Last edit by: jspira
Marriott began the IT integration of its 3 loyalty programs on August 18 with a goal of combining them into one unified program. It told members to expect websites and apps to be inaccessible that day and problems stretched into the middle of the week. By Thursday, the dust seemed to settle although members continued to report specific issues.
How Bad Do You Estimate The IT Rollout Will Be?
#196
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: WAW
Programs: A3(*G), Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 2,534
#197
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: USA
Programs: AS MVP; UA Gold; DL Gold; Marriott Titanium
Posts: 156
This is nothing but a tiny blip with mass hysteria on FT. The vast majority of non travel obsessed people (which is the vast majority of people) barely know this is going on. Zero ultra high net worth individuals even care.
marriott has done a poor job of communicating issues, but come on, acting like this will lead to mass defections due to Lifetime Status being wrong for a few days? Only the handful of people here have even noticed.
simply put, unless merging etc is necessary, just wait. Why does it matter to the Platinum Premier member if they are Lifetime platinum right now.. vs in 2 weeks? It doesnt.
marriott has done a poor job of communicating issues, but come on, acting like this will lead to mass defections due to Lifetime Status being wrong for a few days? Only the handful of people here have even noticed.
simply put, unless merging etc is necessary, just wait. Why does it matter to the Platinum Premier member if they are Lifetime platinum right now.. vs in 2 weeks? It doesnt.
We all want this merger to be smooth and seamless, but it's best for everyone to lower their expectations (even just a bit).
Helpful information to aid other users' navigation of the issues is very good; the drama is, of course, not.
Let's not forget, at its core, this is all imply about picking a hotel room.
#198
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: KHOU/KIAH
Programs: AA EXP | Marriott Bonvoy Titanium| Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 11,120
All I am saying is, acting like the sky is falling due to some IT issues is pretty silly.
#199
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Location: MSY; 2-time FT Fantasy Football Champ, now in recovery.
Programs: AA lifetime GLD; UA Silver; Marriott LTTE; IHG Plat,
Posts: 14,509
Q: How has the loyalty program integration gone? Were there any unexpected challenges?
Marriott International’s SVP of Global Loyalty David Flueck: “While we are not at the finish line yet, by all accounts, the loyalty integration has gone exceedingly well.
HNN - Marriott merges loyalty platforms, looks to next steps
Marriott International’s SVP of Global Loyalty David Flueck: “While we are not at the finish line yet, by all accounts, the loyalty integration has gone exceedingly well.
HNN - Marriott merges loyalty platforms, looks to next steps
#200
Join Date: Dec 2001
Programs: AA EP, SPG Ambassador (lifetime plat)
Posts: 247
I just spoke with Marriott Platinum customer service — she said she’s getting inundated with calls from people who’s accounts are not working — IE: incorrect information, cannot login, etc. She told me she could not log into mine as an example due to an error. She said there was an unknown time to get this fixed and to just keep trying to check.
#201
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Iowa City, IA
Posts: 337
This is nothing but a tiny blip with mass hysteria on FT. The vast majority of non travel obsessed people (which is the vast majority of people) barely know this is going on. Zero ultra high net worth individuals even care.
marriott has done a poor job of communicating issues, but come on, acting like this will lead to mass defections due to Lifetime Status being wrong for a few days? Only the handful of people here have even noticed.
simply put, unless merging etc is necessary, just wait. Why does it matter to the Platinum Premier member if they are Lifetime platinum right now.. vs in 2 weeks? It doesnt.
marriott has done a poor job of communicating issues, but come on, acting like this will lead to mass defections due to Lifetime Status being wrong for a few days? Only the handful of people here have even noticed.
simply put, unless merging etc is necessary, just wait. Why does it matter to the Platinum Premier member if they are Lifetime platinum right now.. vs in 2 weeks? It doesnt.
The purpose of loyalty programs have changed in the information age. Now the big benefit isn't return customers, its collecting the data on them. Seeing what they spend, how they spend it, when, where, etc. Customer data is priceless to them. Google and Amazon already smell blood in the water, and these legacy hotel chains are clenching their cheeks. Why do you think suddenly there is such an emphasis to book direct? All its going to take is another company like uber to come along and completely change how hotels are booked. If you go to marriott's website right now you can't sort by price, you can't filter unavailable properties, half the site still looks like spg. The problems go way beyond reflecting loyal customer data correctly.
So no, this "little" problem isn't going to bankrupt Marriott, but could be symptoms of larger problems to come. SPG properties were popular for a reason. Just like anything in a capitalist society, if Marriott F's this up too badly, someone else will move in and provide an alternative.
#202
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Nashville
Programs: DL DM 3 MM AA PLAT HH Lifetime Diamond Marriott Plat AMB lifetime titanium Hertz PC
Posts: 6,187
SPG was my backup hotel, I would do 75 nights a year with them for the bonus pts, but was mostly a Hilton guy, with about 125 nights a year. SPG had the smaller more personnel feel then Hilton or Marriott, but had a lot smaller foot print. Marriott and Hilton are very similar, the reason I choose Hilton was for the Hampton inns, that is their low end hotel, but they are everywhere and in a lot of small towns. In the bigger cities I usually have a favorite hotel where I visit, whether it was a Hilton or SPG.
#203
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Nashville
Programs: DL DM 3 MM AA PLAT HH Lifetime Diamond Marriott Plat AMB lifetime titanium Hertz PC
Posts: 6,187
This is nothing but a tiny blip with mass hysteria on FT. The vast majority of non travel obsessed people (which is the vast majority of people) barely know this is going on. Zero ultra high net worth individuals even care.
marriott has done a poor job of communicating issues, but come on, acting like this will lead to mass defections due to Lifetime Status being wrong for a few days? Only the handful of people here have even noticed.
simply put, unless merging etc is necessary, just wait. Why does it matter to the Platinum Premier member if they are Lifetime platinum right now.. vs in 2 weeks? It doesn't.
marriott has done a poor job of communicating issues, but come on, acting like this will lead to mass defections due to Lifetime Status being wrong for a few days? Only the handful of people here have even noticed.
simply put, unless merging etc is necessary, just wait. Why does it matter to the Platinum Premier member if they are Lifetime platinum right now.. vs in 2 weeks? It doesn't.
#204
Join Date: Nov 2008
Programs: SPG-Plat, Hilton-Diamond, Club Carlson-Silver, Cathay-Diamond, Virgin-Gold
Posts: 2,179
I knew it was never going to be done in a day but with things down again a week on with little to no warning I think it's safe to say Marriott have completely misread the situation. With over 2 years to prepare I would suggest there is no excuse for this and actually they need to come out and whole heartedly apologise whereas there as been essential radio silence from the top of Marriott. To me that speaks volumes about what they think of loyalty program members.
#206
Join Date: Nov 2008
Programs: SPG-Plat, Hilton-Diamond, Club Carlson-Silver, Cathay-Diamond, Virgin-Gold
Posts: 2,179
An apology and information from high up in Marriott would help rather than leaving the Platinum line and Ambassadors basically taking the flack. Come on Arne stand up and be counted should some responsibility!
#207
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: lounge next door
Programs: *A Gold / ST Elite+ / OWS / EK G / HH Diam. / MR Tit / Hyatt GLOB / IHG Diam. / SL Jade / GHA Tit.
Posts: 1,500
Marriott official : no ETA
Now its clear. They have no idea of when and how problems will be fixed.
Should be nice they update the useless status page with the following informations.
We are working quickly and diligently to solve all issues that have been identified. Given the complexities of a huge integration like this, we prefer not to give deadlines, but rest assured that are completely on top any issue that has arisen, said John Wolf, vice president of loyalty, digital marketing and innovation PR at Marriott
full article : https://skift.com/2018/08/20/marriot..._hsmi=65443795
#208
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: RDU, Delta GM/1MM, Hilton Diamond (for now), Bonvoy Titanium
Posts: 3,443
Nicely put their IT organization is a Mickey Mouse operation. Seriously - SPG was so much better. Marriott has always had crap technology and been playing catch up.
Now its clear. They have no idea of when and how problems will be fixed.
Should be nice they update the useless status page with the following informations.
We are working quickly and diligently to solve all issues that have been identified. Given the complexities of a huge integration like this, we prefer not to give deadlines, but rest assured that are completely on top any issue that has arisen, said John Wolf, vice president of loyalty, digital marketing and innovation PR at Marriott
full article : https://skift.com/2018/08/20/marriot..._hsmi=65443795
Now its clear. They have no idea of when and how problems will be fixed.
Should be nice they update the useless status page with the following informations.
We are working quickly and diligently to solve all issues that have been identified. Given the complexities of a huge integration like this, we prefer not to give deadlines, but rest assured that are completely on top any issue that has arisen, said John Wolf, vice president of loyalty, digital marketing and innovation PR at Marriott
full article : https://skift.com/2018/08/20/marriot..._hsmi=65443795
#209
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 902
With todays IT update all my stays prior to the merger (33 nights) are now showing on the activity tab, however the nights ytd counter was not updated with these new posted stays and is at the exact same count as it was on Aug 18 (33 nights fewer than it should be).
Last edited by MePlatPremier; Aug 25, 2018 at 7:16 am