Tag Archives for marriott.
I’ve reached out to Marriott for an explanation of this metaphysical mystery. Two years into the pandemic research scientists are still learning many new things about the way the virus spreads and the effects it has. But Covid-19’s effect on the intersection of points and elite status is uncharted ground.
Marriott has been looking to reduce costs for hotels providing breakfast and they think they’ve found it for their extended stay brands.
Marriott doesn’t have control over its hotels, and properties tend to run amok. So it really shouldn’t come as a surprise – yet still seems more egregious than most anything that I’ve seen – when a reader shared that the Sheraton Puerto Rico Hotel & Casino is adding two separate fees onto award redemptions,
Not only is a ‘Bonvoy Fee’ something that isn’t disclosed to guests during booking, it’s forbidden by the program’s terms and conditions.
Marriott is out with their first gambit: to make elite status-earning easier in 2022: double elite qualifying nights, and 1000 bonus points per night, February 8 – May 4, 2022.
Marriott snuck a change into their terms and conditions saying that they’re eliminating hotel and airline mile ‘travel packages’ from the program. These haven’t been useful in several years because of price increases and the elimination of 5-night packages. Except those 5 night packages still exist and you may have a short window to claim them.
The Carambola Beach Resort St. Croix is a sad tale. Marriott has 30 brands, but this hotel is an unbranded Marriott. You see, it used to be a Renaissance. It’s fallen into such disrepair that they don’t show that name any longer.
How this happened is fascinating because it’s a tale of incompetence and, in my opinion, likely corruption on the part of the government employee pension fund of the US Virgin Islands. This story is insane.
A Marriott Bonvoy member reports that they had 102 nights and $13,992 spent with Marriott during 2021. Top tier Ambassador status required at least 100 nights and $14,000 in spend. They add that they should have gotten a drink at the bar on their last stay, but didn’t realize they’d need it. And they’d happily send Marriott the $8.
Several hotels in Marriott’s Autograph Collection now hit guests with an extra $4.99 per night ‘sustainability fee’ that isn’t included in the room rate. The fee isn’t described on the hotels’ websites, either.
This appears to be a fee to sustain the hotel owner’s revenue since they do not even appear to be pretending that tacking on a non-optional fee – drip pricing – somehow benefits the environment.
If you earned Platinum (50 night) or Titanium (75 night) elite status with Marriott in 2021 you only have until January 7th to make your ‘choice benefit selections. If you miss the deadline, you miss out on benefits like suite upgrade priority and free nights.
A reader shares they have a missing stay from December 27 that would push them over the threshold to earn Titanium. And Marriott won’t take a missing stay submission for that until January 10.
When news came out that Marriott had settled with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania over resort fees, I was skeptical that much of anything would change. Press releases were non-specific about what they’d have to do, even suggesting current practices could continue in large part without change. So I tracked down and read the settlement agreement itself. Here’s what it says.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
