Marriott Bonvoy Dynamic Pricing – The View is Beautiful and Clear

“I can see clearly now the rain is gone,” the lyrics from Jimmy Cliff’s I can See Clearly Now, resonate for almost every Bonvoy® member. Gaze out the window of your Marriott brand hotel. Your lens defines your view.

You might see the color of gorgeous, Azul waters. Look closer, and you may observe a tranquil week of basking in the sun, complemented by wonderful food and gracious company. Your other lens might reveal a building blocking your 180 degree view. Magnify that lens and behold a week of rain and unruly waves, as well as a leaking roof and a sagging bed.

Wipe away the grime and haze from your lens, and discover Marriott Bonvoy® Dynamic Pricing delivers value and opportunity.

I wrote in November 2021 about “More Redemption Flexibility.” The cries from the gallery proclaimed, “devaluation,” “a million points needed per night,” and “Bonvoyed.” Marriott countered, the month prior, “If you’re traveling somewhere with a lot of availability, you can expect to use fewer Marriott Bonvoy Dynamic Pricing Points.”

Which lens is correct? I concluded the November article with “Go have a drink – hopefully at a beautiful Marriott property – and make a toast to the complex concoction that is Dynamic Pricing.  You may find it a sweeter refreshment than you imagined.”

Join me for that drink. I am buying. And the view is great.

London Marriott Hotel County Hall — Still a Value after March 29, 2022

I planted my position, first, citing the formerly designated Bonvoy® Category 8 London Marriott Hotel County Hall. I cried out — five months ago — from my “gallery,” that four nights at the wildly popular London destination priced at 385,000 points for June 2022. The previous category 8 chart ranged from 70,000 points nightly to 100,000 points nightly for a standard room. I selected County hall for June 2022, and booking June 1, 2022 through June 5, 2022, produced a redemption of 391,000 points. This resulted in an almost indistinguishable delta of 6,000 points or an increase of 1.5%.

What about Marriott’s statement, “If you’re traveling somewhere with a lot of availability, you can expect to use fewer Marriott Bonvoy® Points.”

Jump a month prior, to May 2022, and value, not devalue, your points redemption at 361,000 — a 7.6% decrease in points needed compared to the set-in-stone, Marriott Charts required, number of points at 385,000.

Pivot to London London Marriott Hotel County Hall a month later and reserve July 24 for four nights. The lens is clear and rewarding at a redemption of 376,000 points. The delta is sweetened and delivers a savings of 9,000 points, or a savings of 2.4%. Jump a month prior, to May 2022, and value, not devalue, your points redemption at 361,000 — a 7.6% decrease in points needed compared to the set-in-stone, Marriott Charts required, number of points at 385,000.

Marriott Bonvoy Dynamic Pricing — Marriott Bonvoy® Flexible Points Redemption; the Marriage between Cash Rate and Points

I also wrote, almost half a year ago, “Marriott is creating a closer symbiotic relationship between point redemptions and cash rates.” That statement echoed Marriott’s words, “Hotel categories (1-8) and Redemption Rates classified as Off-Peak, Peak, or Standard are replaced with Flexible Point Redemption Rates. This means the amount of Marriott Bonvoy® Points needed to redeem a Stay will be more flexible and more closely align with Hotel Rates.”

The same 385,000 Bonvoy points needed for a June 2022 booking — memorialized in November 2021 — priced at a cash rate of $2,924 for a four night romp in London at County Hall. The cash rate equated to $.007 per Bonvoy® point.

What is the cash rate for June 2022, now, that offers a barely increased 391,000 points for four nights? Valuation grants $.006 per point, booking now for June. The abandoned charts — peak category 8 — demanded 400,000 points for four nights. The date of March 29, 2022 occurred, and Dynamic pricing or Marriott Flexible Point Redemption Rates, birthed itself into our travel lives.

October 26, 2021, offered; clean your lens, wipe away the sweat, and enjoy your Bonvoy® points. That same date also offered a murky view — for many — of: devalued points, burning through the travel “nest egg,” and rushed reservations to survive after March 2022, the impending doom.

We survived. Approximately 200 hotels received annual assessment increases of up to 30,000 incremental points needed nightly. Thirty properties, systemwide, might exceed the historical charts range for category 8 of 70,000 to 100,000 points required per evening.

The Sweet Spot

The beautiful view of Marriott Properties — using Flexible Points Redemption — awards sweet spots. The County Hall May 2022 redemption captured 361,000 points needed for four nights, 25,000 points retained in your points treasure chest, compared to pre-Marriott Flexible Points Redemption.

The Paris Marriott Opera Ambassador Hotel, a previous category 7 property that ranged in points needed from 50,000 nightly to 70,000 nightly, for a standard room redemption, offers a secret gem in the City of Lights. Xavier Le Rue, the Directeur Général (general manager) of my favorite Paris haunt, located on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th Arrondissement, welcomes guests as “family” at his iconic and historical property.

The 240,000 Bonvoy® points I benchmarked in my November 2021 article, for a July 2022 stay, reserved a beautiful, 2021 renovated room, with a fabulous executive club lounge experience; breakfast and light dinner served daily for Bonvoy® Platinum, Titanium and Ambassador guests (and for Bonvoy® Gold-level friends, referred by me to my friend, Xavier’s, Parisian auberge).

The same gorgeous room, accompanied by gracious hosting from Le Ru and Jean-Marc Flaunet, the gentleman concierge, and epicurean delicacies from the newly renovated lounge, “tastes” even sweeter at 229,000 points. A Marriott Bonvoy® Flexible Points Redemption savings of 11,000 points booked now, compared to pre-Marriott Flexible Points Redemption.

The Final Four

My son, Jack, asked me for help with a New Orleans hotel for April 1, 2022 through April 3, 2022 — the vaunted dates of the NCAA Final Four Tournament at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La. A junior at the University of Kansas, Jack scored a ticket for $40 as a student; a hotel room near the stadium, however, started at $450 for category 2 properties. I counseled in the November article, and subsequent late February story, “Glass Half Full” dynamic pricing update, to not dump points.

I jumped at the chance, prior to losing the Marriott Redemption Charts, to lock in the TownePlace Suites, New Orleans Harvey / Westbank, at 27,000 points (total) for two nights. A hotel. secured, and only 17 minutes from the Superdome, allowed me to be a hero to my son, but also reinforced Marriott’s other statement about Flexible Points Redemption, “and if the destination you love is busier during your preferred dates, the redemption amount may increase.”

My counsel remains, find the sweet spots; avoid the highest redemption times no longer protected by the stringent boundaries of the charts. Savor the experience as you savor your Bonvoy® points. We await any new developments for 2023. The remainder of 2022 looks bright and sunny.

David Small has a love affair with travel, and he loves to “see the world” through the eyes of his wife and children when they accompany him to destinations in the States and abroad.  He is a Marriott Bonvoy enthusiast who enjoys every brand offered – rewarded by the richness of each experience and the people involved at each property.

Small runs a national media company, and he used to manage airline points loyalty programs for Sprint — in partnership with United Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Alaska Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airlines and Midwest Express Airlines, Virgin Atlantic Airlines and Midwest Express Airlines.