More Marriott Devaluations
Another hotel devaluation…
Booking Marriott hotels at some properties is going to cost 5-10% more.
(Womp, womp, womp) 😢
The news was first reported on some online award booking sites - and then Loyalty Lobby did some research to confirm.
Marriott Bonvoy has been a tough program to get consistent value from in recent years, mostly due to their dynamic pricing on stays booked with points...
So here's a few tips we have to help you avoid future devaluations like this:
1️⃣ Use A Flexible Points Currency
We don’t recommend earning Marriott Bonvoy Points from spending on a Marriott credit card because those points are going to be locked up into a constantly devalued currency!
You're better off transferring to Marriott from a flexible bank points currency when there are good transfer bonuses and award pricing that lines up with good a CPP redemption value.
2️⃣ Earn & Burn
If you've earned a sign up bonus from a co-branded credit card or you have a stash of points tied up in one currency - aim to "burn" those points by redeeming them within 12-18 months!
Points and miles lose value with each day that they sit unused in your account because of devaluations that can happen overnight and without warning.
Our "earn & burn" advice for transferrable bank points currencies is the same - but this advice is especially important for a fixed currency from an airline or hotel chain.
3️⃣ Shift Towards Fixed Award Chart Programs
Hyatt and Wyndham are the two main hotel programs that use a fixed award chart.
If you want more consistent pricing with transferrable points and miles, start your search with these programs first.
Like we said previously, most other programs like Marriott use dynamic and variable pricing - so prices can often be more than 100,000 points for one night.
We wish we were kidding!
A comparable property with Hyatt could be 40,000 points or 30,000 points with Wyndham.