Points Advance Bookings Available at Most SPG Brands
Points advance bookings have long been a part of Marriott Rewards, in fact I’d argue this is one of the program’s best features. Coveted SPG properties including the St Regis Bora Bora and Al Maha can now be booked using the Marriott site which leads to a few positive changes. All of the Starwood Brands have now been integrated into the Marriott Booking system. As a result of the integration you can search for SPG properties on the Marriott site regardless of brand or category. But the real prize here is that members who seek to make an award redemption can do so without having the required amount of points already in their accounts.
What is a Points Advance Booking?
Rewards members seeking to book an award stay with an insufficient Point balance may make the Award Redemption and either (1) purchase Points to make a valid Award Redemption, provided that the aggregate amount of Points purchased and/or received as a gift by the Member is less than or equivalent to 50,000 Points per calendar year; or (2) the Member accrues sufficient Points to use Points for payment of the Award Redemption no less than fourteen (14) days prior to Member’s arrival date.
3.6.a. If a purchase of Points is not an option, or if a Member does not have sufficient Points to pay for an Award Redemption with Points fourteen (14) days or less from Member’s arrival date, Member will forfeit the Award Redemption part of the reservation. The Award Redemption may be canceled by the Loyalty Program or the Participating Property and the reservation will be converted to a cash reservation at the best available rate.
Conclusion
Now is the time to book some of those Category 8 properties before they go up in 2019 and peak pricing is introduced. You can view the upcoming changes and get more information here.
HT: TPG
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