Marriott Bonvoy moves to dynamic pricing

Marriott Bonvoy is set to follow some other major hotel chains and abolish reward charts in favour of dynamic pricing from March 2022. So what does that mean for you?

Historically, dynamic pricing means you’ll end up paying a lot more points for the same product. Sure, there’ll be some instances where a hotel room is being offered at a cheaper rate during a quiet week, but those opportunities are usually rare.

With fixed reward charts, you know how many points a room will cost. Marriott Bonvoy already introduced peak and off-peak pricing for its charts a few years back. But with dynamic pricing, rooms at popular properties and at peak times will likely require significantly more points.

Flexible point redemption rates will mean that more rooms overall will be available for redemption stays because our hotels will be able to better manage room inventory.

The award chart will go away in March; however, we expect redemption rates for nearly all hotels – more than 97% – will continue to range between their current off-peak and peak redemption rates for stays throughout 2022.

That means less than 3% of hotels will have redemption rates in a higher range than where they are currently in the award chart. For stays beyond 2022, we will adjust rates based more closely on hotel rates.

– Marriott Bonvoy spokesperson, 27 October 2021

When will Marriott dynamic pricing kick in?

From March 2022 (exact date unknown), Marriott Bonvoy will remove its reward charts. But for the rest of that year, Marriott tells us that ‘more than 97%’ of properties will stay within the current peak and off-peak rates. That’s mostly good news if you’re hoping to indulge in a stay in 2022.

But for the remaining 3% of properties in 2022, as well as every property from 2023 onwards, there’s no knowing how high rates will go. Under the reward chart, the most you can spend on a single night is 100,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. But that cap will vanish once dynamic pricing is rolled in.

Marriott hasn’t revealed which 3% of properties aren’t capping their rates in 2022. But we can probably expect that the ultra-luxurious resorts, such as the St Regis Maldives Vommuli, will be the type of properties that are affected in the interim.

At least the ‘Stay for 5, Pay for 4’ offer will remain. This means if you book five nights with Marriott Bonvoy points, you’ll just have to pay for four. Usually, the cheapest night is discounted.

What about Marriott Hotel + Air packages?

If your Marriott Bonvoy points balance has ticked over six figures at some point, you’ve probably considered the popular Hotel + Air packages. Unfortunately, these packages are no longer available for sale.

If you have an existing package, your seven-night hotel certificate is valid for booking until 28 February 2022. Make sure you lock in your booking by then! Any changes or unused vouchers after this date will be refunded in points, equivalent to seven peak nights in the category you chose.

Summing up

Marriott Bonvoy will move to dynamic pricing from March 2022, with the rates to be fully uncapped from 2023 onwards. While there may be more rooms available to be booked with points, you’ll likely need to fork out more points per stay, which is unfortunate.

Marriott is not alone in this approach. Notably, IHG One Rewards and Hilton Honors have also shifted to dynamic pricing in recent years, which has certainly resulted in points stays becoming more pricey. If you prefer the certainty of fixed room reward rates, then perhaps the World of Hyatt program could be your next focus.