marriott

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Use Points Advance to Lock In Current Marriott Redemption Rates Before Prices Go Up

by Gary Leff on February 11, 2019

Feb 11 2019

When Marriott announced their award category changes that go into effect March 5, I noted that 346 hotels would cost more points and 37 would cost fewer.

I initially wrote that you could use points advance to lock in reservations now at the current rate even if you don’t have the points, and redeem later (after March 5 when prices go up). Several readers pointed out to me that Marriott implied in their announcement that this wasn’t the case. However I’ve re-confirmed this still works.

Marriott’s New Champagne Vending Machine and BYO Wine on Planes

by Gary Leff on February 11, 2019

Feb 11 2019

News and notes from around the interweb: Is it snobby to bring your own wine on planes? I think when Delta serves $4 Andre in business class the answer is clearly no. I love trying new wines when I’m flying Singapore (especially) but also Qantas and other carriers in first class. When the wines are mediocre or poorly-paired I just won’t just drink. It’s always a bad idea to drink booze that a flight attendant does not serve to you. My seat opponent on a Dallas – Austin flight was once written up for bringing a to-go cup from the Admirals Club with wine in it — and refusing to give it up when called out by a flight attendant. Her reasoning: she didn’t want to waste the company’s resources. The Emir of Kuwait’s holding…

Marriott’s New 2019 Award Category Changes are Out, Increases Outnumber Decreases 9-to-1

by Gary Leff on February 8, 2019

Feb 08 2019

When Marriott launched its new program back in August they re-adjusted the redemption categories hotels were assigned to, after having done the same thing just months earlier. Moreover they ‘pre-announced’ about 60 hotels that would become more expensive in 2019 with the introduction of a new higher category 8.

Now they’ve announced 2019 category changes which go into effect March 5. Here’s what the changes look like and how to lock in lower pricing now.

Marriott Sending Out Promotions for More Points and Faster Elite Status

by Gary Leff on February 4, 2019

Feb 04 2019

Some members are really motivated by points (redemption) and others are motivated by better treatment (status). If a program offers members more than usual for taking certain actions during a specific period of time, they’re going to get more of those actions.

And you can test customer behavior, how much do you need to offer? which customers respond best to which kinds of offers? Here are four that Marriott is reportedly sending out.

Huge Personal Milestone for Marriott Sorting Out the Mess Of Their New Program

by Gary Leff on February 4, 2019

Feb 04 2019

When Marriott launched their new program on August 18th they encouraged members to combine their accounts. They told you that you were keeping either a Starwood account or a Marriott account, but that wasn’t really true — all accounts were moved onto Marriott’s IT system.

If you were a Starwood member and a Marriott member previously you now had two Marriott accounts but for legal reasons they still displayed Starwood graphics for one of them.

I combined my accounts and somehow showed only three years at the Platinum level towards lifetime status.

Status Match Daisy Chains and Drug Lab Found in a Marriott Boiler Room

by Gary Leff on February 2, 2019

Feb 02 2019

A roundup of the most important stories of the day. I keep you up to date on the most interesting writings I find on other sites – the latest news and tips.

Marriott’s One Shot Deal For Lifetime 75 Night Status Has Posted

by Gary Leff on January 27, 2019

Jan 27 2019

Under the new Marriott program all lifetime elites kept their current lifetime status from either program and everyone had until December 31 to earn lifetime status under old program rules despite the new program requiring more elite nights than Starwood had insisted upon and no longer required minimum points for status as Marriott had.

One quirk of the new program though is that it will not offer lifetime status higher than Platinum (50 nights). Legacy Marriott lifetime Platinums were 75 night platinums so got to keep lifetime 75 night elite. Starwood members with similar lifetime activity nearly lost their cookies over this.

Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson’s Bizarre Interview: We Stored Your Unencrypted Passport #s to Help You

by Gary Leff on January 22, 2019

Jan 22 2019

Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson comes off as out of touch with his customers’ concerns when he claims frustrations with their loyalty program are just ‘noise around the edges’ but that hardly seems to be a one-off example.

He gave a rather bizarre interview to CNBC at the Davos World Economic Forum where he floated the idea of recession being a good thing ‘to get it over with’ and suggested that Marriott was storing the customer passport numbers that were hacked to help customers.

Marriott CEO Trash Talks Indian Hotel Chains

by Gary Leff on January 22, 2019

Jan 22 2019

Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson trash talked Indian hotel chains at Arabian Business in Dubai, suggesting that they might as well just stay niche players in India — they’ll never compete with Marriott.

Sorenson believes there’s no room for competitors now because of Marriott’s wide array of brands and loyalty program (“choice of price points, design sensibilities, and programmes”). He may overestimate their position, though.

Marriott is Lighting Millions of Dollars on Fire and Rewards Members are Paying For It

by Gary Leff on January 17, 2019

Jan 17 2019

Marriott is rebranding their loyalty program, with ‘Bonvoy’ launching February 13. There are no substantive changes whatsoever at that time.

Where does the money for this come from that the loyalty program is investing to transform themselves into Bonvoy? It comes from members, and more specifically from member loyalty accounts.