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As I have written about previously, Marriott Bonvoy will be implementing its annual category adjustments on 4 March, 2020 – i.e. tomorrow!!

Because the list of hotels is so long, all I can do is point you towards Marriott’s special website, dedicated to outlining which hotels will change in award category. You can access the website by clicking here.

Joe has pointed about some potential sweet spots in these posts:

• United Kingdom
• Europe

Making Speculative Bookings

Even if you don’t have any firm travel plans – understandable given the uncertain coronavirus situation – there’s no harm in making speculative bookings at current prices. Some things to keep in mind are:

1. Except in very rare cases, award bookings are completely refundable
2. If you subsequently change dates, your reservation will reprice to current levels
3. You can book several consecutive nights individually… allowing you to cancel any unneeded nights later… however
4. The best way to book Marriott awards is in chunks of 5 nights – the cheapest of the five nights is free!

Unfortunately, booking a Marriott hotels using Points Advance – where you don’t actually allocate the points to your stay – won’t do anything to help you with these category changes. More details here...

The Bottom Line

I haven’t made too many speculative bookings, but I do have a 5-night stay booked for December at a Category 1 hotel in Spain. 20,000 points for 5 nights – costing £125 during the current 50% bonus promotion – would be a cheap £25 per night method to pick up 5 elite night credits should I need them later…   Starting tomorrow, that hotel would cost me more…