Watch your expiration dates and note the penalties, especially if using points.

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November 21, 2018 by

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The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua Maui
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My wife and I are celebrating our 30th anniversary on Maui this year, partly because that is where we had our honeymoon.  I also had the expectation that being Platinum elite, my experience at a Marriott property would be enhanced.

In August I booked a room for two nights with my Marriott points, 120,000 for two nights.  At that time, Marriott was in chaos due to the merger of their various systems, but the reservation was made and the points taken out of our account.  

On November 5th, I received an email to the effect that after November 6th, if I cancelled that reservation I would have $2635 charged to my credit card as a cancellation fee.  That date represents 60 days prior to our planned arrival.  I began trying to call the RC at the numbers listed in their email.  Their 'Direct' number did not answer and I left a couple of voicemails.  I called the reservations center and while they seemed surprised they didn't care what the hotel did.  The email also stated that none of the Platinum status upgrade benefits would be honored.

In addition to the charge amount, the email stated that this email superseded anything that I might have received from Marriott as this is the hotel's holiday policy.  Since I could not reach anyone prior to the cancellation period expiring, I had to cancel the reservation until the problem could be fixed and the reservation reinstated.  Well, after speaking with two associates at the Ritz Carlton, they refuse to do anything so reinstatement is not even a consideration.

I am partly writing as a warning to other people that make reservations with points.  I didn't take out the travel insurance because as a holder of the Chase Sapphire Reserve card, I would have been covered for the costs to restore my points to my account in the event of a covered cancellation.  Even if I had taken out the commercial insurance, I would not have known to add $2650 to the coverage amount so I would have not been covered for this fee in any case.  I called the credit card coverage people who also stated that they would not have reimbursed the $2650 but they would cover the costs of points recovery.  So, if you are using points at this hotel, you may be subject to substantially more of a cancellation fee than you think.  Depending upon the length of your trip, multiply that number of days by $1325 and you would have some idea.  I suppose for a week, that would be quite a shock to your credit card.

I have since spoken with two other members of the Ritz customer service who appear to only be able to repeat the hotel holiday policy and apologize.  

Basically, the Marriott/Ritz Carlton accepted my good faith reservation, I paid with points in good faith, and now in bad faith they are unwilling to follow the normal times and values of cancelling a reservation made with points.  I wish I knew what the cancellation fee was for a reservation paid with a credit card because even when I look at their website, the rates are much less than what they wanted to charge me.  

Fortunately, I will be able to transfer my account points to Singapore airlines's loyalty program and cancel my SPG credit cards and move on to other loyalties in the industry.  BEWARE and be careful.  The Ritz Carlton sends their sincere apologies.

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