Marriott’s hotel loyalty programme, Marriott Bonvoy, stopped publishing an award chart in 2022. Since there is no award chart, the loyalty programme can adjust the points charged for a “free night” depending on busy periods, occupancy, etc. At least at its top-end properties, Marriott has changed its loyalty programme redemption rates. The pricing band itself is moving up.
Marriott Bonvoy’s hiked redemption rates at various top-end properties.
Marriott Bonvoy rates at some of the more expensive properties across their network, and by extension, some of their most premium hotels and resorts, have crept up over the past 4-5 days. However, there has been a top-end/cap at which they’d stop. For instance, apart from Ritz Carlton Reserve properties, the nightly cap per night has been 150,000 points per night before you account for the fifth night free.
For instance, the JW Marriott Masai Mara, which opened at 25,000 points per night and then went up to 122,000 points per night, is now showing up at upwards of 200,000 per night in terms of pricing.
This is, of course, an ongoing exercise, and things change all the time, but these spikes are what caught my eye. For those planning an aspirational redemption, this catches them off guard and their plans get delayed or go for a toss sometimes.
My take on Marriott Bonvoy’s repricing
I won’t call it a devaluation since we don’t know if this is across the board. I also don’t have data points across 9,000 hotels, so I can’t say. However, many of the most talked about hotels are seeing increased redemption pricing. Of course, three years into letting go of award charts, Marriott has the right to reprice whenever it feels like it.
What I’m unable to figure out is if this repricing at top hotels is limited to just them or if it is the start of a trend. We will find out soon enough. But some of the jumps are just massive, such as the Masai Mara one, and they hit hard for those planning a trip.
For the record, Bonvoy pricing is set by people at the corporate level in Marriott, not by the hotels themselves. Bonvoy has different prices agreed with the property, which it reimburses them per night, depending on the occupancy.
Bottom line
Marriott Bonvoy has repriced award costs at some of its top properties. While many brands were previously capped at 150,000 points per night (not published policy), now some hotels go for around 200,000 points per night, or even higher. For now, the impact is visible on a limited number of properties.
What do you think of this Marriott Bonvoy action?
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Indeed some of the Westin Resorts in India that I was eyeing to book have increased prices from 3k-5k points per night for even base category of rooms.