out of the hotel points game?

      • Thegasman says:
        15 Jan15 January 09:35

        Maybe I should give up on my dreams of a bon voyage courtesy of points in the future?

      • Charles Martel says:
        15 Jan15 January 09:43

        What we really need to do is create a powerful sense of dread.
        [long wait]
        See, the longer the wait… the more dread.

    • SamG says:
      15 Jan15 January 12:28

      Agree. I’ve got pots of points in Marriott and Hilton and I just can’t find a use for them that makes sense recently. Even “sweet spots” like airport hotels that used to sometimes work out OK just never seem to these days.

      To me hotel points are only really worthwhile if a) you are accumulating them anyway via work and have the status to get your breakfast etc as well or b) very narrow (and ever narrowing!) circumstances like Dubai over Xmas etc when you’d genuinely otherwise be paying top $$$. Even somewhere like the Maldives the chains are overpriced on the transfers, upgrades, F&B etc. You can get better overall value booking via someone like Luxury Escapes

  • FatherOfFour says:
    15 Jan15 January 09:19

    Holders of the sainsburys bank credit card get double Nectar on sainsburys shopping. Does this stack with the sainsburys bank pet insurance double base points to give treble/quad Nectar points?

    • Britbronco says:
      15 Jan15 January 09:46

      Yes, and with Sainsburys energy. It doesn’t give you a bonus on the bonus, but you get multiple bonus points on the base points.
      So having the credit card, electricity and gas I get 4x base points each month.

  • Charles Martel says:
    15 Jan15 January 09:24

    Are there any examples of hotel programmes moving away from revenue based redemptions? They feel dull and the lack of distinction between the major programmes now means I don’t feel loyal to any of them.

    • MKB says:
      15 Jan15 January 10:39

      Indeed. The upside is that I’ve been casting my net more widely as a result, and have discovered some excellent independent hotels.

      • Russ says:
        15 Jan15 January 11:24

        I’ve been booking independents via the Emirates Skywards program. It’s been an upward struggle to get all the miles credited but it’s working out to the tune of two return
        LGW-LHR ticket’s for two people in J.

        • Hotinnewcastle says:
          15 Jan15 January 11:28

          Surely you mean London-dxb? But that’s an interesting option to earn miles

          • Russ says:
            15 Jan15 January 11:34

            Yes indeed, you are correct. I live close to LGW so that’s my default airport. I just don’t check the mile’s needed from other airports unless I’m flying from there. Thanks for the reminder.

      • Charles Martel says:
        15 Jan15 January 11:50

        If all you get is a cash rebate, a strategy of booking lower end hotels via hotels.com and higher end stuff from Bon Vivant (for status like benefits) looks more logical to me.

  • FlightDoctor says:
    15 Jan15 January 10:18

    Talk about bad timing. My renewal for our 1 year old dog was £51 a month with John Lewis (vs. £33 this last year). I shopped around and Sainsburys had a very similar policy for £16!! Took it out earlier this week and seems I missed this 10K Avios offer by literally 4 days 😡

    • Lady London says:
      15 Jan15 January 13:14

      Not sure if the 2 weeks to cancel anything bought online would apply to this “Distance Selling Regulations”?

      • Entitled says:
        15 Jan15 January 14:43

        It should apply to insurance products

        • Entitled says:
          15 Jan15 January 14:44

          Not the distance selling, but the fact that you have entered into a credit agreement which will include a right to withdraw.

          *I wish there was an edit function!

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

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