One week left before Marriott Bonvoy Points Advance changes
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Looking to book a Marriott property through August 2020 but don't have the points for the stay in your account yet? Book now, because starting Sept. 14, 2019, Marriott's changes to the Points Advance program come into effect, and they're not pretty. Just two weeks ago the chain finally announced the remaining updates to the Marriott Bonvoy program. Here are the basics of what's happening:
Peak and off-peak pricing
We've known for a long time that this was coming, but now it's finally here. Depending on your travel dates, the price of an award night will now vary between off-peak, standard and peak:
Instead of having a set schedule for the year, Marriott will use an algorithm to recalculate these dates on a monthly basis, so a given property could increase or decrease in price.
Points Advance
One of the most useful features of Marriott's award program, Points Advance enables you to book stays without already having the required amount of points in your account. This allowed you to lock in the cost of the room regardless of any changes in award costs (for example, if the hotel increases a category at the start of the new year). Unfortunately, as of Sept. 14, your reservation won't be locking in the rate; rather, it'll be locking in award availability for the room. This means that if you book the JW Marriott Phu Quoc Emerald Bay Resort and Spa as a Category 5 property during an off-peak period and Marriott's new pricing algorithm decides three months from now that your stay is actually occurring during a peak period, you're on the hook for an extra 10,000 points per night. Ouch.
Cash + Points
The Cash + Points feature is also changing to accommodate the new peak/off-peak pricing. Essentially, you'll pay the same amount of cash regardless of when you book, but your point cost will vary according to the new pricing:
What do you do if you have upcoming travel?
If you're planning on traveling with Marriott sometime in the next year, book your stay now. One of the best parts of Points Advance is that you can make and cancel bookings without any fees, so if there's something you've been eyeing but aren't sure about, snag it just in case. Marriott has confirmed that all Points Advance stays booked prior to Sept. 14 will lock in the award rate at the time of booking. Starting on Sept. 14, however, those reservations are subject to monthly recalculations until you actually earn and then redeem the points for the award stay.
And if you have Marriott annual free night certificates and thought you were safe, unfortunately those certificates are tied to points values, not award categories. This means that if you've got a certificate from the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card — which gives you an annual night worth up to 50,000 points — sometimes you'll be be able to book at a Category 6 hotel, and sometimes you won't.
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- Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months.
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your Card. Payment of the government imposed taxes and fees of no more than $80 for roundtrip domestic flights (for itineraries with up to four flight segments) is required. Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. See terms and conditions for details.
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- New: Card Members get 15% off when using miles to book Award Travel on Delta flights through delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Discount not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.
- Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels.
- Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide including takeout and delivery in the U.S., and at U.S. supermarkets.
- Earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases.
- Enjoy a per-visit rate of $50 per person for Card Members and up to two guests to enter the Delta Sky Club when traveling on a Delta flight.
- Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® after you apply through any Authorized Enrollment Provider. If approved for Global Entry, at no additional charge, you will receive access to TSA PreCheck.
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Rewards Rate
| 3X | Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels. |
| 2X | Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide, including takeout and delivery in the U.S. and at U.S. supermarkets. |
| 1X | Earn 1X Miles on all other eligible purchases. |
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Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months.Earn 90,000 Bonus Miles50,000 Bonus MilesAnnual Fee
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Why We Chose It
Build your loyalty to Delta by applying for the carrier's mid-tier card option, the Delta SkyMiles Platinum card. The annual fee is quickly recouped by the card's travel perks, such as an application credit to Global Entry or TSA Precheck, annual companion certificate and so much more. Plus you can fast-track to elite status simply through card spend.Pros
- Earn bonus Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) and an Medallion Qualifying Dollar (MQD) waiver when you hit specific spending thresholds with your card within a calendar year
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year
- Statement credit for TSA PreCheck/Global Entry fee (up to $100)
- First checked bag free
Cons
- Doesn't make sense if you don't fly Delta
- SkyMiles aren't the most valuable airline currency
- Earn 90,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 in purchases on your new Card in your first 6 months.
- Receive a Domestic Main Cabin round-trip companion certificate each year upon renewal of your Card. Payment of the government imposed taxes and fees of no more than $80 for roundtrip domestic flights (for itineraries with up to four flight segments) is required. Baggage charges and other restrictions apply. See terms and conditions for details.
- Enjoy your first checked bag free on Delta flights. Plus enjoy Main Cabin 1 Priority Boarding and settle into your seat sooner.
- New: Card Members get 15% off when using miles to book Award Travel on Delta flights through delta.com and the Fly Delta app. Discount not applicable to partner-operated flights or to taxes and fees.
- Earn 3X Miles on Delta purchases and purchases made directly with hotels.
- Earn 2X Miles at restaurants worldwide including takeout and delivery in the U.S., and at U.S. supermarkets.
- Earn 1X Mile on all other eligible purchases.
- Enjoy a per-visit rate of $50 per person for Card Members and up to two guests to enter the Delta Sky Club when traveling on a Delta flight.
- Fee Credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck® after you apply through any Authorized Enrollment Provider. If approved for Global Entry, at no additional charge, you will receive access to TSA PreCheck.
- Earn up to 20,000 Medallion® Qualification Miles (MQMs) with Status Boost® per year. After you spend $25,000 in purchases on your Card in a calendar year, you can earn 10,000 MQMs up to two times per year, getting you closer to Medallion® Status. MQMs are used to determine Medallion® Status and are different than miles you earn toward flights.
- No Foreign Transaction Fees.
- $250 Annual Fee.
- Terms Apply.
- See Rates & Fees