Today is a sad day, the Marriott Bonvoy revolution has begun
The revolution in the Marriott Bonvoy house was announced in stages. Initially the pill was sweetened with the announcement of the [...]
Marriott
The revolution in the Marriott Bonvoy house has been announced in stages. Initially, the pill was sweetened With the announcement of automatic renewal of statuses through the end of 2022, at which time it was announced that later in the year Marriott would abandon the fixed table for award nights in favor of variable pricing.
In this article:
The past few weeks then came the official announcement: the "judgment day" is today, Tuesday, March 29, 2022. As of this time the new pricing of award nights in Marriott group hotels will come into effect, this means that in general booking a night with points will cost more, translated a devaluation of the value of the points. The nightmare of reward travelers, the worst of gifts one can receive.
What changes from today
Until yesterday, it was very easy to know how much a premium night cost in One of the 8,000 hotels in the Marriott group scattered around the world. All facilities, in fact, are divided by category and each corresponded to a cost per night based on seasonality.
| Hotel category | Low season | Standard | High season |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5.000 | 7.500 | 10.000 |
| 2 | 10.000 | 12.500 | 15.000 |
| 3 | 15.000 | 17.500 | 20.000 |
| 4 | 20.000 | 25.000 | 30.000 |
| 5 | 30.000 | 35.000 | 40.000 |
| 6 | 40.000 | 50.000 | 60.000 |
| 7 | 50.000 | 60.000 | 70.000 |
| 8 | 70.000 | 85.000 | 100.000 |
Now, however, everything changes, although the change will take place in stages.
- From now until the end of 2022, prices in 97% of properties will continue to remain within the old low/high season range; while rates may be higher than they are now in about 3% of facilities, even compared to the high season price.
- Starting in 2023, the grace period will end.: prices will no longer be capped, and the entire Marriott portfolio will have dynamic pricing as is the case in Hilton, for example.
Because the worst is for us who live outside the U.S.
The reason is simple: in the American market there are so many ways that allow users to accumulate a large amount of points through the use of co-branded credit cards, which is nonexistent in Italy, for example. These credit cards allow you to multiply even X20 points per dollar spent in hotels. In contrast for those residing in Italy, apart from accumulating points by staying, the only other option Is to transfer Membership Rewards points into Bonvoy points. Without forgetting that Bonvoy is definitely less generous in terms of promotions than Hilton Honors.
Now all that remains is to wait and see week by week how the new prices will adjust.
Four Italian hotels will be affected by the increase, which will be by 20,000 minimum Bonvoy points per night:
- Hotel Cala di Volpe, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Emerald Coast
- Pitrizza hotels, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Emerald Coast
- Hotel Romazzino, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Emerald Coast
- The Gritti Palace, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Venice
Sure, Marriott says that only 3% of hotels get more expensive, but the problem is that 3% represents the top of what this chain offers worldwide.
