socrates

that is correct - I'd rather not publically post what "correct ID" is but your friend will be able to explain it further

socrates

Nothing likely about it...they would lose their job

socrates

the rates are to be used for Pleasure only - not for business purposes (they are a benefit to the associates)

socrates

just thought I'd share...as a result of this thread I received a PVT from an individual offering me $$$ to provide a friends and family form...before I could respond I received a 2nd pvt...best of luck Mr/Mrs XXXXX (I honestly mean this - I'm just not willing to risk my families financials over something so minor)....over my years I have seen folks do really silly things with their benefits which have ended up costing them dearly (not that this threat impacted my decision)




XXXXX,

I can understand and respect the desire to save money and start a family however Marriott International has provided for my family over the years and I'm just not willing to risk my families well being - sorry

SkiAdcock

Yes you'll be denied at the front desk because you won't have the authorization paperwork since the friend's friend is no longer an employee & can't provide it to you. Be prepared to pay rack rate or any other publicly available rate.

What s/he said.

Just because you have a friend who is an employee doesn't automatically mean you can get the family & friend rate. The employee has to agree & for all you know, they're letting close family & friends use it & not general friends.

Correct ID is the proper authorization form that has to be signed off by the employee's boss & has a end by date. If you don't have that with you at check-in, you'll be paying rack rate.

Not only is it unethical, it violates FT's TOS & you could get a warning or suspended from FT.

Not to mention the F&F rate usually covers a specific timeframe/stay - it's not good the entire year - so if you're paying $350, how much $$ are you actually saving on a stay?


Well you might be way behind in the queue of people buddying up w/ her parents

What he said.

I have a friend who works for Marriott. While he's willing to let me use the F&F rate more than once, I usually ask one time a year if I'm on vacation overseas where the exchange rate kicks the US$$. I don't take advantage of him.

Something else to be noted - just because someone is willing to offer you the family & friends rate, it doesn't mean that it's good at all properties &/or that it will be lower by much than regular rates, or at all if there's a local promotion going one.

For example, if you plug in the family & friends code for London you better like staying out at Heathrow or in the boonies because the central London properties don't come up as available for that rate. Also when I was in Europe this past summer & legitimately had the form, a few of the hotels I ended up booking normally because it turns out the AAA rate was better than the family & friend rate when I did the booking. Where I did use the family & friend rate it helped.

Cheers.

bdschobel

I totally agree. I could delete all the posts discussing this unethical behavior, but I prefer to leave them in place as an object lesson. But, at this point, let's put the subject to bed. Say good-night.

Bruce
Moderator

User Name

I have, legitimately, used both Associate and Friends & Family rates for a combined total of literally hundreds of stays over a good number of years, in the US, Canada, Europe and throughout Asia. I can honestly say that I have been asked to produce the relevent form on each and every single occasion without exception. I know the OP posted a while ago now, but I wanted to state this for future readers - there is no way you will get away with this kind of shenanigans at Marriott.

ejh25

I use this rate all the time as well. There is a code that goes in the "Corporate/ promotional code" box when searching for reservations online. If there is no inventory for this bucket then you can't use the F&F rate. It's that simple.

Like others have said, if you don't have the form at check-in, you're rate will be bumped up to rack. Don't use the code unless you have a legitimate form. You won't get away with it. All desk clerks are required to ask for the forms and they always do.

Some hotels have a policy of not releasing these rates until 60 days prior to arrival along with some projected vacancy threshold.

The form can NOT be faxed to the hotel but the policy now allows Marriott employees to forward PDFs to their F&F which can subsequently be printed out and presented at check-in.

F&F rates can be slightly better than AAA rates to significantly better. I've seen over 50% off at times but generally we're looking at 20-30% off.

hnewman

+1

kevino

Indeed, my dog is often guilty of theft, but isn't smart enough to commit fraud.

zen_nj

I am planning to stay at Prague Marriot next weekend and have already booked room for 3 nights at a good deal. But now my plans have changed so I will be arriving there one night earlier. Unfortunately, the hotel doesn't have any special deal for the earlier night and when i called Prague Marriot directly to see if they are willing to offer a special rate (since the Hilton right across the street is offering same room for about $145 whereas at Marriot Prague it would be a little over $200), they said they don't match prices and can't give any lower rate than whatever is available on their website.

So now I have been scouring the internet trying to find any kind of promotional code I can use on the Marriot website for that night. The one I came across that will give a hefty discount is Friends & Family Rate, but the rate rules says:

Marriott Associate Friends & Family Rate -
- This rate is for non-immediate family members and friends
traveling on pleasure only - not for business travel.
- ID is required - authorization forms are available at each
associates Human Resources office and the original form
(no photocopies or faxes) must be presented at checkin along
with a valid photo ID (such as a drivers license)


So not sure if this means it has to come from someone who actually works in Marriot and you need the Marriot employee to get some kind of form for the guest to bring to hotel?

Does anyone know anything about this or can offer any kind of advise on how to get a more reasonable rate from Marriot? It seems silly that the hotel would rather I stay elsewhere for one night instead of trying to come close to what Hilton is offering (it's a $60 difference, and if they were willing to close the gap to maybe $30 or so, I would probably just do it).

rthib

Friends and Family is like it sounds, for friends and family of Marriott employee.
There is a form they give you and if you do not have it you can not use that rate.

One option is to call the hotel direct and see if they can work something out on a better rate.

zen_nj

thanks. I did call the hotel directly and the person on the other end was not very helpful in that she just looked at whatever rate was on the system and said that's the best she can do. The first rate she gave me was not even the lowest available on the web and I had to point it out to her. So not sure if she is just a junior person or if marriot prague just don't have the culture to try to match lower prices.

justspg

This may not be the best idea but why not just do a BRG (best rate guarantee) and look for cheaper prices and send it to the marriott brg people. You can submit prices you see on expedia or other hotel sites and hopefully they match it.

bdschobel

Really, haven't we had about enough of "how do I get the Friends and Family Rate" threads? I'm pretty tired of them. Say good-night.

Bruce
Moderator