Wait, am I missing something? Maybe my math is wrong but it seems like a terrible deal still, right? Even with my hotel dropping from 40k to 35k a night I'm still getting hosed. For my Hawaii trip planned in April here is what it looked like before they crushed my hopes and dreams:
Cat 1-5 + 120k rr= 270k
Cost to upgrade to Cat 8= 90 k
Total for 7 nights at a cat 8 in Hawaii ($2800+) and 120k rr=
360k
If I get a refund on my 1-5 :
Total for 7 nights at a new cat 5 and 120k rr =
435k (270k paid minus 45k refund, +210k to book at new point cost).
That's 75k in lost points for me
. I mean I guess if your option is starting from scratch and getting squat for your old 1-5...I feel like those blogs are like " nm, Marriott is being cool again" after they threw the tiniest table scrap!