Last Chance! Marriott 2018 Annual Category Changes: 1,083 Hotels Getting More Expensive, 247 Hotels Getting Less Expensive; Book Now To Lock In Lower Rates!

Never Miss Another Deal - Follow DansDeals on Facebook

Update: Category changes can go into effect local time or EST, so hotels will start changing categories overnight tonight. Where will you lock in stays under the current chart and where will you book new stays after the changes take effect?

Originally posted on 2/8:

Marriott 2018 Complete List Of Annual Category Changes

While this year’s Starwood category changes were fairly balanced, the vast majority of the Marriott changes involve hotels getting more expensive.

Book stays before 3/6 local hotel time to lock in current rates for future stays at hotels that are going up.  Almost all hotel stays are cancellable for free until a certain amount of time before the stay (read the fine print).  If you have a reservation at a hotel that is going down then just cancel and rebook the stay on 3/6 when this year’s category changes go into effect.

Marriott’s standard award chart will not change:
If you stay 5 nights, the 5th night will be free.

• Category 1 = 7,500
• Category 2 = 10,000
• Category 3 = 15,000
• Category 4 = 20,000
• Category 5 = 25,000
• Category 6 = 30,000
• Category 7 = 35,000
• Category 8 = 40,000
• Category 9 = 45,000
• Tier 1=30,000
• Tier 2=40,000
• Tier 3=50,000
• Tier 4=60,000
• Tier 5=70,000

You can also get 7 nights in a Marriott hotel and United miles with a miles+nights transfer. Read more in this post.

If you have a category 5 certificate and want to use it for a hotel like the Renaissance Paris La Defense Hotel or the Courtyard Toronto Downtown, you’ll want to reserve that before 3/6.

Of course you can use Marriott points or Starpoints for Marriott hotels.

-You can receive 3 Rewards points for every Starpoint transferred into Marriott.

-You can receive 1 Starpoint for every 3 Marriott Rewards points transferred to Starwood.

Sample hotels getting more expensive:

• Detroit Marriott Southfield, was category 2, now 3
• Protea Hotel Cape Town Sea Point, South Africa, was category 2, now 3
• JW Marriott Hotel Beijing, was category 4, now 5
• Petra Marriott Hotel, Jordan, was category 4, now 5
• Teaneck Marriott at Glenpointe, was category 5, now 6
• Fairfield Inn & Suites Los Angeles LAX, was category 5, now 6
• Residence Inn Boca Raton, was category 5, now 6
• Courtyard San Diego Oceanside, was category 5, now 6
• Fairfield Inn & Suites Fort Lauderdale Pembroke Pines, was category 5, now 6
• Courtyard Toronto Downtown, was category 5, now 6
• Renaissance Paris La Defense Hotel, was category 5, now 6
• Courtyard Bridgetown, Barbados, was category 5, now 6
• Lisbon Marriott Hotel, Portugal, was category 5, now 6
• Fairfield Inn New York JFK Airport, was category 6, now 7
• JW Marriott Hotel Mexico City, was category 6, now 7
• Renaissance Curacao Resort & Casino, was category 6, now 7
• Atlantis, Coral Towers, Autograph Collection, Bahamas, was category 7, now 8
• JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes, was category 7, now 8
• Courtyard Boston Brookline, was category 7, now 8
• Fort Lauderdale Marriott Pompano Beach Resort & Spa, was category 7, now 8
• Renaissance Indian Wells Resort & Spa, was category 7, now 8
• Courtyard Montreal Downtown, was category 7, now 8
• JW Marriott Guanacaste Resort & Spa, Costa Rica, was category 7, now 8
• JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort & Spa, Thailand, was category 7, now 8
• Renaissance S. Croix Carambola Beach Resort & Spa, was category 7, now 8
• Fairfield Inn & Suites Key West, was category 8, now 9
• JW Marriott Washington, DC, was category 8, now 9
• JW Marriott Venice Resort & Spa, Italy, was category 8, now 9
• Ritz-Carlton, Dubai International Financial Centre, UAE, was tier 2, now 3
• The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, was tier 3, now 4

Sample hotels getting less expensive:

• Fairfield Inn & Suites Edison, NJ, was category 3, now 2
• Residence Inn Miami Aventura Mall, was category 6, now 5
• Courtyard Pittsburgh Downtown, was category 6, now 5
• SpringHill Suites New York LaGuardia Airport, was category 6, now 5
• Fairfield Inn & Suites Anchorage Midtown, was category 6, now 5
• Residence Inn Denver Downtown, was category 6, now 5
• JW Marriott Hotel Shanghai, was category 6, now 5
• JW Marriott Hotel Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was category 8, now 7
• Fairfield Inn & Suites New York Manhattan/Central Park, was category 8, now 7
• Los Angeles Airport Marriott, was category 7, now 6
• The Ritz-Carlton, Istanbul, was tier 2, now 1
• The Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove, Miami, was tier 3, now 2
• The Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, Miami, was tier 5, now 4

Short on Marriott points?

The Chase Marriott card is offering 75K points for spending $3K within 3 months.

-Starwood is offering 35% off purchases and gifts of 5K-30K Starpoints through 3/16.

You can transfer 1 Starpoint into 3 Marriott Rewards points.

For example 20K Starpoints are on sale for $455 instead of $700 or 30K Starpoints are on sale for $682.50 instead of $1,050. That’s a cost of 2.275 cents per Starpoints instead of the regular 3.5 cents per Starpoint.

Of course you also earn miles for the purchase, which makes the real cost even less.

If you have a Starwood AMEX and buy 30K Starpoints for $682.50 you will earn 1,366 Starpoints for the purchase, so effectively you’ll pay $682.50 for 31,366 Starpoints, or 2.175 cents per Starpoint. That equals 0.725 cents per Marriott point.

Where will you be booking before 3/6 and where will you be booking afterward? Hit the comments!