To the Marriott personnel who read this forum as well as all my colleagues:

Since Ed French has taken over the Marriott Rewards program, I have had nothing but good things to say about Marriott Rewards.

In addition, Marriott also has bestirred from its' slumber and is upgrading its hotels as well as making needed improvements to its Courtyard brand to better compete with Hilton's Hilton Garden Inn and/or Homewood Suites.

However, there still is one glaring exception that Marriott should consider changing to better compete with its competition vis a vis the various hotel rewards programs:

To wit, Marriott should do away with awarding points for only the room rate at the Courtyard, Springhill Suites, Residence Inn, Fairfield Inn and TownePlace Suites brands, etc. since Hilton (and I believe every other major hotel rewards programs) permits one to earn points on all incidental charges incurred during the stay, e.g. phone charges, dining charges, etc.

This would not only make it far more lucrative to the Marriott Rewards member to incur additional costs while at these properties, but it would also almost certainly encourage some to partake in these additional services provided by the hotel since they would earn a benefit for taking their meals at these properties, using the inflated long distance telephone service charges offered by the hotel vs. their far less expensive long distance calling cards, etc.

In effect, this would be a win-win for all involved, for the Marriott Rewards member would earn more points for his/her stay, as well as making it simpler for them to know that they will earn the same amount of points across all the Marriott brands, and the particular hotel would also come out ahead, as various profit centers offered by them would likely be utilized more often if the Marriott Rewards member were to receive such a bonus.

I welcome all comments.