Marriott Points

[JJ2017]

Trying to up my Marriott points to be able to use at Swan/Dolphin. We signed up last year for SPG Amex and Marriott Visa (husband and I each) and were able to get enough points to book 2 connecting rooms for 5 nights for our trip. Looking to figure out ways to do that again! Advice?

 

[disneylove69]

Whatever you do hurry. Marriott just announced that hotel points going to cost more. Swan and dolphin to go up 25000pts more per night then previous.

 

[miztressuz]

Trying to up my Marriott points to be able to use at Swan/Dolphin. We signed up last year for SPG Amex and Marriott Visa (husband and I each) and were able to get enough points to book 2 connecting rooms for 5 nights for our trip. Looking to figure out ways to do that again! Advice?

If you're not familiar, with the merger they enacted some rules for who is eligible for certain cards now. In general if you have (or had) a SPG card it prevents you from getting a Marriott card and vice versa. I think this blog post is helpful in seeing what you can get based on your history - https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/navigating-marriotts-byzantine-credit-card-rules/

Also with the merger is the change in points needed for the Swolphin properties. Standard redemption is 50k per night now, and starting next year Marriott will enact peak and off peak pricing so a night can be between 40-60k points. (new award chart can be seen here: https://members.marriott.com/marriottrewards/). So the sign up bonuses on the cards won't go as far now. There's also a Marriott Village not far from the parks that are all Cat 4s, so only need 20-30k per night for those.

Outside of Marriott points you could look at other travel points that can either transfer or be used to offset a cash booking. Both AmEx MR points and Chase UR points transfer into Marriott, but it's not always the best value for those points as Marriott points are worth less than 1 cpp (Marriott values them at .9, I think most people value them around .7). Depending on when you go you may be able to get a discounted cash rate that may work out better.

Otherwise, spend spend spend on the cards, stay at Marriott/SPG properties anytime you can, and look for partner earnings or promotions to augment any sign up bonuses you might get. Chase and AmEx were offering upgrade bonuses on existing cards and AmEx introduced a new SPG card you could try for (higher annual fee though as it's a luxury card).

 

[Luvdancink]

Has anyone been able to see which dates will be considered peak and which dates will be considered off peak?

 

[JJ2017]

If you're not familiar, with the merger they enacted some rules for who is eligible for certain cards now. In general if you have (or had) a SPG card it prevents you from getting a Marriott card and vice versa. I think this blog post is helpful in seeing what you can get based on your history - https://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/navigating-marriotts-byzantine-credit-card-rules/

Also with the merger is the change in points needed for the Swolphin properties. Standard redemption is 50k per night now, and starting next year Marriott will enact peak and off peak pricing so a night can be between 40-60k points. (new award chart can be seen here: https://members.marriott.com/marriottrewards/). So the sign up bonuses on the cards won't go as far now. There's also a Marriott Village not far from the parks that are all Cat 4s, so only need 20-30k per night for those.

Outside of Marriott points you could look at other travel points that can either transfer or be used to offset a cash booking. Both AmEx MR points and Chase UR points transfer into Marriott, but it's not always the best value for those points as Marriott points are worth less than 1 cpp (Marriott values them at .9, I think most people value them around .7). Depending on when you go you may be able to get a discounted cash rate that may work out better.

Otherwise, spend spend spend on the cards, stay at Marriott/SPG properties anytime you can, and look for partner earnings or promotions to augment any sign up bonuses you might get. Chase and AmEx were offering upgrade bonuses on existing cards and AmEx introduced a new SPG card you could try for (higher annual fee though as it's a luxury card).

thanks so much. i'm aware of enough - like how much extra points swolphin is! not thrilled. thanks for putting the important info all in one place! i wish marriott had a property in the DS area that we could book on points. we have some hilton ones, but def more with marriott.

 

[gottalovepluto]

thanks so much. i'm aware of enough - like how much extra points swolphin is! not thrilled. thanks for putting the important info all in one place! i wish marriott had a property in the DS area that we could book on points. we have some hilton ones, but def more with marriott.

TBH it really might not be worth it to use Marriott points on those locations* anymore. I advise to come check out the I love credit cards thread There are other ways to help with the cost of a trip that might work better for you. Come on over, mention your goal, tell us what cc you have and application month/year, how much you usually spend per month on cc and you might get some ideas you never thought of before!

(*Swalphin got hit HARD in the recent Marriott devaluations)

 

[JJ2017]

TBH it really might not be worth it to use Marriott points on those locations* anymore. I advise to come check out the I love credit cards thread There are other ways to help with the cost of a trip that might work better for you. Come on over, mention your goal, tell us what cc you have and application month/year, how much you usually spend per month on cc and you might get some ideas you never thought of before!

(*Swalphin got hit HARD in the recent Marriott devaluations)

Thanks again and I'll keep my eye on that thread. I have a specific goal of booking a CL qualifying room at Dolphin, on points, that will allow us to purchase the CL FPs. Of course, this is all up in the air as the CL FP program can end at any time, and our next trip is planned for 12/2019. That being said, Dolphin/Swan is still our #1 choice for hotel due to the walking distance to EP and HS which is our kids two fave parks. I'd love to make BC work, but there is NO way we would pay for CL there. So I have to think through the CL FP part and decide if it's something we would want to book again. With that off the table, I think our options could increase.