Originally Posted by
FlyerBeek
I certainly hope so, but no one here really knows. That Marriott is trumping Hyatt in consumer friendliness is noteworthy. We are still in the midst of a global pandemic and much the world is still heavily restricting travel. Not everyone can redeem these certs at U.S. properties. The fact that Hyatt is still issuing 6 month certs (some of which could expire as early as July 2021) - while the 6 month certs earned in early 2020 have been extended thru 12/31/21 - defies logic to me. In my opinion, at a minimum every cert issues in 2021 should be extended to 12/31/21.
-FlyerBeek
Marriott is doing repair work from the last year. To say that they fell flat on their face (e.g. lots of hotels still charging "resort fees" for cut resort amenities, charging full buffet price for grab-and-go breakfasts, fully suspending brand requirements, and so on) is an understatement. They
still aren't great on some fronts (i.e. advertising full-service restaurants that have limited hours or grossly truncated menus), but as things have started to reopen the issues have gotten less and less.
I'd call their extension of award nights one part "bright star in a dark sky" and one part allowing for the fact that their global footprint includes a
lot more members still subject to serious issues redeeming awards (e.g. Marriott has about 4x the footprint in India that Hyatt does, and a similar proportion in South America; Hyatt has only ten non-SLH hotels in Africa vs Marriott having 133 there).