controller1

I can only assume this is a glitch in how the rates were loaded. When checking availability of award reservations for January 2020 in New Orleans, both the Sheraton New Orleans and the New Orleans Marriott are showing their award reservations as requiring a credit card prepayment and that the reservation is not cancellable. I've tried several dates to see if it were associated with a special event and that does not seem to be the issue.

nexusCFX

-snip, bad reading-

DaveMidknight

The OP is trying to book a new reward stay, so he doesn't have any original policies.

nexusCFX

My bad. I somehow read it as being the policy on an existing reservation.

SkiAdcock

Contact StarwoodLurker. But also, I think there was another thread on this & it might be a glitch?

Cheers.

Nuhusky

Happy

This happened on AC Atocha, Madrid, a couple years ago - all rates incl flexible rares, had nonrefundable in the rate details.

I called the central reservation line and asked the agent to check - she saw the same thing and claimed must be special event related. Then I asked her to check AC Carlton, another property no more than 10 min walk incl waiting for 2 traffic lights, what about the rates there. - I already knew at AC Carlton the rates were showing correctly i.e. flexible rates were flexible rates. She then said she would submit a ticket and told me to check a few days later. 72 hours later when I checked again - the AC Atocha rates had returned to normal.

This cannot be resolved online, have to call either the Marriott CS, or the property directly. The latter might actually be easier given the current state of Marriott CS is.

christianj

I recently had it happen to me when trying to make a Hyatt WOH award booking. When I inquired about this in the Hyatt forum, the general consensus was that could be due to me trying to book a popular date that the hotels are usually sold out on. Could this now be creeping into MR/SPG as well?

OP...is there anything big going on in the city on your dates?

swag

Prepay for a cash stay makes sense if OP is coming in for the NFC Championship Game (or that college game at the dome). But award stays are free and shouldn't ever require cash prepayment, even if they are non-cancellable.

MD/DC Flyer

It seems to be a common occurrence with the transition to the Marriott system.

I had a reservation made on the SPG old system without any pre-payment requirements. After the move to the Marriott system all of a sudden there was pre-payment associated with the reservation (to the sum of several thousands dollars no less) to be charged on a specific day and will be none refundable (on the date that the reward reservation becomes none refundable). Needless to say that despite the scare, nothing was charged on that day.

controller1

It is every date in January. Reservations for dates prior to January 1, 2020, don't seem to have this problem.

I don't have the inclination to go through the hotel's telephone tree and then have to explain the issue to someone who doesn't understand what I'm saying. Since it is also occurring at more than one property, I was hoping a Starwood Lurker would see this and contact the person at the property who could correct the issue.

I've made a reservation at the JW Marriott for the same number of points. When the issue is corrected, I'll cancel and make a new reservation at the Sheraton New Orleans as that is my go-to property in NOLA.

Starwood Lurker

The issue was forwarded to the loyalty team yesterday. I have no time frame to reference for a turnaround or even it can or will be fixed. But, without a confirmation number to reference, there isn't much we can do other than opening a case and have them reach out to you directly.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Marriott International

[email protected]

controller1

William, I hope you can understand there is no confirmation number as I wasn't going to make an award reservation with those onerous terms of having to make a credit card prepayment with a reservation showing as non-cancellable. No need to have the property reach out to me. Just correct the listing. You, or they, can certainly duplicate the issue with the info I provided in Post 1 in this thread . When it is corrected, I'll be more than happy to make a reservation. Thanks.

Starwood Lurker

Thanks. I hope you can understand that things work a bit differently these days. We done what we can. But, if you do not want to be contacted by the property, then no case will be opened.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Marriott International

[email protected]

controller1

OK. It would appear if no case is opened, the obvious error (credit card prepayment for an award booking that is non-cancellable) will continue. Will it not? That doesn't make good business sense. What am I missing?