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Today, the Marriott Bonvoy program made several announcements. Some were good, like extending status and allowing free night award top-offs (see this post on One Mile at a Time).
However, the real big news is that Marriott will start dynamic award pricing beginning March 2022. Hilton and IHG already have this award model. So, it’s not surprising that Marriott is jumping on the bandwagon.
Currently, Marriott hotels are assigned an award category and within that category there are peak and off-peak prices depending on the season. In 2022, award pricing will become dynamic to better align with cash prices.
According to Marriott, 97% of hotels will stay within the peak/off-peak ranges of their current category with dynamic pricing in 2022. Just 3% of hotels will stretch higher than that. But the following year, all hotels will have more flexibility with the points they charge, and the old points ranges will become obsolete.
Why This is Hard for Families with Kids and Teachers
For the record, this is not good news for anyone. Award pricing can now be different every night. It’s near impossible to save up points for an award redemption when the cost is unknown and frequently fluctuating.
But for families with kids and teachers that have to travel based on school calendar breaks, this news is particularly bad. We have very limited flexibility with vacation dates. I can almost guarantee that spring break award prices at hotels on the beach are going to go through the roof.
My family has wonderful memories of staying at Sheraton Sand Key Resort during Spring Break 2017. We stayed on points back before peak/off-peak pricing. It was a great deal! I’m sure that a redemption like this will be much more expensive under the new dynamic pricing system.
What Can We Do?
We can’t control the changes that hotels and airlines make with their award programs. We can, however, change our behavior to get the most value out of the programs. Here is what I recommend:
- If you have a Marriott stay in mind for 2022, book it before the dynamic pricing models goes into effect in March.
- Consider focusing on airline miles (which are also mostly dynamic, unfortunately) and switch to stays at vacation rentals (airbnb. vrbo, etc.) using cash. My family is doing this, for the most part.
- If your vacation dates are inflexible, consider traveling to places that are considered out-of-season during that time. For example, instead of heading to the beach for spring break, explore a city in the northern U.S. and save the beach for early or late summer.
- Don’t hoard your miles and points! Earn and burn! Devaluations happen every year.
What do you think of these changes from Marriott?
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
Funny, I kind of see it the the opposite way. I mean, don’t get me wrong… you’re right, point redemptions are going to skyrocket. But… at least the opportunity to actually use the points will be there.
We’re always traveling during peak times, and any Marriott that’s appealing for the location we’re traveling to is always blacked out for points stays. It’s the one CC sign up bonus I wish I never bothered with. I’ve never been able to use the points for a hotel I want to stay at.
@projectx Well, don’t get your hopes up. Unfortunately, Marriott is still limiting the number of standard rooms available for award booking.:(
HUH? I missed that part. Dynamic pricing AND blackout dates? Just when I thought their program couldn’t get any worse… Bonvoyed again.
Marriott doesn’t call it blackout dates. Here is a quote from OMAAT’s post on it: “Marriott Bonvoy’s current limit on award rooms will still remain in place, so not all standard rooms will always be bookable with points.”
This development will, without a doubt, decimate redemption value on aspirational properties. And I agree, all resort-ish Florida properties will cost a fortune via points during spring break. Fortunately, transfer ratio to miles won’t change ( for now) and to me, that’s the biggest selling point of Bonvoy, at least compared to other hotel programs.
Good point! At least there’s the airline partners.