Dodge DeBoulet

I wouldn't be surprised if the cancellation policy changed during the off-season. How's the skiing in Aspen at the end of May?

cedahm

Should be in your Inbox, William. Thanks!

mysterym

thats possible too

Marriott Bonvoy Lurker

Thanks. We are looking into this now. Once I have something to report back, I will get back to you.

Gadot

Antarius, Don't mean to be arguable. But when you signed on to the SPG award program, the fine print there said they (SPG) could change the rules at any time unilaterally. "you" agreed to it. Thus when SPG was bought by Marriott, SPG changed its rules to match the Marriott. If you are upset at it, it is not an issue with Marriott, it is between "you" and SPG. The terms and conditions you agreed with with SPG is binding and those said SPG could do whatever they wanted with the program. Example. I had over a million miles of the "old Delta" FF program which they extended for a short term when they changed to the new program. The old miles were about 10x more valuable. I used a lot but still had close to a million that became "new" miles. I had lifetime at the Crown room. When it changed to the sky room, guess what - no more Crown Room

Gadot

Antarius You are so wrong. When you signed up to the Starwood awards, you agreed to the T&C
Starwood Awards Rules Oct 15, 2014:
If an SPG Member fails to cancel a guaranteed SPG Award reservation within the permitted cancellation time, the SPG Participating Hotel will charge the applicable cancellation fee to the credit card provided by the SPG Member at the time the reservation was made and the Starpoints that had been redeemed will be re-deposited into the SPG Member’s account. For Free Night Awards only, an SPG Member may request a refund of the applicable cancellation fees charged by forfeiting the portion of the Starpoints that he/she had redeemed for the SPG Award necessary to cover the applicable cancellation fees by emailing his/her request to [email protected] no later than 60 days after the reservation arrival date, provided that the SPG Member has adequate Starpoints in his/her account.

Antarius

Yes and no. They can change aspects of the program, but they cannot arbitrarily change everything. For example, they can make Platinum into Gold and add a new tier above Ambassador, effectively demoting everyone. Not much we can do about that.

You cannot, however, unilaterally change terms of a contract. If I book a suite, the hotel cannot just give me a closet and say, tough .... - we changed our rules. If I book a fully refundable fare, an airline cannot retroactively require me to pay a change fee. This is a case of the latter. SPG or Marriott T&C may say that they can do this, but courts do not share this opinion.

Gadot

except no laws have not allowed frequent flyer programs to change their rules. And in googling, I posted Starwood rules 10/2014 which stated you get charged for a no-show and the miles put back in your account.

Antarius

Given that the cancellation fee was NOT disclosed at the time of booking, this is a non-sequitur. What if the OP never received the email after the fact?

Read Rodman vs Safeway first. Just because something is in some obscure T&Cs does not make it enforceable.

Gadot

But antarius
1) SPGs rules stated clearly that if you cancel after cut-off date (= no-show) your credit card is canceled and points returned. And you could appeal Perhaps SPG did not always follow their rules - but apparently those were the rules in effect when OP made his reservation. The fact that he did not read them is his fault
2) Delta devalued its miles as have other programs. If you don't show up for your airline, they do not have to refund you
3) You cannot find one court case stating otherwise

Gadot

The rules were in effect 10/2014 That is five years prior to his making his reservation. The fact that he did not read the rules is his fault. But again, I think we agree that if he really did check in prior to noon, he was not a no-show and his miles should have been used. That is the only fact that he will win on. I don't think Safeway applies

747FC

I notice that your profile lists that you are not with Delta, but with AA. Did you switch because of how Delta mistreated you as a loyal customer?

CLEguy

Conflating mileage value with unilateral, post hoc changes to reservation does not make you right.

rny321

A more appropriate analogy would be one where a customer booked a first class award ticket. After completing the reservation, the airline sends an email that if you miss your flight for any reason, you would be charged the full cash price of a last minute ticket and you miles would be refunded.

Ex.: Customer buys a first class ticket form JFK to HKG on Cathay Pacific for 70K miles. Because all flights were cancelled from her departure airport, she asks calls the airline to explain that she will miss her award flight. The miles are refunded she is charged $20,000, even if the airline resold the seat. Even if that is legally permissible, I would avoid booking an award ticket with that airline.

Antarius

it would be like your credit card saying your APR is 19% and then on missing a payment, they sock you with a later added 1000 dollars.

1. The fee was not disclosed at booking
2. Marriott/spg cannot prove that the booking party received or read the retroactive fee addition

Safeway 100% applies as precedent. Spg cannot say "you may be charged a fee", not disclose a fee and then arbitrarily charge you. That's illegal and every court has sided with this.