marriott

Tag Archives for marriott.

To Everyone Leaving Marriott for Hilton: You’re Nuts

by Gary Leff on December 24, 2018

Dec 24 2018

I’m as disappointed as anyone with the way Marriott has delivered on their new loyalty program. The technical side of combining Starwood and Marriott accounts has been frustrating — my account still isn’t right. Customer service has been poor — I’m waiting for a reply to an email from September. And most of all the delivery of benefits and redemptions hasn’t matched what was promised.

However that doesn’t mean you should abandon Marriott. In fact you shouldn’t. Here’s why.

New Marriott Loyalty Program Continues to Disappoint Members

by Gary Leff on December 19, 2018

Dec 19 2018

What happens when hotels change award categories without notice — right as members who have been waiting for months have been allowed to redeem? And how are some hotels ‘complying’ with Marriott’s elite breakfast benefits?

The problem I think is that the chain’s CEO describes the frustration of his best customers as noise around the edges rather than tackling the problem with open arms. Bill Marriott said the purpose of the Starwood acquisition was to give them scale and leverage. I noted at the time this included leverage over customers.

Ex-Starwood Senior VP of Technology Dishes on Marriott’s Data Breach

by Gary Leff on December 12, 2018

Dec 12 2018

There are reasons to be skeptical that the breach took place in 2014, rather than there were records in the data warehouse which could have been taken that dated to 2014.

Regardless of what did or didn’t happen, and whom to blame, we’re clearly not getting the full story from Marriott. And since it’s our very sensitive personal information they failed to safeguard, we should be demanding it.

4 Things You Should Do to Protect Yourself From the Marriott Hack

by Gary Leff on December 6, 2018

Dec 06 2018

The reason Marriott will weather the storm of 500 million records being hacked is because all of our information has already been hacked. First, we’re immune to it. And second there’s really not that much new that’s going to be out there as a result of this network infiltration.

There are (4) things you can do to protect yourself.

Flights Being Cancelled After Airline Fails to Pay Pilots and Qantas Looking to Devalue Again

by Gary Leff on December 3, 2018

Dec 03 2018

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.

Small Hotel Room Toiletries Will Be Illegal in One California City

by Gary Leff on December 1, 2018

Dec 01 2018

Santa Cruz, California will be the first place in the country to ban miniature toiletry bottles.

The ordinance was unanimously approved by the county’s Board on November 20th. It returns to the board for final approval on December 4 and will go into effect December 31, 2020.

Massive Marriott Data Breach: 500 Million Bookings, Many With Payment and Passport Data

by Gary Leff on November 30, 2018

Nov 30 2018

f you’ve been a legacy Starwood guest, Marriott’s systems likely disclosed much of your personal information to hackers. Marriott announced that the Starwood reservation database was breached. They learned about the ongoing breach in September which they say had been occurring since 2014.

They are reporting access to about 500 million guest records, most including information like email addresses and passport numbers and some including credit card details as well.

Marriott Still Isn’t Getting Its Program Merger Right and Airlines That Will Lose Your Luggage

by Gary Leff on November 29, 2018

Nov 29 2018

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 Test Site Leaks, New Name for Marriott’s Loyalty Program Revealed?

by Gary Leff on November 24, 2018

Nov 24 2018

Marriott combined their Starwood Preferred Guest, Marriott Rewards, and Ritz-Carlton Rewards programs into a new unified program with the same currency and benefits on August 18th. All accounts were merged onto Marriott’s IT platform. However they retained separate program branding for legal reasons, I’m told related to their timeshare contracts.

In 2019 two major things are happening with Marriott Rewards: devaluing points and renaming the program.

Best Deal Ever on Perhaps the Most Valuable Miles in the World (First Class Award to Europe $855)

by Gary Leff on November 22, 2018

Nov 22 2018

The best Star Alliance frequent flyer program in the world is hidden in plain site. What if I told you that you could book first class to Europe for 60,000 miles, or first class to Africa for just 75,000 miles? That’s what Aegean Miles & Bonus offers.

They are a Marriott transfer partner but do not partner with any of the credit card points programs. And they’re now selling miles at a great discount.