SkiAdcock

Must be property specific. I just made two dummy reservations. One domestic & one int'l. Neither had a pop up asking for my AAA #.

Cheers.

Mr. Vker

This was Aruba Marriott Stellaris. I could get the AAA rates as a list. When I clicked the rate to book, the box popped up

Had to type the whole # number in and my computer would store it, but not Marriott that I could see.

SkiAdcock

Again, think it's property specific. I tried two dummy bookings (logged in), domestic & int'l, picked the AAA rate, went through & booked both w/ no pop up. Then I had to remember to cancel the bookings!

If they're not going to store the AAA #, I'd rather they just let you choose traditional AAA code & show the card on check-in.

Cheers.

Mr. Vker

Happening for all Aruba properties. Started a thread on Marriott Insiders and others see it. Wonder if its being rolled out slowly.

SkiAdcock

Perhaps it's specific to Aruba/people using the code there that don't have it?

Cheers.

sdsearch

Theory shattered :

I just did a reservation earlier today at the Courtyard Anaheim Resort/Convention Center (Anaheim, CA, USA), where their normal rates are well above $150, but they sometimes post AAA "Hot Rates" for particular nights for $89 (like in this case for early in Thanksgiving week).

It gave me the AAA pop up and required me to enter my AAA number to book that "Hot AAA" rate.

I have no interest in staying at that hotel at the more "normal" AAA rate (which is substantially higher), so I didn't test whether that "normal" AAA rate at that hotel also requires inputting the AAA number.

If someone feels like doing a user exercise, go ahead.

(I consider this hotel's periodic but sporadic always-$89 "Hot AAA" rate to be sort of like an LNF without having to do an LNF. It's wild how different that rate is from all their other rates.)

SkiAdcock

1.

2. My original theory was that the pop-up is property specific, so perhaps your Anaheim example is proof of that? I did 4 separate dummy bookings (2 int'l & 2 domestic) using AAA rate & none had a pop-up.

3. Third theory - maybe it's popular get-away places (such as Aruba or Mouseland (Anaheim/Disney area)?, or

4. Maybe a slow roll-out such as Mr. Vker wondered. If they are going to require the #, they need to have the ability to store it like they do cc's IMO.

FWIW - if they're trying to make sure the guest truly is entitled to the AAA rate, the best way is to show the card (or card on app) at check-in vs. # at reservation, since the 3-digit int'l # will work w/o more specifics. It would also be interesting to see if they actually 'match' the longer # w/ a valid # ie, if someone had a AAA account at one time & still had the #, would it still work if expired.

Cheers.

sdsearch

Well, someone's storing it. I just tried making another (this time dummy) reservation with the same hotel at the same rate, and the AAA pop-up came up prepopulated with my AAA number that I put in yesterday. While it could be my Firefox browser, I have never seen my browser remember anything without me typing at least the first character, but here it's prepopulated the moment the AAA pop-up draws.

But, wow, this is strange: I tried the exact same booking in Chrome just to see if it was the browser remembering it, and Chrome is not bringing up this popup for me while Firefox is, for the same hotel on the same date with the same room and rate! Is that because I was logged in first in Firefox and second in Chrome at the same time, or for some other reason???

(I was trying to see if Chrome would remember the AAA number that Firefox was remembering, to try to figure out if it was at the browser end or the Marriott site end, but I did not expect to see a difference in the whether the popup appears from one browser to the next!)

SkiAdcock

1. My guess is Firefox remembered it.

2. That is interesting. When I did my 4 dummy bookings I did them on Chrome & no pop up.

3. If it is a Marriott thing, sounds like typical buggy Marriott IT dept

Ok, just did a test. The pop-up appears if I try to do a AAA booking with IE, but not when I do a AAA booking with Chrome.

Cheers.

Westcoaster

FWIW my old AAA # works with Hilton reservations and if I mistype the number the Hilton system rejects it. So they must have some way to verify it was at least once legit. NOTE: I'm not cheating as I do have a current AAA # but for some reason the old # sticks in my brain and I don't have to look it up. If I'm asked for the card at checkin I've got it.

Now it will be interesting to see if Marriott works the same way.

RogerD408

I do believe there is a modulo math verification on the AAA number and not a hot validation with AAA. We used to use Mod11 at one job where the 11th digit was determined by using the first 10 digits. This allow even our keypunch machine (yes, keypunch, if you don't know what that is Google it) to validate the account number being keyed in.

Westcoaster

So this allows them to eliminate numbers that could not possibly be legit but would perhaps not eliminate numbers that had lapsed. Maybe that's enough for their purposes.

And as for "keypunch machine" -- Wow that takes me back decades to when I used to submit Fortran programs on green and white forms. In return our Computer Systems staff (wasn't called IT back then) would bring me a tray of keypunched cards. Heaven help the person who dropped the tray. Didn't know what the hanging chads were called until years later. Enough walking down memory lane...

I'll try the AAA rate each time I book a Marriott stay for a while and see if they ask for my number. Will report here if they do.

RogerD408

Yes, it will allow expired/unissued numbers to pass this step. You would still be subject to the FDC check for the card, if they choose to do so. IME less than 5% have asked, with some even requiring to make a copy of the card!

RogerD408

Hope you enjoyed the journey.

You didn't fill in the 8-digit sequence number at the end of the card? I don't think anyone did, but dropped decks happened. Sometimes recovery was easy, most times not.

SkiAdcock

I've got a valid AAA membership as well. Have had it for many years & because (until now) Marriott has AAA as one of the rate boxes I've never bothered to memorize it. I have it w/ me at check-in if I'm using a AAA rate in case they ask.

Short-term (ie, until they change it) I'll just book AAA rates via Chrome so I don't have to bother finding the card/#. It would be easier, if they're going to require the #, that they store it on the website like they do the cc info.

FWIW - the 3-digit AAA int'l code that works on Hilton site doesn't work on Marriott site. When I was mucking around w/ the pop-ups yest I tried it as a test.

Cheers.