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
Sep 21, 2019, 11:28 am
#1561
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: Some
Posts: 5,231
I am now 0 for 4 in my SNA requests.
May - 1 night at St. Regis New York
May - 2 nights at the Renaissance Washington DC Downtown Hotel
August - 2 nights at the Renaissance Washington DC Downtown Hotel
September (just got denied today) - Gaylord Palms Resort Kissimmee FL
Very disappointing. I have a feeling I am going to wind up not using any and totally not able to take advantage of this benefit. I chose this benefit because none of the other choices had any value to me. It seems this one doesn't either. I have a few odds and ends stays for the rest of this year. I do have a request in for 4 nights in October for the Westin O'Hare. I would not have picked this stay for an upgrade but hey, there is no downside at this point. I also tried for my stay next month at the Guangzhou Marriott Tianhe, but it is not even for a suite (just a larger room) and it fails every time I try.
I fully understand that this is not a guaranteed benefit but it does seem like too much work for too little return. Or in my case, no return.
May - 1 night at St. Regis New York
May - 2 nights at the Renaissance Washington DC Downtown Hotel
August - 2 nights at the Renaissance Washington DC Downtown Hotel
September (just got denied today) - Gaylord Palms Resort Kissimmee FL
Very disappointing. I have a feeling I am going to wind up not using any and totally not able to take advantage of this benefit. I chose this benefit because none of the other choices had any value to me. It seems this one doesn't either. I have a few odds and ends stays for the rest of this year. I do have a request in for 4 nights in October for the Westin O'Hare. I would not have picked this stay for an upgrade but hey, there is no downside at this point. I also tried for my stay next month at the Guangzhou Marriott Tianhe, but it is not even for a suite (just a larger room) and it fails every time I try.
I fully understand that this is not a guaranteed benefit but it does seem like too much work for too little return. Or in my case, no return.
I would say if you expect <50% of SNAs to clear (and possibly less than that if only applying them at US hotels) then that's a reasonable assumption these days which will avoid you ending up being too disappointed.
Don't lose hope though, I guard my SNAs carefully and my approved SNAs this year are:
- W Hong Kong - Wow Suite
- W DC - Wow Suite
- Aegon Mykonos - Infinity Suite with Private Pool
- Aegon Mykonos - Infinity Suite with Private Pool again
Sep 24, 2019, 10:15 am
#1562
Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Ontario, Canada
Programs: Marriott Titanium
Posts: 154
Just came back from from Europe. Applied to use 5 SNAs at Prague Marriott months ahead and at the 2 day mark it was denied. The hotel was full and showed no Suite availability weeks before we arrived so I wasn’t surprised. I was not given an upgrade either for my platinum status. The hotel was nice though, great lounge food.
Our next stop was Vienna for 2 nights, so I applied 2 nights at the Marriott Vienna. Was given a huge corner suite! Again, this hotel was not full and suite availability was showing online at the time.
i have 3 SNAs left, Any positive reports of being able to carry them over to the next year?
Our next stop was Vienna for 2 nights, so I applied 2 nights at the Marriott Vienna. Was given a huge corner suite! Again, this hotel was not full and suite availability was showing online at the time.
i have 3 SNAs left, Any positive reports of being able to carry them over to the next year?
Sep 24, 2019, 11:43 am
#1563
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 702
I need help finding where on my husband's profile the number of SNA are listed. I search and search and I can't find it. Last memory tells me he has 10 that expire at the end of the year.
He submitted a request to redeem four of the ten for an upcoming trip to NYC (Essex House/points stay). Availability is wide open for our dates but I am not too optimistic.
He submitted a request to redeem four of the ten for an upcoming trip to NYC (Essex House/points stay). Availability is wide open for our dates but I am not too optimistic.
Sep 24, 2019, 12:41 pm
#1564
Join Date: Feb 2018
Programs: Bonvoy :Ambassador , ALL :Diamond, Skywards :Silver, Krisflyer :Silver
Posts: 2,803
I pretty much clears 13/15 SNA for this year without issue.
There are 2 more that was applied for an end of year booking at Fairfield Bali.
If it clears its good, but if it isn't, then no big deal (will be expired at the end of the year.)
For 10 SNAs that expired on Dec 2020, I already applied them for Jan/Feb stays in various hotels in Europe.
If they all cleared then its great but if they not, then I still have 10 months to use them
There are 2 more that was applied for an end of year booking at Fairfield Bali.
If it clears its good, but if it isn't, then no big deal (will be expired at the end of the year.)
For 10 SNAs that expired on Dec 2020, I already applied them for Jan/Feb stays in various hotels in Europe.
If they all cleared then its great but if they not, then I still have 10 months to use them
Sep 24, 2019, 1:12 pm
#1565
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,416
Sep 24, 2019, 3:41 pm
#1567
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,510
Sep 24, 2019, 4:03 pm
#1568
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: YEG
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 755
I did a points advance for the Marriott Merlin beach in Phuket next year. (5 nights)
Will the option to use the SNA only show up when the points are actually deducted??
It's not on there now and I figured it was either 1) points have to be deducted in order to request or 2) that or I need to wait until the new year when my new SNA will be reposited with a dec 31 2020 exp date
Sorry if this is a newbie question I have only been Plat for 2 years.
THANKS!!
Will the option to use the SNA only show up when the points are actually deducted??
It's not on there now and I figured it was either 1) points have to be deducted in order to request or 2) that or I need to wait until the new year when my new SNA will be reposited with a dec 31 2020 exp date
Sorry if this is a newbie question I have only been Plat for 2 years.
THANKS!!
Sep 24, 2019, 4:06 pm
#1569
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
I did a points advance for the Marriott Merlin beach in Phuket next year. (5 nights)
Will the option to use the SNA only show up when the points are actually deducted??
It's not on there now and I figured it was either 1) points have to be deducted in order to request or 2) that or I need to wait until the new year when my new SNA will be reposited with a dec 31 2020 exp date
Sorry if this is a newbie question I have only been Plat for 2 years.
THANKS!!
Will the option to use the SNA only show up when the points are actually deducted??
It's not on there now and I figured it was either 1) points have to be deducted in order to request or 2) that or I need to wait until the new year when my new SNA will be reposited with a dec 31 2020 exp date
Sorry if this is a newbie question I have only been Plat for 2 years.
THANKS!!
Sep 24, 2019, 4:15 pm
#1570
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Toronto
Programs: UA 1K, AC MM E75, Marriott LT Ti, IHG Dia Amb, Hyatt Glob
Posts: 15,510
I did a points advance for the Marriott Merlin beach in Phuket next year. (5 nights)
Will the option to use the SNA only show up when the points are actually deducted??
It's not on there now and I figured it was either 1) points have to be deducted in order to request or 2) that or I need to wait until the new year when my new SNA will be reposited with a dec 31 2020 exp date
Sorry if this is a newbie question I have only been Plat for 2 years.
THANKS!!
Will the option to use the SNA only show up when the points are actually deducted??
It's not on there now and I figured it was either 1) points have to be deducted in order to request or 2) that or I need to wait until the new year when my new SNA will be reposited with a dec 31 2020 exp date
Sorry if this is a newbie question I have only been Plat for 2 years.
THANKS!!
Sep 24, 2019, 4:19 pm
#1571
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: YEG
Programs: UA 1K, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 755
ok wicked I will need to wait until Jan 1st to transfer some points from the wife's (gold) account to mine as I just used several hundred thousand for 2 weeks of stays in India
I will then hopefully get them to take the Phuket points out on the 1st and hopefully be able to apply my SNA then, I will try and be patient and wait
thanks so much
I will then hopefully get them to take the Phuket points out on the 1st and hopefully be able to apply my SNA then, I will try and be patient and wait
thanks so much
Sep 25, 2019, 2:19 pm
#1572
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: New York
Programs: Marriott Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, Delta Skymiles Platinum
Posts: 650
Today I tried to put through an SNA on the Marriott Guangzhou Tianhe for late next month. It's only an upgrade to a Premier Room, not a real suite. But since it is use it or lose it I figured why not? Well, I got the glitch where it immediately errors out and I get 2 e-mails, one confirming and one canceling. Fortunately I got a popup for online help, so I did it. The agent on the other end said he would try, he got the same result as I did. He is going to contact the hotel directly to see if they can give me the upgrade. Not sure how that will work with deducting the SNA nights, or if I even get the upgrade. I think there is a chance. It is Canton Fair time, which is a very busy time in Guangzhou. But I have stayed at this hotel many times and have occasionally gotten a true suite upgrade as a Titanium member. So we will see.
The agent also said he would open a support ticket. I have to think this is a known issue but maybe it finally gets fixed? I won't hold my breath but I will be optimistic.
The agent also said he would open a support ticket. I have to think this is a known issue but maybe it finally gets fixed? I won't hold my breath but I will be optimistic.
Sep 25, 2019, 2:40 pm
#1573
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: LGA/JFK/EWR
Programs: UA 1K1.75MM, Hyatt Globalist, abandoned Marriott LTT (RIP SPG), Hertz PC
Posts: 21,166
Known issue that somehow has to do with a zip code error in the booking, per a past Lurker note to me. They seem to have zero inclination to fix it.
#MarriottIT
#MarriottIT
Sep 25, 2019, 2:52 pm
#1574
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: YYZ, YTZ, YHM
Programs: AC SE100K, Marriott Platinum Elite
Posts: 77
I have a simple question that I couldn't find the answer to, though it's probably been discussed ad nauseum - sorry for that in advance.
I have an upcoming stay where I want to use a few SNAs, but when I go to request, not all the offerings are suites, a couple are just slightly upgraded rooms. If I choose both the suite option and the room option, assuming both are available when the SNA clears, will it automatically give me the best of what's available? Or will it just give me the lowest option of what I've selected? I can't imagine it working the latter, but just want to make sure that it will award the best available choice? Thanks!
I have an upcoming stay where I want to use a few SNAs, but when I go to request, not all the offerings are suites, a couple are just slightly upgraded rooms. If I choose both the suite option and the room option, assuming both are available when the SNA clears, will it automatically give me the best of what's available? Or will it just give me the lowest option of what I've selected? I can't imagine it working the latter, but just want to make sure that it will award the best available choice? Thanks!
Sep 25, 2019, 2:56 pm
#1575
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
I have a simple question that I couldn't find the answer to, though it's probably been discussed ad nauseum - sorry for that in advance.
I have an upcoming stay where I want to use a few SNAs, but when I go to request, not all the offerings are suites, a couple are just slightly upgraded rooms. If I choose both the suite option and the room option, assuming both are available when the SNA clears, will it automatically give me the best of what's available? Or will it just give me the lowest option of what I've selected? I can't imagine it working the latter, but just want to make sure that it will award the best available choice? Thanks!
I have an upcoming stay where I want to use a few SNAs, but when I go to request, not all the offerings are suites, a couple are just slightly upgraded rooms. If I choose both the suite option and the room option, assuming both are available when the SNA clears, will it automatically give me the best of what's available? Or will it just give me the lowest option of what I've selected? I can't imagine it working the latter, but just want to make sure that it will award the best available choice? Thanks!
