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Marriott Bonvoy Extends Status Until 2023 & Announces Dynamic Pricing

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Immanuel Debeer | 27/10/2021

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Marriott Bonvoy has announced yet another status extension (I think it’s the third one?!). This time around, all current members with status of some kind will see it extended until February 2023. Whether status was earned in 2020 or earned in 2019 and extended for this year, members’ 2021 status will be extended for an additional year. On top of that, the extension will count towards lifetime status in the Bonvoy loyalty program. Marriott is also extending elite points, free night certificates and suite upgrades.

What else is new?

In addition to extending free night certificates, elite members will also be able to combine 15,000 of their own points with a certificate to book hotels in higher categories. For example, I have a certificate worth 50,000 points in my account, which I can now boost to 65,000 points if I choose to combine it with my points.

This brings me to the next “upgrade”…

Marriott Bonvoy Will Introduce Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing is a word generally associated with “bad things” in the world of loyalty and rewards. It’s usually what happens when you put accountants in charge of your loyalty program. Anyway… Marriott Bonvoy is now introducing dynamic pricing, and time will tell if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.

Personally, I only redeem Bonvoy Points for high-end luxury hotels, which go for thousands of dollars a night (that’s not a flex, it’s just the smart thing to do). For me, this offers the best value proposition. For example, I recently booked the brand new Ritz Carlton Maldives for 5 nights at 370,000 Bonvoy points. A stay that would otherwise cost in excess of US12,000.

With dynamic pricing, luxury stays like this might be off the cards. This is because dynamic pricing could be directly linked to the dollar cost per night. This means Marriott might assign an internal value to each point which is then exchanged for a stay. However, there is a shimmer of hope, and it comes from their competitors over at Hilton Honors (who also have a dynamic pricing model); the Hilton Honors pricing is capped at a certain number of points per night. This means that even for expensive hotels such as Waldorf Astoria Maldives, it’s still possible for Hilton Honors members to redeem their points at acceptable rates.

While dynamic pricing might seem good for the average user who wants to use their points at cheap hotels, it’s guaranteed to ruin the program for advanced users who really want to maximise their rewards.

Not to worry though, the dynamic pricing won’t come into effect until March 2022 (partially), with all properties onboarded by March 2023.

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Immanuel Debeer

Chief points nerd and travel hacker at Flight Hacks

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