Dec 19, 2018, 10:39 am
Last edit by: RedSun
IF YOU HAVE A PREPAID RATE, PLEASE READ THIS WIKI!
Recommended SNA Best Practices:
- According to the Marriott Lurkers in this forum (see post #220 in this thread), as confusing as it sounds, the SNA system is separate from the reservation system, so if a suite is showing as currently unavailable or available on the website, that does not necessarily mean it is currently unavailable or available for SNAs.
As of March 2019, there is an IT bug on Marriott's website that prevents SNAs from being applied to many if not all prepaid reservations. One member has identified a workaround that enables you to "trick" the website into allowing you apply SNAs to prepaid reservation. Several members have reported success using this workaround to apply SNAs to their prepaid reservations. Hopefully Marriott will fix this IT bug in the near future.- After SNAs are redeemed, they are removed from member's account. But they are in pending mode and will only be processed (confirmed or denied) about one week (normally 5 days) prior to actual stay. Any change to the reservation during this pending period may detach the SNAs. Check with reservation agent again to have SNAs re-attached again.
- After SNAs get cleared and confirmed, they are locked with the reservation. Any further changes to the reservation may break the confirmed SNAs. It is a hazard to ask agent to process SNAs again since the SNA processing window is closing
- If your SNA clears, be sure to take a screen shot of what suite category you are assigned in the app and be prepared to show this to the front desk at check-in. Several members have reported being confirmed in certain suite categories when there SNAs have cleared or during mobile check-in only to be assigned lower a category room at check-in. Members who have taken screenshots of their initial SNA assignments have had success in getting properties to honor those original assignments after initially getting assigned inferior rooms at check-in.
- If you are assigned a lower category of room than any of the options offered during the SNA application process and/or if the hotel refuses honor the representations they made at any point during the SNA process, be sure to submit a formal complaint to Marriott and ask for your SNAs used during your stay to be reinstated. If you have followed the screenshot best practice, your screenshot should go a long way towards getting Marriott to eventually refund your SNA, although it may take a long time for customer service to process your request.
Non-Participating Brands:
Not all hotels participate in Suite Night Awards. Suite Night Awards are not redeemable at the following brands (subject to change at any time; see Marriott Bonvoy Terms and Conditions for full details): The Ritz-Carlton®, Protea Hotels®, Aloft®, Element®, Design Hotels™, all-suite hotels, Marriott Executive Apartments®, Marriott Vacation Club®, EDITION®, Ritz-Carlton Reserve®, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Clubs® and Marriott Grand Residence Club properties. In addition, Suite Night Awards are not redeemable at select Participating Properties. Contact Member Support for individual hotel Suite Night Award participation.From post # 220.
The system is not checking what is available for sale at any marriott.com web site, so you should not be using the web sites as a guide for what is and is not available for SNA approval.
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Marriott International
FOR ANYONE TRYING TO ADD SNAs TO PRE-PAID NONREFUNDABLE BOOKINGS THAT MARRIOTT IT
CURRENTLY DOESN’T SEEM TO ALLOW, HERE IS A WORK-AROUND. GOOD LUCK!
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30575978-post541.html
All, I believe that I've found a way of getting around Marriott's IT issue where SNA's cannot be used on advance purchase rates. It takes advantage of another error in the Marriott IT system (go figure) where changes in different windows are not handled properly. It seems to work for me - would be great if someone else can confirm.
For this to work, in addition to a pre-paid reservation where SNAs are disabled you need a rate at a hotel where SNA's are eligible - so go book a bog-standard fully flex rate at your local Westin or whatever which you can cancel later if you don't currently have any flexible rates booked.
Log in to Marriott.com and click on "My Trips" (obviously this won't work for people whose trips are still not showing). Open "View/ Modify" in a new browser window/ tab on the flexible reservation first, and then open "View/ Modify" in the non-refundable reservation in another new window/ tab. Go back to the flexible reservation and click on "Start Upgrade Request" and it should take you to a webpage for the pre-paid reservation where you can finally select your SNAs.
For this to work, in addition to a pre-paid reservation where SNAs are disabled you need a rate at a hotel where SNA's are eligible - so go book a bog-standard fully flex rate at your local Westin or whatever which you can cancel later if you don't currently have any flexible rates booked.
Log in to Marriott.com and click on "My Trips" (obviously this won't work for people whose trips are still not showing). Open "View/ Modify" in a new browser window/ tab on the flexible reservation first, and then open "View/ Modify" in the non-refundable reservation in another new window/ tab. Go back to the flexible reservation and click on "Start Upgrade Request" and it should take you to a webpage for the pre-paid reservation where you can finally select your SNAs.
The link for selecting your benefit:
https://choice-benefit.marriott.com/
How to cancel an Award request:
Suite Night Award requests may be canceled until 2 p.m. local hotel time the day before you arrive, as long as the Awards have not already been confirmed for use on a reservation. Once your Awards have been confirmed, you must cancel the entire reservation to receive credit back for all the Awards; however, after 2 p.m. local hotel time the day before you arrive, a reservation cancellation will result in the forfeiture of all Suite Night Awards applied to the entire reservation. This is in addition to any other cancellation fees applicable to the reservation itself.NOTE: Always detach the SNA before cancelling a reservation. It's the only way to ensure your SNA is returned to your account immediately. Otherwise, you could be waiting hours/days to see your SNA again.
FAQ : Suite Night Awards - SNA - questions and discussion thread
Nov 12, 2022, 1:35 pm
#3886
Join Date: Feb 2018
Programs: Bonvoy :Ambassador , ALL :Diamond, Skywards :Silver, Krisflyer :Silver
Posts: 2,808
It seems like St Pancras London only offer slightly better room for SNA
Have a stay booked for mid November and it only show Premier King Bedroom as SNA option.
I also have a quite long trip coming soon and applying SNA for the some of the stays.
Got 9 SNA that will expired this December. 1 SNA have been approved so far.
Have a stay booked for mid November and it only show Premier King Bedroom as SNA option.
I also have a quite long trip coming soon and applying SNA for the some of the stays.
Got 9 SNA that will expired this December. 1 SNA have been approved so far.
Nov 12, 2022, 1:52 pm
#3887
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Toronto, ON
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Titanium, AA Plat MM
Posts: 3,582
Nov 15, 2022, 11:18 am
#3888
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Europe
Programs: Hilton Honors, Marriott Bonvoy, Accor, Hyatt, (Former IHG Ambassador)
Posts: 1,394
I picked the suite night awards as my annual choice benefit, and even got the confirmation email as soon as my choice was made, but they still do not show up in my Bonvoy account.
Is this normal ?
Is this normal ?
Last edited by est-gratuite; Nov 15, 2022 at 1:35 pm
Nov 15, 2022, 11:20 am
#3889
Join Date: Jan 2020
Location: Virginia USA
Posts: 1,232
Nov 16, 2022, 10:34 am
#3891
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 1,437
Have folks been able to get their SNAs reinstated when they should have been?
Had a stay for a week in mid Sept and the hotel could not confirm my SNAs. Received an email that my SNAs will go back to my account. Many calls later a case was created but to this day no SNAs were returned back to my account, despite being told that I would get contacted. Any advice for me to get those SNAs back?
Had a stay for a week in mid Sept and the hotel could not confirm my SNAs. Received an email that my SNAs will go back to my account. Many calls later a case was created but to this day no SNAs were returned back to my account, despite being told that I would get contacted. Any advice for me to get those SNAs back?
Nov 16, 2022, 1:05 pm
#3892
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 308
I wonder what’s the logic for them clearing vs not. I had several attempts to use my certs this year, in Washington DC, in Nashville, in Dublin - each for one night. Each time declined. What’s the trick for those that manage to use them?
Nov 16, 2022, 8:05 pm
#3894
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Programs: MR LT Titanium, IHG Plat.,UA Premier Silver, & PA/OH Turnpike Million Miler
Posts: 2,320
Kidding aside, there are supposed to be separate pools available for SNA's versus suites available to book normally. People have reported SNA's clearing into a suite when the website shows all suites are sold out at the property. There have also been even more reports of people's SNA's not clearing even though the requested suite type shows as available on the website. So bottomline, I don't think anyone has truly figured out the logic behind SNA room allocations and when they clear. All you can do is keeping putting in requests for your stays when you want the upgrade and hope some eventually clear.
As the general FT wisdom goes, you should always directly book the minimum level room you will be satisfied with for the stay. If that is a suite, then you should book the suite upfront and pay for it. Upgrades to suites from SNA's or as complimentary space available elite upgrades should be viewed as a nice bonus and not something to depend on. I wish the SNA's were better and guaranteed a suite as long as one was available at the booking time for the reservation.
--Jon
Nov 16, 2022, 9:19 pm
#3895
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: Floating around
Programs: UA 1K (1MM), DL Gold (1MM), Marriott LTT
Posts: 10,346
Add me to the list of those clearing SNAs to a room showing not available on Marriott.com.
Off to Europe for 3 nights at this particular hotel next week and booked through my corporate TA (first time ever - much lower rate than Marriott.com). Applied SNAs 3 weeks before travel. They cleared today and I'm arriving in less than 5 days. So they didn't clear at the 5 day mark but they did clear into an Executive Suite (the highest SNA level offered) that was never showing as available via the website. Lucky me.
Down to 2 SNAs expiring this year. I used 5 in September for a family trip to Europe and I didn't even stay in the room. That's the debacle where I initially cleared into a higher category and was then downgraded (before arrival).
-RM
Off to Europe for 3 nights at this particular hotel next week and booked through my corporate TA (first time ever - much lower rate than Marriott.com). Applied SNAs 3 weeks before travel. They cleared today and I'm arriving in less than 5 days. So they didn't clear at the 5 day mark but they did clear into an Executive Suite (the highest SNA level offered) that was never showing as available via the website. Lucky me.
Down to 2 SNAs expiring this year. I used 5 in September for a family trip to Europe and I didn't even stay in the room. That's the debacle where I initially cleared into a higher category and was then downgraded (before arrival).
-RM
Nov 20, 2022, 1:14 pm
#3897
Join Date: Feb 2018
Programs: Bonvoy :Ambassador , ALL :Diamond, Skywards :Silver, Krisflyer :Silver
Posts: 2,808
Using 9 SNA that going to be expired end of this year.
So far 1 approved at Maxwell Reserve Singapore.
Still pending :
2 nights stay at Grosvenor House Dubai
5 nights at Duxton Reserve Singapore
and 1 night at St Regis Jakarta
So far 1 approved at Maxwell Reserve Singapore.
Still pending :
2 nights stay at Grosvenor House Dubai
5 nights at Duxton Reserve Singapore
and 1 night at St Regis Jakarta
Nov 20, 2022, 2:00 pm
#3898
Join Date: Feb 2020
Programs: British Airways Executive Club Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Amb
Posts: 1,774
Nov 20, 2022, 5:18 pm
#3899
Join Date: May 2002
Programs: AAdvantage Platinum, United Silver, Marriott Titanium Elite
Posts: 2,276
The problem with SNAs is that they expire — through no fault of the elite member.
When SNAs fail to clear and then expire, Marriott is effectively telling us, "Not only did we fail to fulfill your upgrade requests (or even fail to accept your upgrade requests), we're now taking away the SNAs that you earned with your loyalty. You loser! Ha, ha, ha!"
I'm going to end 2022 with 9 SNAs (earned in 2021) expiring. It's not as if I didn't try to use them. I was able to use several SNAs earlier this year because Marriott added 6 months to the expiration date of SNAs earned in 2020. I have no more travel this year due to a medical reason.
I'm kicking myself that I didn't pick the 40K free night cert when I reached 75 nights in 2021. Dummy me. I thought SNAs were usable and valuable.
I hope Marriott Bonvoy will add 6 months to all SNAs expiring on 12/31/2022 for everyone. There's still time. After all, travel patterns are not back to normal. SNAs were earned. SNAs should be honored.
It would be a way for Marriott to show elite members who earn 50+ and 75+ nights that Marriott appreciates that loyalty and we should continue to be loyal. That means continuing to take our business to Marriott Bonvoy properties.
I hope Marriott Lurkers, such as Marriott Bonvoy Lurker and Marriott Bonvoy Lurker II, are following this thread and communicating our concerns and wishes back to the decision makers at Marriott Bonvoy.
When SNAs fail to clear and then expire, Marriott is effectively telling us, "Not only did we fail to fulfill your upgrade requests (or even fail to accept your upgrade requests), we're now taking away the SNAs that you earned with your loyalty. You loser! Ha, ha, ha!"
I'm going to end 2022 with 9 SNAs (earned in 2021) expiring. It's not as if I didn't try to use them. I was able to use several SNAs earlier this year because Marriott added 6 months to the expiration date of SNAs earned in 2020. I have no more travel this year due to a medical reason.
I'm kicking myself that I didn't pick the 40K free night cert when I reached 75 nights in 2021. Dummy me. I thought SNAs were usable and valuable.
I hope Marriott Bonvoy will add 6 months to all SNAs expiring on 12/31/2022 for everyone. There's still time. After all, travel patterns are not back to normal. SNAs were earned. SNAs should be honored.
It would be a way for Marriott to show elite members who earn 50+ and 75+ nights that Marriott appreciates that loyalty and we should continue to be loyal. That means continuing to take our business to Marriott Bonvoy properties.
I hope Marriott Lurkers, such as Marriott Bonvoy Lurker and Marriott Bonvoy Lurker II, are following this thread and communicating our concerns and wishes back to the decision makers at Marriott Bonvoy.
Last edited by Horace; Nov 21, 2022 at 7:47 am
Nov 20, 2022, 8:42 pm
#3900
Join Date: Jan 2021
Programs: Hyatt Globalist (Full), Marriott Titanium, IHG Spire, Wyndham DIA, Hilton Gold, AA EXP
Posts: 701
So I requested SNA months ago and was pending status until today which was 5 days prior to check-in. I got a “WE'RE SORRY” email and my SNA got back in my account. I was trying to re-request, but an error showed up saying “This reservation can’t be modified right now…”
Is that a common issue? If I wait a bit, could I request again? (I’ve been waiting over 10 hrs already but still can't request…)
Is that a common issue? If I wait a bit, could I request again? (I’ve been waiting over 10 hrs already but still can't request…)