PurdueFlyer

This is the crux of it ...

These are publicly-bookable rates ON MARRIOTT.COM for heaven sake, if you meet the "travel industry" rate criteria, and aren't mis-representing yourself, you should at least know in advance if the rate will earn points / nights or not. Why on earth they can't disseminate the information as part of the rate rules is beyond me. I could understand if you booked some fishy rate on hotwire.com (example given) but for AAA / GOV / TVL rates on Marriott.com, they need to decide if they are in or out.

as someone who earned status on TVL rates for years (usually gold, a few years as plat), doing extra legwork (emailing hotel GMs to verify if I'll get my nights or not) or having to do follow-up emails to request the stay credit is a huge bother. just be upfront with us.

markzz2

Well I got my response from Marriott and as I asked in my e mail for permission to post, here it is guys! What seems like cut and paste response that contradicts what I have been told so many times and that also contradicts the terms and conditions (which hopefully they will now change as fast I am cancelling my future bookings). It will mean I will no longer choose Marriott out of loyalty, I will now choose my hotels through convenience and by benefits, whereas for 23 years I have always chosen Marriott first just because it is Marriott.
It will also influence me when I pay the full rate, so Marriott will lose out. But they seem to not be too bothered about that. Strange that for 23 years they have apparently been making mistakes by crediting for this rate anyway so it has taken a long time to fix. My question why certain cheaper rates do get benefits was sadly ignored.

"Thank you for writing in regards to your concerns about a particular travel rate. I do understand your frustration with this new information, and I am happy to provide you with additional information.

It is correct that the travel industry rate is a wholesale rate that does not qualify for earnings. Travel industry rates are wholesale rates which do not qualify for any Marriott Rewards earnings, including points, airline credit, and Elite nights. This has actually always been the case; however, until recently, most of our hotels have allowed earnings for this specific rate to post. I apologize that this is no longer the situation. Each time credit for this rate has posted, it has actually posted in error. As the error is in the favor of our members, we do not remove the credit unless we must in order to complete a transaction; however, I apologize that we are unable to manually post credit for these stays.

Thank you so much for being one of our Platinum Lifetime Elite members. We appreciate the loyalty and business that you give to us over the 23 years of your membership. I hope that you will be staying with us again soon.

Best Wishes,

Chad Sharpe
ICS Agent Lead
Marriott Rewards Guest Services"

dayone

For clarity and understanding, I hope this rule is published and (more or less) consistently applied.

That said, those affected will continue to take issue with the "change."

PurdueFlyer

Thanks for posting, Markzz2!

SkiAdcock

Well given two Marriott employees put in writing opposite views/rules (one said yes; the other said no), there isn't any consistency.

I think what you mean to say is that Marriott should detail specifically whether the TVL code earns points or not in the rate rules. Then there wouldn't need to be guessing by the guests or different answers provided by the employees.

Cheers.

dayone

Agreed. This is a simple problem with a simple solution.

SkiAdcock

Agree, but Marriott continues to make it confusing which does a disservice both to guests & employees.

Cheers.

hhoope01

Too true.

markzz2

Taken from a new booking (since cancelled).......... So the terms and conditions have officially been updated.

Thanks for that Marriott. And thank you for allowing me the freedom to spend my average $300+ dollars a night at a hotel of my choice instead of one I choose through my loyalty. My 1300 nights over the years and my 3 million (now down to 2 million through spending some) Marriott Rewards are not a reason to keep me loyal. I will spend them and then will only choose Marriotts when I consider them the best value or it a favourite hotel of mine (these are getting less and less as I try others and find I am treated better than I ever was as a Platinum Lifetime (Hyatt seem to be performing very well so far for me and will do a status match for a year too!).

I really wonder why my friends who take advantage of very cheap corporate rates (always cheaper than my TVL's!) get great upgrades and benefits and points and nights and I am now told I am worthless as my rates are too cheap. That has never been really explained to me, (really my EUR319 a night in Paris upcoming too cheap to award points..... now cancelled thank you!)

Marriott, I do hope you gain lots of business from this change of policy, and lots of new Marriott Loyalists, because you just lost a really good one. 180 hotel nights a year and lots of contact with your potential customers. I can now say I used to be a Marriott fan until they dumped me.

Does this sound emotional? It should, I have been staying at Marriotts since the late 80's and always felt like a member of the Marriott family. Now i feel rejected. Read my TripAdvisor posts every time I stay (90% positive messages), and speak to the thousands of customers I have referred to Marriott properties (including my boss, who will be getting an e mail today reversing my sales pitch).

Thanks for the memories.


Travel Industry Program - Not eligible for Marriott Rewards
points or nights
- Available to active travel agents, wholesale/tour operators,
incentive company, commercial airline (an airline that is in
the business of transporting passengers, not packages), and
Hertz employees, Universal Air Travel Plans, Society of Active
Travel Writer (SATW) and Midwest Travel Writers Association
(MWTA) members, and CLIA agents.
- Limit of 1 room per qualified guest per night.
- Positive identification is required at check-in. The agency
name and address must match the reservation, plus another form
of ID (E.g. drivers license, passport, etc.)
- Acceptable forms of ID for rate qualification
- IATAN photo ID card (the preferred ID)
OR any two of the following
- Authorization on agency letterhead from a manager,
calling the travel agency directly for verification
ARC/IATA listing, business card, SATW/MTWA ID membership
card, copy of voided wholesaler voucher, employee ID for travel
industry employees who are not travel agents

leeky

revised T&Cs make this question very clear

9.Rooms booked through third party online retailers, such as Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, Hotels.com, Booking.com, Priceline.com, or any other 3rd party online/mobile travel portal (regardless of how the hotel is paid) are not eligible for Points or Elite night credit. Wholesale rates, wholesale packages, Fam-Tastic� rates, travel industry rates and organized tours or package bookings are not eligible for Points or Elite night credit regardless of booking channel. If you are booking through a travel agent or other third party and do not know if your booking will earn Points, please ask your travel agent about the type of booking and type of rate he/she is making for you.

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/terms/earning.mi

SkiAdcock

Have created a wiki w/ details from post #39 & #40.

Cheers.

cab747

Spoke with Marriott Rewards CS last night and they advised TVL is ineligible for credit. My stays for work are booked under another corporate rate similar to travel, but was assured all my booked reservations do earn credit. I'm hoping that sticks.

NJUPINTHEAIR

Most leisure travelers don't have access to corporate or travel agent rates.

Cry me a River....

nachosdelux

Most leisure travelers don't have 1300 nights at Marriott.

I am not eligible for the TVL rate either, but I see markzz2's point

NJUPINTHEAIR

Well I am mostly a leisure traveler and I have well over 500 nights in about the same 23 years as he has garnered, and those stats are not so impressive and I don't travel for my living nor do I get to write off most of my travel as an expense as he does.

So he shifts his business away from Marriott -- they seem to be doing quite fine without him and most people now book their own travel for themselves, his is a dying business.

If others will give him rock bottom rates and he can earn personal points on them as well, more power to him, but the reason that some of those corporate rates undercut his TVL rate is as he well knows, Marriott and other lodging companies give that company a haircut because of the sheer volume they generate.

Given that I have well more than a 1/3 of his room nights given my paltry travel per year, his tally ain't that impressive and Marriott certainly agrees -- no volume discount to this guy.