In late March, Marriott is eliminating its award charts. They say that for the remainder of 2022, we shouldn’t see significant pricing changes. But that doesn’t mean things stay as they are. Changes are coming. So let’s discuss the Marriott Bonvoy changes in Hawaii for 2022.
Last October, Marriott dropped a bombshell when it said it’d go the way of Hilton and move to dynamic award pricing. Little detail was given then, aside from the fact that it’d happen in March 2022 and that things would stay mostly the same this year. We know that the change officially takes hold on March 29, 2022. What’s more, we have details on what properties are seeing pricing changes immediately after the award charts go away.
Marriott Bonvoy Changes in Hawaii
Gary over at View from the Wing posted a list of impacted properties. You can check it out yourself if you like, but I want to focus on the Hawaii properties for now.
- Increases of up to 10,000 points per night
- Sheraton Kauai (Cat 6) goes from 40k to 60k points per night to 50k to 70k points.
- Increases of up to 20,000 points per night
- Ritz-Carlton Kapalua (Cat 8) goes from 80k to 100k points per night to 100k to 120k.
- Westin Nanea Ocean Villas (Cat 8) goes from 80k to 100k points per night to 100k to 120k.
- Increases of up to 30,000 points per night
- Mauna Kea Beach Hotel (Cat 7) goes from 50k to 70k per night to 80k to 100k.
- Westin Kaanapali Ocean Villas (Cat 7) goes from 50k to 70k per night to 80k to 100k per night
- Westin Maui Resort & Spa (Cat 7) goes from 50k to 70k per night to 80k to 100k per night.
- Wailea Beach Marriott (Cat 7) goes from 50k to 70k per night to 80k to 100k.
- Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas (Cat 7) go from 50k to 70k per night to 80k to 100k per night.
While the changes we’re seeing in Hawaii are bad, they could’ve been worse. In fact, I’m a bit surprised that the changes weren’t worse than they are. For example, the lovely Westin Hapuna Beach isn’t on the list, nor are any of their Oahu hotels. That said, this is only the beginning – who knows what changes 2023 will bring.
It’s also worth noting that many aspirational properties around the world are on this list.
Certificate Top Off
Of course, the other change coming is the ability to add up to 15,000 points to your certificates. Marriott still hasn’t committed to a hard date but states that we should expect this change to occur in late April 2022. I largely expected them to make this available after the award chart goes away, but it’s still kind of a dick move.
Final Thoughts
Honestly, an increase of up to 30,000 points per night is terrible. But, as I’ve said earlier, things could’ve been worse. That said, while I liked the Westin Maui – review coming soon – I don’t think the property is worth 80k to 100k points per night. In fact, this whole change essentially turned me off to Marriott Bonvoy to the point that I’m hardly staying with them this year. However, in classic Marriott fashion, we have no idea how things will progress in 2023. I’m bracing for even worse changes to come. Current category 8 redemptions are already worse than Hilton’s top-tier redemption rates, and Hilton makes it easier to earn points with them!