Tag Archives for marriott.
About 1500 Marriott employees at Boston properties have walked off the job including groups “from housekeepers to bartenders to bellmen” across 7 properties. All remain open.
There have been issues with inventory with certain hotels not bookable on points, others withholding most of their inventory from award redemption. Some General Managers at legacy Starwood properties have been upset by Marriott’s award availability policies and pricing — and have pushed back.
However the ability for hotels to play games with inventory is on the way out. And there will be at least a 3 week period before award prices go up next year when availability should be at its best.
I stayed 100 nights with Starwood in 2016 and was assigned an Ambassador for 2017. My Ambassador was excellent.
However members certainly have had varied experiences. Different Ambassadors provide different levels of service. Each person has different skills. The program itself provides guidelines but some go above and beyond. And workload matters. Now that the program is scaling to support top elites at Marriott too, Marriott’s metrics are being put into place.
Last week Marriott launched its first big promotion since launching their new program on August 18.
Nowhere does this offer say that it is targeted. In order to be eligible you just have to be a loyalty program member. Except not all members are allowed to register.
Hotels want you to re-use towels, not have your sheets changed, and even decline housekeeping entirely. They tell you it’s for the environment, but their primary interest is saving costs.
Housekeeping staff complain about the programs. More guests opting out means fewer rooms to clean and less work. But they have to do more cleaning after a guest has gone without for several days. And they say work scheduling becomes more erratic.
Marriott’s fall and early winter promotion is out: .
The idea is that this is the first promotion that is run across all of Marriott’s participating 29 brands. Of course prior to combining programs August 18th they had largely aligned their efforts already, but this is one promotion for the new program.
Aeroplan shared that there is going to be a 35% bonus on transfers from the Marriott programs (Marriott Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest, Ritz-Carlton Rewards) running September 13-17. The offer will not appear on the Aeroplan website until Thursday, September 13 but the information is solid and hopefully this extra day gives you more time to think through whether you want to take advantage of this.
Local reader Vineet S. called every Marriott property in Dubai and Abu Dhabi – over 50 hotels – to ask how they’re handling elite benefits. He spoke with each hotel’s front office manager or higher.
Here are his findings about what the new Marriott program means for members. He concludes, “AUH/DXB/Asia regionally had some of the best compliance with T&C, if this is the condition here…”
The Marriott program is better than I expected it to be when the chain acquired Starwood. But don’t be lulled into complacency that this year’s experience is what you can expect. We know that things are as good as they’ll ever be right now because Marriott told us so.
When the new Marriott program launched their terms and conditions said that Platinums would get an upgrade if available at check-in to an ‘enhanced room’. That’s not what we were promised.
The terms now say that a Platinum is to receive an upgrade to the best room available up to and including suites. Of course there are some limitations.
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 »
