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"Extra person" charges, especially on award stays

"Extra person" charges, especially on award stays

Old Jun 4, 2019, 3:35 am
  #61  
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Originally Posted by lkar
We had this very debate in my house the other night, but the question was a little more subtle. Where the age of children button is not clear that it means at the time of stay, is it unethical to put the age of the child at the time of booking even where you know that the age of the person at the time of check in would lead to a higher rate or force you to get two rooms? Assume a jurisdiction that wont require passports.
I'll bite. Why would a hotel care how old the children are at the time of booking? Wouldn't the ONLY relevant piece of data for the hotel be their ages when they arrive at the hotel?
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Old Jun 4, 2019, 11:53 pm
  #62  
 
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Originally Posted by Dr. HFH
I'll bite. Why would a hotel care how old the children are at the time of booking? Wouldn't the ONLY relevant piece of data for the hotel be their ages when they arrive at the hotel?
Besides, if no passport is required, does it even matter? I know that my dad called me 12 until my 15th birthday! Now I am wondering when I will claim to be a senior....
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Old Jun 5, 2019, 6:49 am
  #63  
 
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FYI... I ran into this yet again on an upcoming award stay that I booked last year. At the time I made the reservation, there was no extra person fee at a legacy SPG property on Oahu. I was checking my reservations this week and they had added one out of the blue, for a third person in a room that holds four. I called Marriott and it took quite a while but she was able to get rid of the extra person fee by changing the reservation to one adult. (She was unable to change the reservation to reflect children in the room.)

Two takeaways: 1) check your reservations ahead of time, even if all was fine at the time of booking and 2) calling the hotel directly (like I did last summer for another property) is much faster and more efficient than calling Marriott's customer service.

Last edited by wanderlust99; Jun 5, 2019 at 6:49 am Reason: typo
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Old Jun 8, 2019, 1:54 pm
  #64  
 
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Update: Definitely call the hotel to have the extra person charge taken off, not Marriott directly. When they (Marriott) took the charge off, it modified my award, which meant they canceled my original reservation and created a new one. Problem is, the hotel had changed categories since the original award was issued, meaning the new reservation was made at the new point total. It took another hour on the phone and talking to a supervisor but they eventually refunded the difference in points. Save yourself the trouble and just call the hotel.
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Old Jun 14, 2019, 8:04 am
  #65  
 
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Originally Posted by Starwood Lurker
Here is my suggestion then...if you encounter a situation such as this, call customer service and ask them to create a ticket to be sent to the hotel in question. The hotel will know who to contact at Marriott to get it sorted. I would not even have a clue where to start...and yes, I've tried.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Marriott International

[email protected]
William,
I was clearly told by the check in clerk that this is "due to policy change by Marriott so they could no longer provide the same benefits which SPG used to offer" May I ask if SPG was reimbursing extra person charges and Marriott no longer does? Also honestly I can't help but feel the statement by the clerk sounds awfully unprofessional. I have a customer facing job too and I would never say something like that to my customer.
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Old Jun 14, 2019, 9:10 am
  #66  
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Originally Posted by silverforumsurf
There's a higher chance you get hit by a car while walking into the hotel than hotel security following you to your room at night to determine who's an overnight guest in your room and comparing it to the reservation.. who are then somehow cross trained on front desk billing, and demand payment for the children;
Except that it's not security who normally polices these things. It's housekeeping.

A housekeeper will enter the room, and in some cases at some hotels, note the apparent number of guests in the room (based on amount of luggage, toiletries in the bathroom, unmade beds, etc.) on their logs as they are cleaning. If a hotel that charges for extra people reconciles that daily, then there is a chance you'll be asked to pay the difference, and it's a higher chance than being hit by a car while walking into the hotel. @:-)
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Old Jun 14, 2019, 2:55 pm
  #67  
 
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So, what is the final verdict? Should we be charged the extra person fee for award bookings? Is it hotel dependent?
Thanks.

Last edited by asdfghjk; Jun 18, 2019 at 8:11 am
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Old Jun 14, 2019, 3:23 pm
  #68  
 
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Originally Posted by 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.
What about the part where it says "single or double standard room"? Doesn't that mean it is applicable for one or two persons only? I am not arguing, just trying to understand the T&C.
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Old Jun 14, 2019, 3:25 pm
  #69  
 
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Old Jun 14, 2019, 5:17 pm
  #70  
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Here's a new one that I haven't seen before. I'm looking at a room at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento for a few nights in the fall on a paid stay. I'm not yet sure if this will be a solo trip or not, but to my surprise when I put in 1 adult vs. 2 adults, the 2 adult price is consistently higher by about $25/night. (Regardless of whether I book a room with 1 bed or 2 beds). I get why this might be the case for 3 adults, but I've never seen it for 1 vs. 2 adults. I'm not sure how they'd enforce it either, but it makes me want to look at other alternative properties in the area instead... Anyone have experiences with this property with this before?
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Old Jun 14, 2019, 7:47 pm
  #71  
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Originally Posted by ryw
Here's a new one that I haven't seen before. I'm looking at a room at the Sheraton Grand Sacramento for a few nights in the fall on a paid stay. I'm not yet sure if this will be a solo trip or not, but to my surprise when I put in 1 adult vs. 2 adults, the 2 adult price is consistently higher by about $25/night. (Regardless of whether I book a room with 1 bed or 2 beds). I get why this might be the case for 3 adults, but I've never seen it for 1 vs. 2 adults. I'm not sure how they'd enforce it either, but it makes me want to look at other alternative properties in the area instead... Anyone have experiences with this property with this before?
Does the rate include breakfast? Thats the only explanation I can think of. (Extra charge for second person is common in Japan but Ive never seen it in NA.)
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Old Jun 14, 2019, 8:16 pm
  #72  
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Originally Posted by margarita girl


Does the rate include breakfast? That’s the only explanation I can think of. (Extra charge for second person is common in Japan but I’ve never seen it in NA.)

Strangely no, this is just the regular rate for a standard room. (The extra charge for a second person seems to show up both on regular rates, prepaid, and AAA rates...). I've never seen a charge for a second person before for a standard rate/room before. See the screenshots below for an example night at the property.


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Old Jun 14, 2019, 9:54 pm
  #73  
 
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The Marriott website is charging extra person fees on paid stays as well. Its not limited just to award stays. I believe its a glitch on Marriott IT staff. I input 2 adults and one child. But on the email confirmation it changed it to 3 adults. Appears this problem exists for most of the legacy SPG hotels. Its probably best to call the hotel to confirm. Most of the SPG hotels had the policy of no additional fees when kids were using the existing bedding. I dont know if the policy has changed. Dont have them transfer your the the centralized reservation lines. The wait is way to long. I dont blame any legacy SPG hotel for leaving Marriott. Legacy SPG hotels also have lower star rating reviews compared to the legacy Marriott hotels. I dont have the time or the patience to deal with all these Marriott changes and problems occurring on their web site. Very bad communication and customer service.
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Old Jun 18, 2019, 8:08 am
  #74  
 
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I contacted the Le Meridien Saigon regarding the extra person fees. I pointed them to Marriott T&C, section 3.2.e, but they said that applies to the second person only. Their charge is for the 3rd person.
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Old Jun 18, 2019, 1:07 pm
  #75  
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Originally Posted by asdfghjk
What about the part where it says "single or double standard room"? Doesn't that mean it is applicable for one or two persons only? I am not arguing, just trying to understand the T&C.
Single or double terminology in hotels usually refers to number of beds in the room, not number of guests. If they really meant number of guests, they should say single occupancy or double occupancy.

OTOH, the language of "extra-person charges, if any" strongly implies to me that ALL extra-person charges are waived. Not just a second person charge.
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