Originally Posted by
Steve M
The link contains contradictory information: After saying that you must call in to make a gifted award reservation, it then goes on to say "If a Member makes an Award Redemption Stay reservation first, they must contact Member Support to then add the recipient's name." That certainly implies that the process that the OP used is acceptable.
I will add that even you call reservations first, there is absolutely no guaranty the agent will do it right. The only time I tried this under the new rules, it was bungled, and I've read reports of same by others here on FT.
Bottom line is that Marriott has created an ambiguous protocol and failed to properly train its agents. A particularly poor set of facts on which to overlay the classic FT "blame the victim" narrative.