Originally Posted by SP03

That's certainly how I would approach Marriott. And you are right, that's how Marriott does it consistently when the destination fee isn't charge.

However, I can see why people are confused and asked the question since this is not consistent across the industry. You do get the benefits associated with destination fee at Hyatt (not sure about Hilton who also waives it on points reservations) even when you are not paying for it. I'm not bringing this up to say which is better. Just to provide context on why people get confused.