Marriott Rewards hotel category changes - again, not bad for India hotels

Earlier this week, SPG made changes to its hotel categories (which affects award redemptions), which were generally good from an Indian perspective because there were more category downgrades (12 to be exact) and fewer category increases (4). It seems to be a similar, if better, story with Marriott Rewards' recent category changes that were announced yesterday, and are effective 20 March 2015, although if you look at it globally, the changes represent a devaluation in points. Let me explain, but first, the India position.

There are currently 28 Marriott hotels in India, and there have been changes to categories of 9 hotels. The only category increase among these is for the JW Marriott Chandigarh Hotel, which moves from category 3 to 4. There have been no changes to 19 hotels' categories, and downgrades have been effected for the following:

• Courtyard Bilaspur (2 to 1)
• Courtyard Chennai (2 to 1)
• Courtyard Hyderabad (2 to 1)
• Courtyard Kochi International Airport (2 to 1)
• Courtyard by Marriott Pune Chakan (2 to 1)
• Courtyard Pune Hinjewadi (2 to 1)
• Kochi Marriott Hotel (3 to 2)
• JW Marriott Hotel New Delhi Aerocity (6 to 5)

To recap the Marriott Rewards category requirements for award nights:

This effectively means that you'll now need fewer points for an award night at the 8 hotels I've listed above, and more points for a night's stay at the JW Marriott Chandigard (20k instead of 15k). So from an Indian perspective, these changes are overall positive. That, combined with my earlier assessment that Marriott Rewards is possibly the best hotel loyalty program in India, make your (and my) MR points more valuable now. But all that's IF you're going to use them only in India.

The story overseas is quite different. There are category increases to around 1200 hotels, which means one in every four Marriott hotels are more expensive now to book an award night. The recent trend here is also a bit disturbing. Here's the full list.To quote Gary Leff (View from the wing)...

• In 2012, 526 hotels went up in award category while just 100 went down.
• 2013 was the year that most programs hit us hard. It’s the year thatgutted Hilton HHonors. So in 2013 we saw Marriott Rewards add a new top category 9 (45,000 points per night) and increase the cost of 36% of their hotels.
• In 2014 a quarter of Marriott hotels changed award category, skewed 4-1 in favor of price increases. As a result, one in five Marriott hotels required more points to redeem than even in 2013.

So the value of your MR points is, generally speaking, lower than what it used to be.