Kacee

The new T&C provide for elite benes only on a Qualifying Rate, which excludes OTA bookings.

Another little program devaluation that Marriott and the bloggers have ignored.

hhoope01

Nice to know. Thanks for the update. Getting Marriott elite benefits no matter the rate has always been one of the benefits I really liked. I can remember getting stuck overnight due to a plane mechanical issue. The airline put me up for the night and I was able to get them to put me in the IAD airport Marriott as even with an airline paid stay, I was able to get a nice upgrade and lounge access.

davidsc111

Thanks for providing the answer and you're right about it being a deval, although I would proffer that it isn't little. I guess we will have to LNF the $%&* out of them. I'm surprised I find myself saying this but that is one area that the airlines have it down...it doesn't matter where you book from it is all the same. I don't use it much, maybe 5-10 nights a year where it makes sense to book off another website/booking engine. Now Marriott will be like every other option with no preference. I may still stay with them if it makes the most sense but they will more than likely lose all of those nights.

Not surprising the bloggers aren't bringing up all of the disasters, after all they need to get those credit cards processed.

GUWonder

MSPeconomist

davidsc111

I could live with that, but it's not something that is realistic. To expect them to be able to distinguish between rates that could have been booked on the Marriott website but were booked through another engine (Chase, Citi, AMEX, etc) or 3rd party so that you can pay with points is like expecting them to do anything IT related in a competent manner...very unlikely. What the big three (Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton) forget is that once elite benefits are neutralized on these 3rd party stays, boutique hotels are just as or perhaps ever more appealing. You would think getting 50% of the rack rate is a whole lot better than an empty room and for me, this change takes away the preference that I used to show Marriott even when there was a slightly better/cheaper option.

As a side note, this thread should probably be moved to the main combined page as there are probably fewer and fewer people that will make it over the Marriott sub forum and may not know about this change. Not sure how that is done but if a mod sees this...please move.

escapefromphl

IME if they are selling cheaply on PL/Orbitz/Hotwire etc there are LNF/BRG claims available, it's been years since I used a third party booking at a Marriott/SPG property.

But they also seem to be excluding elite benefits for group bookings and basically any rate where you don't pay the hotel directly, and what does complimentary mean? I assume award stays are not complimentary.

https://www.marriott.com/loyalty/terms/default.mi

2.1.f Non-Qualifying Rates. A “Non-Qualifying Rate” is a rate a Member pays for a Stay in a guest room at a Participating Property which does not qualify to earn Points or Miles, as well as membership tier benefits. Non-Qualifying Rates are those booked using the following methods:

i. The guest room was booked through a tour operator, online travel channel or other third-party channel including, without limitation, expedia.com, hotwire.com, priceline.com, orbitz.com, booking.com, travelocity.com; or

ii. The guest room was booked at a group rate as part of an event, meeting, conference or organized tour, and the Member does not directly pay the Participating Property for such room; or

iii. The guest room was booked at a tour operator, wholesaler, or crew room rate or package including, without limitation, Fam-Tastic® rates, Plan-Tastic® rates, travel industry rates and organized tours or package bookings; or

iv. The guest room was booked at the Company employee or friends and family rate or the Company business rate; or

v. The guest room was complimentary; or

vi. A voucher or third-party award was redeemed for the guest room.

SkiAdcock

My guess (and it's only that) re: complimentary might be someone won a comp night at a charity event or a property gave a comp night for a later stay to make up for a service snafu.

Cheers.

thebackcourse

That someone would feel entitled to the benefits of a LOYALTY program when not being loyal(booking through sources other than marriott directly) regardless of their excuses amazes me. Want to book with expedia, use their loyalty program.

GUWonder

Mister Nice

dlflyer2

Marriott's "basic economy"?

For me, a rarely used, but distinguishing benefit of pre merger Marriott is now gone. Marriott myopia is causing them to think that they have a lock on their customers and they are rushing to recup the value of their investment.. Marriott must be thinking it has too many "elites" chasing after their rooms and they can use scale to train their members.

3rd party booking sites are a way to move excess inventory. An empty room night is a perishable commodity, lost forever that still incurs the basic costs. In many cases, providing onsite benefits to 3rd party bookings costs little, but provides an opportunity to fill empty rooms and shine.

SkiAdcock

This is a case of MAR adopting SPG policy. Previous to 8/18 MAR did extend elite recognition bennies whereas SPG didn't. It will be interesting to see if properties follow the policy. Some will; some might not.

Cheers.

dlflyer2

Previously, "elite benefits" on 3rd party bookings was a distinguishing benefit of Marriott Rewards. Eliminating this low cost benefit, shows that pre merger Marriott members are not immune from benefit losses, post merger.

For Starwood members, it is another example of the "small minded" and insular thinking of Marriott that kept many Starwood members away before, were feared, and now causes them to look elsewhere.

It is time to expect the death of Marriott elite benefits by many small cuts, because they think they can.

swag

When you book thru Expedia, you are still making a decision on what hotel to choose. If elite benefits won't be honored, I have no extra incentive to choose Marriott.

I always prefer to book directly, but there are times that can be much more expensive and LNF/BRG won't apply.