Marriott Bonvoy has just announced a host of changes related to Bonvoy Status, Point Expiry, Suite Night & Free Night Award Extensions. Most of these are good, while the bad one could be of the award charts being dropped.
So, without further ado, lets look at the changes:
Status Extension
Members’ current Elite status will be extended through February 2023, whether earned in 2019 or 2020.
Members who earned status in 2021 are already enjoying their status through February 2023.
For 2021, the $20,000 USD spend threshold for attaining Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite status has been reduced to $14,000 USD.
Beginning on January 1, 2022, it will return to $20,000 USD, and the 100 annual qualifying night requirement will remain in place.
Points Expiration
To provide you ample time to redeem points, the expiration of points will be paused until December 31, 2022. At that time, your points will only expire if your account has been inactive for at least 24 months.
Suite Night Awards (SNAs)
The expiration of Suite Night Awards (SNAs) previously set to expire on December 31, 2021 has been extended to June 30, 2022.
Free Night Awards (FNA)
Members who currently have a Free Night Award (FNA) with an expiration date between January 3, 2022 and June 29, 2022, as part of their cobrand credit card benefit, annual choice benefit, promotions or travel package will be able to redeem it through June 30, 2022.
Elimination of Award Charts
This elimination of transparency of the award chart is not necessarily a good thing for members as they move towards removing eliminating award charts in March 2022 and make redemption rates resemble cash rates.
Overall, the changes are good, saving one from doing mattress runs, to attain or retain an elite status.
Written by Dominic Fernandes aka CanadaPointsGuy.
Image courtesy of marriott.com