Multiple concurrent speculative reservations ok ?
 

So I have a 5-night stay planned at a Marriott hotel using points, let's say next August, and I am not sure yet about the beginning date of my stay, it could start the 6th, the 7th or 8th of the month.

Is it ok if I make multiple/concurrent points reservations (I don't have the full points for the stay yet) for my possible dates in order to guarantee availability until I am sure of the stay date ? Meaning I would place three 5-night reservations, beginning on the 6th, the 7th and the 8th of August. Once I confirm the actual date with my partner and book a flight to the destination, I will keep one reservation and cancel the two other ones. Is that something many people here do or is it frowned upon ?

I was wondering the same thing as the best way to go about this when unsure about dates.

In the past I have made 2 different reservations. I've also made a reservation encompassing the entire period and then when plans were finalized I cut the dates accordingly.

This is what I always do when unsure. This way, I have the proper flexibility, but I feel better for the hotel, as I am only taking up one or two room nights that I don't intend to use, rather than, in this case, 10 room nights.

I went ahead and did the same, merged my 3 speculative reservations into one spanning the "projected" travel period. My conscience feels better now. I like how the Marriott website makes it easy to change the dates and room of an existing reservation.

Query reg Platinum Arrival Gift (PAG)
 

Hi there, got a quick question. I have been on business travel for the last couple of weeks. I stayed at 2 different Marriott properties on 2 different states. And each time, I was asked for my preference for my PAG.

When I checked into my 3rd property (Springhill Suites) at Carmel, Indianapolis today and despite stressing on the fact that am a Platinum, there was no mention of the PAG by the front desk staff.

Request your inputs on how to take this forward. Do I simply do the nice thing and request them for the PAG, or take this up with the property manager for some kind of compensation? I am confused, please guide :(.

Note: I am assuming a Springhill property would offer a PAG

Thanks,
Monk

I do believe at a SHS you should have been offered points or an item in their little mini-mart. If you were going to ask for the points, I wouldn't push the issue as you probably will end up getting the points. If though you wanted an item from their mini-mart and they wouldn't give you one, then I would probably push to get the $50 (for SHS hotels) Plat Arrival Gift guarantee.

Of course when you say "stressing on the fact that am a Platinum", for me, that means, you asked them for your Plat arrival gift and they said no they don't give those out (or something to that fact.) While others may disagree, I'm not one to see if the check-in person forgets to ask. I'm willing to remind them (it only takes a couple of seconds and no hardship on my part) and if they just don't want to give me the option, then go with the guarantee. (IOW, I'll remind them as a Plat I'm supposed to get a PAG, but I won't argue with them over it.)

And yes, the PAG is an "Arrival" gift. If they won't offer me the choice at check-in, but try later to offer it, nope that isn't an "Arrival" gift any longer. Though I would be willing to take it then along with the Arrival Guarantee money as well. ;)

Thank you so much. I reminded them about the PAG miss and unexpectedly, they asked if 2,500 points would be okay as a compensation. Since I hadn't anticipated this response, I simply said okay. As an afterthought I did think about missing the opportunity to negotiate for more compensatory points, but am still okay with 2,500 points :D.

Ch33rs,
Monk

Does anyone have any recommendations for Marriott beach properties with a nearby town?

Ideally in the caribbean, but could also be talked into the pacific islands. Maybe even staying stateside if it was worth it (not Key West though as we were just there this past early summer :D)

Between my SO and I, we have a couple hundred thousand points so for now, I am keeping the search pretty wide.

Apologies if this is the wrong thread for my question. I have searched the forum with no luck.

Marriott Platinum - Did an award stay at a RC. Upgraded to Club Level. Total bill before tax was $240 ($200 club, $40 valet).

How many MR points should I have earned?

Marriott has quite a few "beach" hotels in the Caribbean. I'd suggest doing a search on "Caribbean" to see what you find. Also, you can check out the Caribbean master thread on the first post in this very thread. You should find a number of good options.

It would probably be a lot easier for someone to help you if you gave more details around what you are looking for (great beach, luxury hotel, great night life, good kids options, good snorkeling or scuba, etc.)

My suggestion is to look search some of the threads on beach resorts (just do a search using "best beach" along with the links in this FAQ thread. You should get a lot of hits. Then if you still have questions, come back and ask them.

For example, if you just want to have a really nice beach, yet spend as little as possible (both in points and cash) and you don't care as much about staying in a top-notch resort, I'd suggest looking at the Pensacola Beach SHS. It is a normal SHS, but the beach there is as good as anywhere (and actually better than most) you will find on any "island" resort. But if you really want to have a good beach yet stay at a true luxury hotel, the Cayman RC is on the best stretch of 7-mile beach. You will get a true "luxury" experience, but it will also cost more points (and probably cash for other things as well.)

If you really want a "island", what type of "island" would you like? St. Kitts isn't as developed as some of the other islands (which could be a plus or a minus depending on your wants/desires) but it does have a rain forest, which most other islands won't have. I recently stayed at an MVCI property (Marriott Timeshare) using points in Aruba. The beach there is nice (though not quite the same powdery white sand in the Florida panhandle) and there are lots of shops and restaurants close by, but the island itself is basically a desert. So don't expect to see lots of trees and other foliage, but there are some nice historical sites to see.

If you really want more of a "nature" experience on an island, Kauai is about the best I've seen. It has the 2nd largest canyon in the US, has a navigable river to which you can kayak down, some great hiking and possibly more waterfalls than all the other Hawaiian islands put together. And it has a ton of "remote" beaches that you would have to hike to (as there are no roads to them) and you might very well be the only persons there. So if you wanted to have a chance at finding some secluded beaches, that might be your best bet. I loved the deep sea fishing there, but you are on the open Pacific and the 6+ ft swells on a calm day made my wife sick enough (even using those patches behind your ear medication) that she won't go deep sea fishing with me any more. :(

I'm sure this has been asked & answered.... but.... I stayed 54 nights at Marriott last year, so Gold, but so is everyone who achieved Gold Status on United. Does my actually being Gold at Marriott mean anything beyond what I and others get automatically for achieving Gold on United?

Anyone?

I was only awarded the 1K platinum stay gift. Might be correct.

1000 for Platinum gift

5x240(plus tax) if you used your Chase Marriott or Ritz Carleton cards to pay

The points for my stay at the Springhill suites and my subsequent stay at another Marriott property got credited (with the PAG points). But the 2,500 PAG points promised at Springhill has still not been credited. I am thinking of dropping them an email and marking a cc to the Marriott customer care.

Also, I believe this is an unnecessary delay as well as a hassle to a customer for the repeated follow-ups. I am planning to request for a better compensation (more points maybe?). Please suggest if I should wait, or go ahead and drop the email?

Thanks,
Monk

Had no joy searching on FT or Marriott.com so hoping someone knows:

The cutoff dates for promotions, are these usually dates the stay has to cover, or do you need to have cheked out no later than the end date.

Last Marriott promo is case in point - expiry date of Jan 15th. With IHG then as long as checked in on 15th (and then out on 16th or later) the stay would count toward the promotion, does Marriott work in the same way, or would a stay like that fail to qualify?

When does Marriott mail out the new elite status membership cards, the old ones have an expiration date of 2/17 I believe, does anyone know?

Suggestion
 

Would it be possible for someone to update post #1 of this FAQ so the thread titles are visible? I believe that in the old days (2012?) when you pasted a link, it didn't show the actual thread title, but today it does.

I'm new to the Marriott forum, and I find it tedious to have to click on every link to see what it's about.

I'd even volunteer to do the task if you wanted me to! :)

Should you be generous enough to do so, please do it in the form of a wiki. Then hopefully others will help maintain it. I love wikis as it's a great way to keep information at the top of a thread.

I think I can do that. I'll try to convert it to a wiki tonight. :cool:

Im not sure if this is the right spot to ask this , but i have 480k marriott rewards which i transferred from SPG . The reason why i did this was to redeem for the marriott travel packages. Im trying to fly my family in J of 5 to europe from sydney . Im looking at transferring the points to AA and then using them that way , but since its a lot of points i don't want to make the wrong decision can anyone offer some further advice?

This would mean 330k for cat 7. and 120k AA and the rest of the points 150k just straight over to AA with the 25% bonuses currently seems like my best choice.

Thank you in advance.

Have you checked the various airlines to see which might have the award availability at the miles cost you can cover? I'm not sure if AA would be the best program to find a bunch of J awards to Europe on. Note maybe it is, but if I were in your situation I'd be doing a lot of legwork on the various airline programs. I'd check what it costs, miles wise and what each airline's award availability is. Then you can check to see how many miles in each program you can get. Be careful of using a Marriott TP award if you find that a non-US airline might work better. Not all the airline transfers at 120K max with a Marriott TP award. A number of non-US airlines transfer to a smaller amount of miles.

Also, when you say "and the rest of the points 150k just straight over to AA" you will want to check whether transferring from SPG to an airline is better than transferring from Marriott. Outside of the TP awards, transferring from SPG to your airline of choice may well get you more miles.

Really appreciate your input . I'm based in Sydney and looking at using the miles on QR to Europe the availability is good . I also have some qantas points to use to try to get 6 seats .

I have looked at the different airline programs and to go on QR only qantas , AA and Asia miles which I have not looked into yet .

I wasn't aware of the limit you can transfer miles to a airline . Looking at the aa award chart i need 87.5 in J each way x 4 680k aa miles and only 480k marriott to play with at the moment. I wonder if i do convert 330k for the marriott TP and then maybe the rest to asia miles if that is a better plan.

I have been getting some of my info from http://www.pointhacks.com.au/qatar-p...emption-guide/

I have a pre-paid reservation for 2 nights at a Courtyard. I want to add 1 night at the start and was going to make a booking for that but the calendar shows no check in for 1 night stay on a Monday.

"Cancelling Your Reservation
Changes to your reservation are not permitted. Please note that you may cancel your reservation for no charge until May 22, 2017.

Please note that your prepayment for this special rate is non-refundable.

Cancel entire reservation
Eligible charges from this stay will be credited to your Marriott Rewards account."

I don't want a refund but if I canceled would the whole balance of my 2 nights get credited to my account and then I could make a new reservation for 3 nights?

If not it's no big deal, there's an Autograph around the block I could try out for 1 night.

It sounds like you are asking if you can cancel an existing 2 day pre-paid reservation that states it can be cancelled before June 22nd for no penalties.

The answer is yes, you should be able to cancel that reservation as long as you do so before June 22nd. Most likely, your credit card hasn't even been charged yet for the reservation and won't be until after June 22nd.

Since you really just want to add one extra day to the existing reservation, I'd call the hotel and ask them if they will add the day to the reservation. The hotel management team should be able to do that without much problem especially given the cancellation date hasn't passed yet.

It's May 22 cancel date-prepaid reservation. I was trying to avoid having to call Budapest but I will at a normal hours.

Another option might be to call the Gold line and ask them to help you out. They should be able to contact the hotel and work out changing your reservation for you.

Does Marriott still offer a soft landing across all tiers?

AFAIK, yes they still do. I've not seen or heard of any change on that.

I didnt realize that with UA 1K the gold Marriot was not automatic, but the marriot desk in sydney quickly made the addition to my status.

Need to remember to renew the marriot gold from UA 1K each year

Does anyone have an email address for Marriott customer complaints? I know there is a contact form on the website but it doesn't let you send attachments. I've not been able to get a response/resolution from the relevant hotel GM so I need to involve Marriott head office.

If I get status matched from SPG Platinum to Marriott Platinum, does all the subsequent stay counted as roll-over night?

Trying to find where to drop this: (Marriott ranked best hotel rewards program by a new report by U.S. News & World Report)

https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjourn...-programs.html

It might be worth starting a new thread for discussion. :)

Hello,

As a gold elite do you get complementary breakfast
at Courtyard properties?

Thanks for any replies:)

In general, free breakfast for Gold or Plats is NOT a stated benefit at CYs. So most likely you won't get free breakfast. But there are Full Service (FS) CYs outside NA where they have lounges and will give Gold/Plats access which usually come with free breakfast. Also, at least my experience has been that the corporate rates I use at CYs are more likely to include breakfast than I see at other Marriott chains.

Thank you hhoope01 for your reply^

I'm starting to become surprised at how many hotels don't have an enhanced internet option. This benefit has the "where available" qualifier and I realize some locations might not have good access. However I keep seeing a single speed (slow) in locations where it seems very unlikely to me that they can't get a good connection.

At a minimum it would be nice if standard and enhanced internet were features on the very lengthy list of amenities that a property offers (among all the junk like "chair" and "telephone" and "private bathroom")

Hi everyone,

what is the current value of 1 MR these days? I'm about to book a night at the Renaissance Zurich and they have a special offer for a room with 2500 bonus points at 189CHF per night. But they have a Junior Suite for 269CHF with 10,000 bonus points. Is it worth the upgrade?...

I'll let others come up with specific $/pt estimations (I usually see around $.01 per point). The real question is what will you use those points on? If I were wanting to order a TP award very quickly due to an airline miles transfer bonus and I was a few thousand points short, this might be a good option to get those points.

Or if you were already thinking about upgrading to the suite room as you really like or want to experience it, then the bonus points can just sweeten the choice. :)

Is the bonus 'per night' or 'per stay' and how long is your stay? If you have a 5 night stay and the bonus is 'per stay', then basically I doubt many would say the cash outlay (5*129CHF) would be worth the extra 7500 points.

I had to contact Marriott rewards for my 3 previous stays because points/nights are not posting. Today, my points/nights posted from my last stay but the points are not correct. Anyone else is having issues?