Marriott Stay Certs is part of the Still The Best Trip Report.
This mistake is going on the Travel Lessons page. When planning my spectacular Still The Best Trip (see How to Book the Best Itinerary: AA, Avios, Aeroplan, Miles & Smiles, Flying Blue, LifeMiles, Capital One), I did not book many hotels in advance. One hotel that I did book ahead of time was the Ritz Carlton Tenerife (see Ritz Carlton Tenerife: We’ll Make It Better, The Second Time Around). The hotel retails at $354 a night. On the day I arrived, the price in points was 44k. While I would not use my precious Marriott Bonvoy points on such a redemption, I have no issue burning expiring stay certs. The mistake is that I used my 40k Titanium Elite stay cert instead of my 35k Amex stay cert to make the reservation. Why was this a mistake? Because Marriott now allows reservations that combine a stay cert with up to 15k Bonvoy points. The best use would have been for a hotel that goes for 55k points a night. Although I knew that Marriott would, ‘for my convenience’ at checkout show the 40k stay cert first, I didn’t X out of the transaction and switch my method of payment to a 35k cert. I was reminded of the error of my ways when later on in my trip I tried to book the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh. Cheeky Marriott required 52k points for that stay, rendering my 35k stay cert useless.
TPOL’s TIP: Let me warn or remind you again, don’t use your high-value stay cert when a low-value one will do.
Oopsie! But thanks for doing the public service announcement. We can all learn in TPOL’s life lessons.
Does this count as being Bonvoyed??
No, counts as being an idiot.