Strategizing for 2017 SW Companion Pass using Marriot Travel Packages

knick1959

Level 2 Member
I already transferred my husband's MR points. I possibly could have gotten a better redemption but I can hardly put a value on having the SW Comp Pass. We travel at least twice a month, almost always on SW.
Sorry for digging this far back, but I am now faced with similar transfer logistics. How did you transfer your husband's Marriott points to yourself? I didn't think think you could do this .... did you go the MRP->SPG->MPR route to make this happen? I have to research the limits for SPG transfers to make sure I don't box myself into a corner.

A possibility is to call and combine points at the time of the call. But it would be way easier if I could get them all in once place before I call :).
 

heavenlyjane

Level 2 Member
Sorry for digging this far back, but I am now faced with similar transfer logistics. How did you transfer your husband's Marriott points to yourself? I didn't think think you could do this .... did you go the MRP->SPG->MPR route to make this happen? I have to research the limits for SPG transfers to make sure I don't box myself into a corner.

A possibility is to call and combine points at the time of the call. But it would be way easier if I could get them all in once place before I call :).
Oh no, I hope you weren't misguided by the abbreviation I used. MR in my post referred to AMEX Membership Reward points. Those MRs are transferrable.

I have never transferred Marriott points to family members but TPG says it is possible for a fee: https://thepointsguy.com/2016/07/transfer-points-spouse-account/.
 

btbane

Level 2 Member
Below is what Marriott's website says. Only $10 transfer fee and waived for elites. If you want to exceed the 50k limit, you would need to transfer through SPG I believe.

Points Sharing

Feeling generous? Now you can share your points with any Rewards member you choose.
You can transfer 1,000 points or more—up to a maximum of 50,000 points per year—for a transaction fee of just $10 USD. Gold and Platinum Elite members transfer for free.
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
Perfect. Thanks to both of you. I also have plenty of MR points but yes, I want to transfer Marriott points so I did misunderstand. I'll plan on the SPG route but will also look at the $10 option. Seems reasonable to me!
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
I thought about starting a separate thread but I will just piggyback here as it IS related.

So, I find myself withing relatively easy striking distance of a SW CP. I have the means to accumulate the required miles via Marriott transfer before 3/31. But after poking around a little, I still find SW to not be all so attractive. To me. Based in CLE.

I'll ask, simply first, are there specific SW sweetspots?

I looked up CLE->Arubu for some random date near the end of the available schedule. Coach was around $800 and the cheapest award was, from memory, around 55k. Ok, so I get 2 for those prices ... still doesn't seem like a no-bainer deal. I will spend more time researching once I get back home, but I did want to ask for suggestions on how to best use SW via points and paid tickets. I still have some time to figure this all out before I commit.

Thanks in advance.
 

btbane

Level 2 Member
No real sweetspots because the points are tied to the cost of the flight. You will always get ~1.6 cents on Want To Get Away fares (with the SW CP every point becomes worth ~3.2 cents).

You just have to find flights that are cheaper or look when they have sales (sales are usually for flights 2-3 months out, although sometimes longer). Last year I booked a ton of flights between Indianapolis and Washington DC for 1,600 pts one way (with the SW CP, could be 800 pts per person). Check their direct flight routes from CLE. Unlike other airlines they typically (but not always) price direct flights cheaper than ones with layovers.

Bottom line, the price can be way more or way less than the traditional fixed price systems, but a reliable, no black out date 3.2 cents per points is great and you can bring the companion for free on paid flights too. For instance, if you do business travel and ever want to have a spouse (or whomever) tag along, the CP covers their flight and your hotel gets paid for. The usefulness for you will still depend on their pricing and route network out of CLE though, so might want to do some research and check prices when they have one of their sales every other week.
 

heavenlyjane

Level 2 Member
We are the type of folks who plan way ahead. Our calendar has a red circle on the date that Southwest extends its booking schedule. For a trip like Aruba on a desirable long weekend, the Wanna-Getaway fares may be gone within the first day or two. On February 23, 2017, the schedule will open to include Labor Day weekend.

The Wanna Getaway fares for CLE-AUA is $196 + $236, which = $215/person with a CP. A great value in my book.

Cleveland is not a Southwest hub. There are only 6 non-stop destinations. So with a CP, you are going to have to reconcile yourself that layovers will most likely be part of the experience. We live in a hub city, with dozens of non-stop options. The vast majority of our domestic travel is with Southwest. The value of a CP is undeniable for us.
 
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Patrickthetiger

Level 2 Member
We are the type of folks who plan way ahead. Our calendar has a red circle on the date that Southwest extends its booking schedule. For a trip like Aruba on a desirable long weekend, the Wanna-Getaway fares may be gone within the first day or two. On February 23, 2017, the schedule will open to include Labor Day weekend.

The Wanna Getaway fares for CLE-AUA is $196 + $236, which = $215/person with a CP. A great value in my book.

Cleveland is not a Southwest hub. There are only 6 non-stop destinations. So with a CP, you are going to have to reconcile yourself that layovers will most likely be part of the experience. We live in a hub city, with dozens of non-stop options. The vast majority of our domestic travel is with Southwest. The value of a CP is undeniable for us.
Ditto! BNA4LYFE!
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
Me again. Sorry, but I'm going to poke this thread again!

For a short while, I waffled away from shooting for this. However, I'm back into this mode and I'm pretty sure we are going to just go for it. To take full advantage of it we will have to dramatically change what has become our norm for 2018. And we'll never be able to actually take the 15 long (4-5 day) weekends that I had proposed to my wife, but "at least 6" and we've made it worthwhile. And there are still 2 chances in 2017. Anyway, there are really 2 topics I wanted to ask about. I'd better do it in 2 parts. I'll complain a little about the route map and schedule first. I've started to research SW, its routes and schedule in much more depth. The downside: in trying to leverage the CP, the options outside of SW are obviously nill, or at least won't help with the prime directive (to max the CP).

I went through our list of not-yet-visited National Parks to see how SW might help. Redwood NP? Closest SW city is 6 hours away (Sacremento). Hard to work into a 4-5 day weekend, driving 6 hours twice on top of the flights. Badlands/Wind Cave? Closest SW city is Omaha, also a drive. Sure, these are still workable AND perhaps Redwood NP isn't part of 2018 and we do Lassen instead (3 hours from Sacremento). They do have cities that ARE the closest access to a park and are reasonable. My first picks were just a little discouraging. Hotsprings is good, I think Sacramento gives us Pinnacles and Las Vegas Great Basic. Spokane and Seattle score big points.

Again, the single carrier option does restrict offerings and some of their cheaper flights have unattractive start times or length, equally unattractive layovers.

And there are many cities that are of interest on their own. We decided to go for it and see what we can accomplish. It does seem that this breaks even further from our norm, as we also now can't leverage multiple carriers for times, both convenient start times and shortest duration. Ok

Part of the 2018 plan is to do 2 international trips early and then late in the year: Belize, Costa Rica, Mexico or somewhere in the Caribbean (ha! I can finally spell that right without help!!). Doing a search (with my notable lack of SW knowledge) for various dates showed even more logistical issues. However, as @heavenlyjane mentions, you have to time searches for right when the schedule is released. We'll be on it. I'll quote something she said, tho...

We are the type of folks who plan way ahead.
Me too! But I'm talking WAY ahead. I scheduled our Sept flights to South Africa last October, the minute the award schedule showed new availability. And I started planning a full year before that. I just prototyped flights to China in Jan 2019 by searching for 2018 awards, that are just now opening up. SW scheduling is not offered anywhere near this far in advance. Which is just the way it works, but I can't see the offerings they have for Belize or Costa Rica for next Jan. This makes me a little anxious, only because I'm not used to it.

There really isn't a question here. Just my observations with the bottom line being that we're going to go for this and commit 2018 to maximizing it as best we can. Thanks for listening. Now for part 2.
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
I'm going to work on obtaining the Southwest CP very soon, depending on when miles post. My Marriott biz statement closed on the 13th and my wife's on the 15th. I'm expecting to be ready to go by the end of this week. We'll have 165k or so Marriott and enough SPG points to make up the difference.

I'm hoping to find the most direct, easiest scheme to accomplish this.

I have 20k SPG to convert into my Marriott account - that's my first step. I would have 140k+ myself.

My wife has 85k Marriott and the bulk of our SPG points. I would need 15k SPG of these transferred to Marriott. Then we have it.

(NOTE: I AM going to spend some time on the phone trying to "socially engineer" a 5 night package. If that doesn't work, fine, I'll commit to the 7 days which we will probably never use completely).

Is it easy to just set up the 2 Marriott accounts with a grand total that is enough and call? Or might it be easier to try to convert her Marriott to SPG, transfer to me, then convert to my Marriott account, putting all necessary points in MY account before calling?

This is similar to what @heavenlyjane was asking in the original, except we only have Marriott and SPG points to worry about; still 2 people, tho.

Thanks in advance for any comments or ideas.
 

Cmonman76

Level 2 Member
I just called and the rep pulled the points from both my wife and my accounts. She did have to be there to give the ok over the phone.

I tried a few times to find a rep to do 5 night, but no luck for me. When we do use the package chances are we won't stay all seven nights.
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
I just called and the rep pulled the points from both my wife and my accounts. She did have to be there to give the ok over the phone.

I tried a few times to find a rep to do 5 night, but no luck for me. When we do use the package chances are we won't stay all seven nights.
Thanks. I'll do the same thing ... move points from SPG into our Marriott accounts and just call with her around. The 5 night thing is certainly a long-shot, but you gotta ask, right?
 

Suzie

Level 2 Member
I didn't think we would use the 7 night and was viewing it as a casualty of obtaining the CP.

Pleasant surprise - using 7 nights over Thanksgiving for family trip.

We did the same - transferred points while on phone. Was very easy.
 

heavenlyjane

Level 2 Member
Me again. Sorry, but I'm going to poke this thread again!

For a short while, I waffled away from shooting for this. However, I'm back into this mode and I'm pretty sure we are going to just go for it. To take full advantage of it we will have to dramatically change what has become our norm for 2018. And we'll never be able to actually take the 15 long (4-5 day) weekends that I had proposed to my wife, but "at least 6" and we've made it worthwhile. And there are still 2 chances in 2017. Anyway, there are really 2 topics I wanted to ask about. I'd better do it in 2 parts. I'll complain a little about the route map and schedule first. I've started to research SW, its routes and schedule in much more depth. The downside: in trying to leverage the CP, the options outside of SW are obviously nill, or at least won't help with the prime directive (to max the CP).

I went through our list of not-yet-visited National Parks to see how SW might help. Redwood NP? Closest SW city is 6 hours away (Sacramento). Hard to work into a 4-5 day weekend, driving 6 hours twice on top of the flights. Badlands/Wind Cave? Closest SW city is Omaha, also a drive. Sure, these are still workable AND perhaps Redwood NP isn't part of 2018 and we do Lassen instead (3 hours from Sacramento). They do have cities that ARE the closest access to a park and are reasonable. My first picks were just a little discouraging. Hot Springs is good, I think Sacramento gives us Pinnacles and Las Vegas Great Basin. Spokane and Seattle score big points.
You are setting your sights on some of the more remote national parks. There's almost no airline with flights near Redwood National Park or the Badlands.

There are plenty of national parks accessible by SW flights:
  1. Saguaro National Park, less than 1 hour from Tucson airport
  2. Joshua Tree National Park, 1 1/2 hours from Ontario airport
  3. Rocky Mountains National Park, 2 hours from Denver airport
  4. Everglades National Park, 1 hour from either Ft Myers or Fort Lauderdale
  5. Yosemite National Park, 2 1/2 hours from San Jose or Sacramento airports
  6. North Cascades National Park, 1/2 hours from Seattle airport
  7. Death Valley National Park, 2 hours from Las Vegas airport
  8. Pinnacles National Park, <2 hours from San Jose airport (no where near Sacramento)
  9. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 2 hours from Greenville airport
  10. Mount Lassen National Park, 2 1/2 hours from Reno airport
  11. Mount Rainier National Park, <2 hours from Seattle airport
  12. Mammoth Caves National Park, <2 hours from Nashville airport
  13. Guadeloupe Mountains National Park, <2 hours from El Paso airport
  14. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 2 1/2 hours from El Paso airport
  15. Shenandoah National Park, 1 hours from Dulles airport
  16. Channel Islands National Park, 1 1/2 hours from Burbank airport
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
You are setting your sights on some of the more remote national parks. There's almost no airline with flights near Redwood National Park or the Badlands.

There are plenty of national parks accessible by SW flights:
  1. Saguaro National Park, less than 1 hour from Tucson airport
  2. Joshua Tree National Park, 1 1/2 hours from Ontario airport
  3. Rocky Mountains National Park, 2 hours from Denver airport
  4. Everglades National Park, 1 hour from either Ft Myers or Fort Lauderdale
  5. Yosemite National Park, 2 1/2 hours from San Jose or Sacramento airports
  6. North Cascades National Park, 1/2 hours from Seattle airport
  7. Death Valley National Park, 2 hours from Las Vegas airport
  8. Pinnacles National Park, <2 hours from San Jose airport (no where near Sacramento)
  9. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 2 hours from Greenville airport
  10. Mount Lassen National Park, 2 1/2 hours from Reno airport
  11. Mount Rainier National Park, <2 hours from Seattle airport
  12. Mammoth Caves National Park, <2 hours from Nashville airport
  13. Guadeloupe Mountains National Park, <2 hours from El Paso airport
  14. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 2 1/2 hours from El Paso airport
  15. Shenandoah National Park, 1 hours from Dulles airport
  16. Channel Islands National Park, 1 1/2 hours from Burbank airport
Thanks! I didn't mean to have you do all of this research for me. I'd already done most of this, well, for the ones we have not been to yet.

Of the ones you have listed we have already visited all but 6, 8, 10, 11 and 15. Shenandoah is an odd one for us, as it's within driving distance and we've passed by quite a few times (on driving trips to Baltimore) but never stopped. I do have it on the SW-possible list, but it's also on the "if we go to Baltimore/DC again" list.

Seattle gets us Olympic, too. Although the non-direct travel time to Seattle is probably not ideal for a 4-5 day weekend. We would do it.

Salt Lake City is strategic, as most of the Utah parks are drive-able from there. But our remaining 3 Utah parks are already scheduled for April (AA award). It's also good for Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, which I've been to twice but my wife hasn't, so it's still on the todo list. But it's a 5 hours drive and likely saved for another scheme as 5 days minus flying and driving is not enough time for these 2 gems.

If someone wants a fairly helpful map of the US National Parks, I use this one as a saved general reference:

Code:
http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/parks-map.html
Which is only slightly outdated now; it does NOT show Pinnacles as that was somewhat recently converted from a National Monument to a park.

I have concocted a list of enough possible trips to make this worthwhile, if we can work out the logistics in more real-time. And that was my point ... dedicating SW as our airline for a year limits the places that make sense and will force us to try to be more adaptive to times. Dramatically. It's just a fact, not a dig.

Belize and Costa Rica round out my trip list. I just need to become a fast expert, or at least an intermediate, on how SW works.
 

heavenlyjane

Level 2 Member
Don't neglect state parks, some of which are world-class in their grandeur. Redwoods National Park started out as a chain of state parks that were finally transferred to the NPS. Point Lobos State Park in Carmel, CA is also eye candy.

We live in the South and think the Okeefenokee Swamp (Stephen Foster State Park) is da' bomb. It's very close to Jacksonville, an SW city. Ditto for Myakka River State Park, equidistant from Tampa or Fort Myers, FL.

Also how could I have missed mentioning Point Reyes National Seashore, a couple of scenic hours north of San Francisco? It's one of my favorite places on the planet.
 
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Suzie

Level 2 Member
You are setting your sights on some of the more remote national parks. There's almost no airline with flights near Redwood National Park or the Badlands.

There are plenty of national parks accessible by SW flights:
  1. Saguaro National Park, less than 1 hour from Tucson airport
  2. Joshua Tree National Park, 1 1/2 hours from Ontario airport
  3. Rocky Mountains National Park, 2 hours from Denver airport
  4. Everglades National Park, 1 hour from either Ft Myers or Fort Lauderdale
  5. Yosemite National Park, 2 1/2 hours from San Jose or Sacramento airports
  6. North Cascades National Park, 1/2 hours from Seattle airport
  7. Death Valley National Park, 2 hours from Las Vegas airport
  8. Pinnacles National Park, <2 hours from San Jose airport (no where near Sacramento)
  9. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 2 hours from Greenville airport
  10. Mount Lassen National Park, 2 1/2 hours from Reno airport
  11. Mount Rainier National Park, <2 hours from Seattle airport
  12. Mammoth Caves National Park, <2 hours from Nashville airport
  13. Guadeloupe Mountains National Park, <2 hours from El Paso airport
  14. Carlsbad Caverns National Park, 2 1/2 hours from El Paso airport
  15. Shenandoah National Park, 1 hours from Dulles airport
  16. Channel Islands National Park, 1 1/2 hours from Burbank airport
Great list - thank you for sharing!
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
Great list - thank you for sharing!
Really. Perhaps we can turn that into some kind of resource: National Parks close to SW cities. I can add a couple to it, particularly once I finish my own list. It could also be extended for State Parks and perhaps National Monuments.

As for State Parks, we are not opposed to visiting these when we can as that would be silly! When leaving Crater Lake the ranger gave us a map with an alternate route to get back to Portland with all sorts of great things marked; waterfalls and parks in particular. We spent the whole day focusing on waterfalls (as that's all we had - the time it took to drive to Portland before it got too dark). Spectacular!

It's weird when you set a goal like: Visit all of the US National Parks. This becomes the primary focus and what else you see along the way is always secondary. National Parks is a doable list: there are 56(?) of them or some such. Some of them are difficult: American Samoa, 2 Alaska parks in the Arctic Circle and 3-4 others in Alaska that are still tough to really see, St. Johns USVI requires some logistics. Dry Tortugas, Isle Royale and Voyageur require some dedication. We are about 2/3rds through the list and completing the mission is quite possible. My wife keeps trying to add National Monuments, but that adds 100's of places. We're not making a list out of those! But we can stop when it makes sense.

Side lists. Our most practical secondary list is attending games in all Major League baseball parks. While in S CA for Joshua Tree and Channel Islands (last year) we also stopped to see an Angels game that happened to time out correctly.

In my potential SW trip list I have the cities of New Orleans and Charleston, SC down as city visits all by themselves (although the latter may provide access to Congaree National Park; I'll have to check the map).
 

Suzie

Level 2 Member
Really. Perhaps we can turn that into some kind of resource: National Parks close to SW cities. I can add a couple to it, particularly once I finish my own list. It could also be extended for State Parks and perhaps National Monuments.

As for State Parks, we are not opposed to visiting these when we can as that would be silly! When leaving Crater Lake the ranger gave us a map with an alternate route to get back to Portland with all sorts of great things marked; waterfalls and parks in particular. We spent the whole day focusing on waterfalls (as that's all we had - the time it took to drive to Portland before it got too dark). Spectacular!

It's weird when you set a goal like: Visit all of the US National Parks. This becomes the primary focus and what else you see along the way is always secondary. National Parks is a doable list: there are 56(?) of them or some such. Some of them are difficult: American Samoa, 2 Alaska parks in the Arctic Circle and 3-4 others in Alaska that are still tough to really see, St. Johns USVI requires some logistics. Dry Tortugas, Isle Royale and Voyageur require some dedication. We are about 2/3rds through the list and completing the mission is quite possible. My wife keeps trying to add National Monuments, but that adds 100's of places. We're not making a list out of those! But we can stop when it makes sense.

Side lists. Our most practical secondary list is attending games in all Major League baseball parks. While in S CA for Joshua Tree and Channel Islands (last year) we also stopped to see an Angels game that happened to time out correctly.

In my potential SW trip list I have the cities of New Orleans and Charleston, SC down as city visits all by themselves (although the latter may provide access to Congaree National Park; I'll have to check the map).
Side note. If you are 62 or older you can get a pass for the National Parks for $10/lifetime (in person at a park). I believe it is $20 through the mail. I read that price is going up significantly ($80) sometime in the near future. If you're eligible and haven't taken advantage of this perk - might want to jump on it.

https://store.usgs.gov/pass/senior_pass_application.pdf
 

heavenlyjane

Level 2 Member
It's weird when you set a goal like: Visit all of the US National Parks. This becomes the primary focus and what else you see along the way is always secondary. National Parks is a doable list: there are 56(?) of them or some such. Some of them are difficult: American Samoa, 2 Alaska parks in the Arctic Circle and 3-4 others in Alaska that are still tough to really see, St. Johns USVI requires some logistics. Dry Tortugas, Isle Royale and Voyageur require some dedication. We are about 2/3rds through the list and completing the mission is quite possible. My wife keeps trying to add National Monuments, but that adds 100's of places. We're not making a list out of those! But we can stop when it makes sense.
Southwest flies to San Juan, PR, which is <1 hour from El Yunque National Park, the only national park with a tropical rain forest.
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
Southwest flies to San Juan, PR, which is <1 hour from El Yunque National Park, the only national park with a tropical rain forest.
While I do still have this on our generic list, and plenty to see in PR outside of their park, this is not an official US National Park. Odd that they would claim American Samoa and USVI parks but not this ... not sure why. We'll do it anyway, eventually, and perhaps SW will help here. Thanks!

Update: Ah. The park service lists this as a National Forest. There is a difference, and the list of National Forests would be huge (to add to our list). Googling, there are 154 US National Forests, 129 Monuments and 2500 National Historic Landmarks.

I've got another side list of UNESCO Heritage sites. We've checked off a handful or maybe 2 out of 1000++. There are people here WAY ahead of us :).
 
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heavenlyjane

Level 2 Member
While I do still have this on our generic list, and plenty to see in PR outside of their park, this is not an official US National Park. Odd that they would claim American Samoa and USVI parks but not this ... not sure why. We'll do it anyway, eventually, and perhaps SW will help here. Thanks!

Update: Ah. The park service lists this as a National Forest. There is a difference, and the list of National Forests would be huge (to add to our list). Googling, there are 154 US National Forests, 129 Monuments and 2500 National Historic Landmarks.

I've got another side list of UNESCO Heritage sites. We've checked off a handful or maybe 2 out of 1000++. There are people here WAY ahead of us :).
I was just abou to say El Yunque is funded by the USFS, not NPS.

We are focusing on UNESCO World Heritagr site, with no expectation of seeing them all.
 

heavenlyjane

Level 2 Member
@knick1959, Take a look at the regional carrier PenAir. They fly from Portland, OR to Crescent City and Eureka, both close to Redwood National Park. PenAir is a partner with Alaska Airlines. Their flights are priced by distance, much like Brit Air and are great values. You can still use your SW CP to get to Portland, then transfer to PenAir to get close the park using Alaska miles.

Their Redding route would get you very close to Mount Lassen National Park. And Klamath Falls gets you close to Crater Lake.



We are using PenAir to fly to Acadia National Park for July 4th weekend. It was just 18K Alaska miles and 1 hour to fly from Boston to Bar Harbor airport. The result is a scenic hop over the horrendous summer coastal traffic.



For us, this has been the year to explore these small regional carriers to get to under-served airports, using points and miles.
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
Me again!

So, over the weekend my wife's ~85k points posted to her account. I have 149.5k, she has 88.3k. Together we have 237,911 total Marriott points. Which seemed like a strategic number to call in and try to wiggle a 5 night package out of this. My plan is to try a couple of times, then just throw in the 11k SPG points and do the 7 night.

The CSR wasn't really allowing any wiggling. She explained that I needed the 7 night and offered that there was a 5 night package but it was only available to timeshare folks (or whatever it is).

The scary part. When I explained that I needed to transfer (what will be 120.5k) from my wife's account, she said I was limited to 50k per year. Now, I'm not really believing her. I've heard that before, here I think, but exceptions were made for committing to a trip, right? She said this package is NOT eligible. Call #1 was a complete strike out.

I'll call one more time, perhaps even later this evening. I'm going to go re-read now to see if I can find a limit on using SPG to transfer around. Can my wife send SPG points to me, and if so, is there a limit? If I worked with the 50k Marriott limit, I'd need 24k in SPG points moved to me from her account there. Off to read more.

I've already hung up. I just need to call again .... right? :)
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
Ok, well I've just initiated an SPG transfer that should move all the needed points to my accounts, just so there's no more questions. Apparently it takes up to 5 days, but I have enough time.
 

Josh F

Level 2 Member
Charity Forum Mod
Ok, well I've just initiated an SPG transfer that should move all the needed points to my accounts, just so there's no more questions. Apparently it takes up to 5 days, but I have enough time.
I thought those transfers were instantaneous

Me again!

So, over the weekend my wife's ~85k points posted to her account. I have 149.5k, she has 88.3k. Together we have 237,911 total Marriott points. Which seemed like a strategic number to call in and try to wiggle a 5 night package out of this. My plan is to try a couple of times, then just throw in the 11k SPG points and do the 7 night.

The CSR wasn't really allowing any wiggling. She explained that I needed the 7 night and offered that there was a 5 night package but it was only available to timeshare folks (or whatever it is).

The scary part. When I explained that I needed to transfer (what will be 120.5k) from my wife's account, she said I was limited to 50k per year. Now, I'm not really believing her. I've heard that before, here I think, but exceptions were made for committing to a trip, right? She said this package is NOT eligible. Call #1 was a complete strike out.

I'll call one more time, perhaps even later this evening. I'm going to go re-read now to see if I can find a limit on using SPG to transfer around. Can my wife send SPG points to me, and if so, is there a limit? If I worked with the 50k Marriott limit, I'd need 24k in SPG points moved to me from her account there. Off to read more.

I've already hung up. I just need to call again .... right? :)
CSR gave correct advice on the 5 night package - although technically YMMV on HUCA - although I haven't seen any recent success reports after it got over-publicized. On the transfer limits, that should have been an exception to the 50K. From Marriott's site - "A limit of 50,000 points per year may be transferred into or out of a member’s account. Members who are transferring points in order to satisfy a specific award may exceed the 50,000 limit up to the amount needed to satisfy the reservation."
.
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
Mine was instant. Good luck!
To be clear, I'm transferring HER SPG points to MY SPG account. I've done SPG<->Marriott 3 times now in a mix of both ways and that is instantaneous. To get her Marriott points to me I converted hers to her SPG account (instantly) then requested an SPG->SPG transfer of 41,000 to me. Once I get them I know I can instantly put them in my Marriott account and be all set. Well, IF I get them. I don't expect a problem, but until I'm done ...
 

Cmonman76

Level 2 Member
I had the Marriott CSR pull 100k points from my wife's account last month at the time of booking the package. That is the exception to the 50k rule - no limit if you are transferring for an immediate award redemption.

The wife just had to be there to give her ok over the phone. (I decided not to try my girly voice for this one. Lol.)
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
I had the Marriott CSR pull 100k points from my wife's account last month at the time of booking the package. That is the exception to the 50k rule - no limit if you are transferring for an immediate award redemption.

The wife just had to be there to give her ok over the phone. (I decided not to try my girly voice for this one. Lol.)
This CSR claimed that travel packages weren't one of the exceptions. I'm sure she was just wrong, and I was prepared to turn the phone over to my wife; we had combined points once before for a room reservations so I knew that was coming. However, we didn't get that far.

As long as the SPG transfer goes through all the points will be on my side. My wife will be happy as she really doesn't like talking to CSRs on the phone. She'll stay in the fancy hotels and sleep in the lay-flat seats as long as I do all the work!
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
As long as the SPG transfer goes through all the points will be on my side. My wife will be happy as she really doesn't like talking to CSRs on the phone. She'll stay in the fancy hotels and sleep in the lay-flat seats as long as I do all the work!
So I started the transfer from my wife's SPG account to mine last night. The screen said "up to 5 days" for the transfer to complete. Checking late last night both accounts were at the same point totals. Checking now, around (but less than) 24 hours later and I have the requested points in my SPG account. Or did. They are now in my Marriott account with my grand total being 272k right now. I'm good to go.

They did send an email to my wife at ... 9:15pm yesterday alerting her to the transfer and perhaps offering time to avoid any fraud. She forwarded this email to me at 2:23pm today, but the points are already in my hands. I wonder if they trace the email's open with some embedded link to ensure that it was opened. Don't know, but I have the points! We'll see when I feel like calling in again, but I have not completely given up on the 5 night thing yet. I know it's "impossible" ... I just want to make sure of it.
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
Called last night. Got another CSR that was a bit hard to understand ... but after playing dumb on how many points were required and NOT seeing a 5 day package in the picture, I gave in and committed to the 7 day. This evening, just checked, my 120k miles are there as is the "Congratulations" message for the CP. I'm in! Now to make it work for me.

Is their schedule extension schedule predictable? How about their fare sales??

Thanks for all of the help here, folks. In re-reading this thread recently, I realized how many posts I had made and silly questions I had asked. I'll try to calm down now!
 

Cmonman76

Level 2 Member
If you find any good places to use the package please share.
My biggest problem is if I go anywhere for 5+ nights then my 16, 14 and 11 year old will probably tag along with my wife and I. We will end up in a the Residence Inn in Maui. (or the Residence Inn in Springfield IL for the State Fair). Yeehaw.
 

knick1959

Level 2 Member
If you find any good places to use the package please share.
My biggest problem is if I go anywhere for 5+ nights then my 16, 14 and 11 year old will probably tag along with my wife and I. We will end up in a the Residence Inn in Maui. (or the Residence Inn in Springfield IL for the State Fair). Yeehaw.
In my recent rush to research Southwest, one thing I noticed was that they don't go to Hawaii. Is this correct? I did not see it on their map. I did mark it down in my own notes that it could stage us for Hawaii ... get us to SF or LA or SEA. However, I was just there myself and it was easy enough on AA miles. For me, SW would not play into any Hawaii plans.

Funny. My SW login page says I joined their program in 2013. I've never had a single mile until just now ... and now I have 120k! I suppose, now that I'm official, I should use their real airline code - WN, right? :)

I had started to think about how I was going to use my 7 night Marriott cert. As others have stated, staying in one place for 7 days isn't as common as you would think for people in this game. Oh, we could do it, but it would be "different" for us. I was shooting for making use of only 5 days to call it a success ... but where might we stay for 5 days that would keep us happy? Honestly, the timing couldn't be better, as this article showed up in my RSS reader this morning:

Code:
http://frequentmiler.boardingarea.com/2017/02/24/protea-hotel-kruger-gate-by-marriott/
Don't you know, I still have to plan my accommodations for our Sept trip to South Africa (crap, I'd better get busy!) and the current draft itinerary has 5 nights in/near Kruger. However, we had planned to do 1-2-3 nights in an official safari camp, but now I have something else to research. Update: OR, the stay on points is cheap for this. I could cash out the cert (convert back to points) and stay for a shorter time ... even 5 nights could save some points this way, if not creating a hassle.

I have a WIP list of loose destinations already made out. We have moved way off the initial topic of this thread (sorry, mostly my fault). Would moving this to a new, more specifically titled thread be the best idea? Anyone?
 
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