Hoping for a little help from you experts on booking Swan or Dolphin for a trip in January. We are a family of 5 me, DH, DD12, DS11, DS9.
First, can I only do a room for 5 at Dolphin, not at Swan?
Secondly and here's where credit cards come in.
For my dates I'm seeing the following prices for 4 nights in early January.
- On the Marriott website - 210,000 points plus taxes and fees
- On the Marriott website - $1,170 cash including taxes and fees
- On Expedia - $896 total including taxes and fees
I was just approved for the Bonvoy Business and I expect to meet MSR very quickly, so I'll have 100,000 points there. Plus I have a capital one venture that has about $900 in rewards and lots of URs (400K+) that I could transfer (through a CIP).
So my question is how should I book it? Points? Cash? Combination? and what card should I be using? If I book through Expedia I don't earn points at Marriott, right? But the price is significantly cheaper (worth forgoing the points) and it's refundable, whereas on the Marriott site it says it's nonrefundable.
I know now that my platinum elite status doesn't kick in until February, but do I have any status since I have the card, and does it matter?
I'm leaning towards doing it through Expedia and using the Capital One to erase it. But I'm not sure of the downsides.
I'd appreciate any input anyone might have.
Thanks as always!