friscotrvlr

Titanium Member (2019) and Lifetime Platinum.
20 Year Marriott loyalist

I booked the Swan at Disney World for Spring Break with my wife and two small children with points. I noticed the extra person charges so I removed the kids from the reservation.

I sent an email to Marriott complaining that they were trying to charge me for children sleeping in the same beds. I got an email back stating the , "I reached out to the Hotel directly, your reservations does not result an extra adult charge." A few days later, I received another email stating, "I have contacted the Swan hotel and yes they do charge extra fees for children and the Dolphin does not charge. The extra person charges are up to the hotel."

I have tried to book a room at the Aloft LaGuardia and the Sheraton Four Points in Melville, NY. Both have tried to charge me extra person fees for two children. This is ludicrous and a complete violation of my faith in Marriott. The reason I spend 75+ nights in their hotels are for the points. If I am going to be charged to have my kids sleep in a double bed in the same room when I am redeeming my "rewards", I will take my business elsewhere.

thebackcourse

That conttidcontradicts the way they've always done things there I'd call them again myself just to double check that. I can't imagine swan having different policies on that than dolphin since they're essentially one and the same.

If true that will be really alarming because agents haven't been told that they need to advise of extra person charges for children except in certain specific properties and swan isn't one of them. And the guests certainly dont expect it at least on the SPG, not sure how Marriott did things pre-merger. It's always been the price either points or paid covers 2 adults unless it's a breakfast included rate then it can change when changing from single to double occupancy. And children were free as long as they didnt require a roll away.

friscotrvlr

I have never been charged extra person fees for children in 8 years when using rewards points. Now, to be fair I did just check the Swan and they charge extra person fees even when paying cash. I just checked the Dolphin and they do not.

Why even have a global rewards program if the rules change by property? I am used to paying resort and parking fees but now I have to figure out whether I have to drop an additional $500 on a vacation in a 4 person occupancy room?

LAX

I find it very annoying that we have to contact individual properties to figure out which ones will charge extra for children and which don't. Why can't we just have a published policy for all participating properties (or an exclusion list of some sort)? With this, I will know in advance which properties I should avoid and won't need to waste time to confirm.

LAX

SkiAdcock

While I don't have children I agree w/ you. This shouldn't be a guessing game.

Cheers.

EdofFX

Even though Swan and Dolphins are part of the same complex, they belong to different Brands (at least before the merger they were.) Swan is a Westin property and Dolphin is a Sheraton, I believe. I also have a family of 4. We stayed at the Swan before, and did not have to pay extra person fees. That was about five years ago and things may have change.

FWIW, the Westin Jekyll Island did try to charge me extra fee for my kids three years ago, so that was before the merger. I called SPG and they sided with the hotel. I was only able to convince the hotel to waive it when I showed them that in the app on my phone there was no indication of an extra person fee at all.

friscotrvlr

I ended up just canceling my Swan reservation and booking the Dolphin. Thankfully, there was availability just 3 weeks out. That said, this kind of nonsense plus the devaluation of my Marriott points plus the constant annoyances from the merger are causing me to rethink my loyalty. I spent a lot of nights in Marriotts to qualify for Lifetime Platinum and am starting to feel like they just don't value that loyalty. I can cancel my Chase Marriott card tomorrow and move to a new brand - I'll start investigating the Hilton and Hyatt programs. I can probably mix and match between the two programs to provide the geographical coverage I need.

controller1

For Award Reservations, the Bonvoy T&C state the Award Reservation covers the cost of any extra person charge:

3.2.e. When redeeming Points for an Award Redemption Stay, the Award Redemption Stay includes the cost of a single or double standard room at a Participating Property, room tax/service charge, and extra-person charges, if any.

SkiAdcock

Wow - good catch.

wanderlust99

Add another hotel to the charging for extra people list: Westin Galleria in Dallas.

Tried to book a room for 2 adults, 2 kids on points and they threw in a $50 extra person fee. I just deleted the kids off the reservation and it went away. What a mess.

yoshapman

Seeing it at many hotels in Miami and Key West too. Sheraton Suites has a $20 p/p per day charge added even if kids are under 12 on the Marriott website, but confirmed on phone that they don't charge for kids. Funny because I priced out one random night on Marriott.com and the same night on Expedia.com, and Expedia has it correct while Marriott does not for the same property.

dtc

Any chance you can convince the powers that be to post email addresses for the hotels on their websites?

I mean, it's great that the Westin and Sheraton I'm looking at post list their fax numbers... but... you know.

danno95

Further to the post above I read the T@C that any extra person charges are waived on an award night reservation.
On a paid stay if they have extra person charges what can you do (stay somewhere else) it will be shown in the reservation details.
Even if the reservation says there will be extra person charges on an award stay I have never been charged.
I would definitely complain to Marriott Bonvoy if I got charged an extra person charge on an award stay as the T@C's are quite clear (no extra person charges).

shawneve

Anyone had to 'test' the T&Cs with a property?
As in, they were insisting on charging but you had to refer them to the official terms and/or get Bonvoy CS involved?

As mentioned it is pretty clear language, and doesn't just pertain to children, any extra person fee is included.
Only out I can see for a property would be advertised room occupancy, but if a room is listed at 3 or 4 occupancy, the policy of no extra fee should stand.

Chris Quin