itsaboutthejourney

You are incorrect. Karin T has been Marriott's CMO for 6+ years, previously, she was with a major with a TV network, not Starwood. I think you are confused that David F is in charge of loyalty and he was the #2 loyalty guy at Starwood/SPG for many years.


1 - According to a PhocusWire article about the hack: Marriott had laid off most of the Starwood technology staff at the end of 2017

2 - As for me, over the years, I had been introduced to and stayed in touch with many IT/web team members at Starwood who engaged my feedback. None of them are at Marriott today.

C17PSGR: It would be helpful if you knew more facts about Starwood before your constant defending of Marriott. If you work for MAR you owe it to the form to disclose that.

CCIE_Flyer

This seems to be the prevailing presumption, but I can assure you that I own several domains where I have no active website (parked), but I use the e-mail aspect of the domain anywhere from annually to daily. In some cases I never had a website and never had any serious plans to; in others I'm simply holding onto old domains where I did once have a website but no longer do, and simply want the e-mail communication channel to remain open to old contacts.

I think it's lost on most folks that just because their web browser is directed to the GoDaddy park page, the domain is not just sitting there as something completely overlooked by Marriott. It is owned. It is "active." Whether or not it's in the process of changing hands or will in the future change hands is another matter all on its own separate from the insinuation of this thread and many posting in it.


$ dig bonvoy.com

; <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> bonvoy.com
;; global options: +cmd
;; Got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 38889
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION:
; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 4096
;; QUESTION SECTION:
;bonvoy.com. IN A
;; ANSWER SECTION:
bonvoy.com. 600 IN A 50.63.202.52
;; Query time: 205 msec
;; SERVER: 208.67.220.220#53(208.67.220.220)
;; WHEN: Thu Feb 21 21:47:52 MST 2019
;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 55

$ whois bonvoy.com

% IANA WHOIS server
% for more information on IANA, visit Internet Assigned Numbers Authority
% This query returned 1 object
refer: whois.verisign-grs.com
domain: COM
organisation: VeriSign Global Registry Services
address: 12061 Bluemont Way
address: Reston Virginia 20190
address: United States
contact: administrative
name: Registry Customer Service
organisation: VeriSign Global Registry Services
address: 2061 Bluemont Way
address: Reston Virginia 20190
address: United States
phone: +1 703 925-6999
fax-no: +1 703 948 3978
e-mail: [email protected]

contact: technical
name: Registry Customer Service
organisation: VeriSign Global Registry Services
address: 12061 Bluemont Way
address: Reston Virginia 20190
address: United States
phone: +1 703 925-6999
fax-no: +1 703 948 3978
e-mail: [email protected]

nserver: A.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.5.6.30 2001:503:a83e:0:0:0:2:30
nserver: B.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.33.14.30 2001:503:231d:0:0:0:2:30
nserver: C.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.26.92.30 2001:503:83eb:0:0:0:0:30
nserver: D.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.31.80.30 2001:500:856e:0:0:0:0:30
nserver: E.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.12.94.30 2001:502:1ca1:0:0:0:0:30
nserver: F.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.35.51.30 2001:503:d414:0:0:0:0:30
nserver: G.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.42.93.30 2001:503:eea3:0:0:0:0:30
nserver: H.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.54.112.30 2001:502:8cc:0:0:0:0:30
nserver: I.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.43.172.30 2001:503:39c1:0:0:0:0:30
nserver: J.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.48.79.30 2001:502:7094:0:0:0:0:30
nserver: K.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.52.178.30 2001:503:d2d:0:0:0:0:30
nserver: L.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.41.162.30 2001:500:d937:0:0:0:0:30
nserver: M.GTLD-SERVERS.NET 192.55.83.30 2001:501:b1f9:0:0:0:0:30

ds-rdata: 30909 8 2 E2D3C916F6DEEAC73294E8268FB5885044A833FC5459588F4A 9184CFC41A5766

whois: whois.verisign-grs.com
status: ACTIVE
remarks: Registration information: http://www.verisigninc.com
created: 1985-01-01
changed: 2017-10-05
source: IANA

Domain Name: BONVOY.COM
Registry Domain ID: 1524198286_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Updated Date: 2018-10-14T05:50:06Z
Creation Date: 2008-10-14T15:49:53Z
Registry Expiry Date: 2019-10-14T15:49:53Z
Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 146
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: [email protected]
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: 480-624-2505
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited
Domain Status: clientRenewProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientRenewProhibited
Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited https://icann.org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited

Name Server: NS31.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
Name Server: NS32.DOMAINCONTROL.COM

DNSSEC: unsigned

URL of the ICANN Whois Inaccuracy Complaint Form: https://www.icann.org/wicf/

>>> Last update of whois database: 2019-02-22T04:47:59Z <<<

Domain Name: BONVOY.COM
Registry Domain ID: 1524198286_DOMAIN_COM-VRSN
Registrar WHOIS Server: whois.godaddy.com
Registrar URL: http://www.godaddy.com
Updated Date: 2018-10-14T05:50:04Z
Creation Date: 2008-10-14T15:49:53Z
Registrar Registration Expiration Date: 2019-10-14T15:49:53Z
Registrar: GoDaddy.com, LLC
Registrar IANA ID: 146
Registrar Abuse Contact Email: [email protected]
Registrar Abuse Contact Phone: +1.4806242505

Domain Status: clientTransferProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientTransferProhibited
Domain Status: clientUpdateProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientUpdateProhibited
Domain Status: clientRenewProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientRenewProhibited
Domain Status: clientDeleteProhibited http://www.icann.org/epp#clientDeleteProhibited

Registrant Organization: BONVOY.COM

Registrant State/Province: Texas
Registrant Country: US
Registrant Email: Select Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/result...ain=BONVOY.COM
Admin Email: Select Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/result...ain=BONVOY.COM
Tech Email: Select Contact Domain Holder link at https://www.godaddy.com/whois/result...ain=BONVOY.COM

Name Server: NS31.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
Name Server: NS32.DOMAINCONTROL.COM

DNSSEC: unsigned

URL of the ICANN WHOIS Data Problem Reporting System: http://wdprs.internic.net/

>>> Last update of WHOIS database: 2019-02-22T04:00:00Z <<<

C17PSGR

Good point on the Chief Marketing as opposed to the head of loyalty. But, Bonvoy is the loyalty program and Flueck's baby.

You'll note the Phocus wire article is written by someone who left Starwood several.years ago. It's so one sided by a disgruntled employee that it's strange to cite.

I feel no need to defend or automatically attack Marriott. You'll notice many concerns I've posted on the forum about website issues and poor communication. I have no connection to Marriott other than 125 to 150 nights a year but am certainly familiar with the industry segment.

you'll also note I've repeatedly complimented the vision of the former Starwood leadership team some of whom I know. I don't know Flueck. If you ask anyone at Starwood who was in the technical aspect of IT, I'd be surprised if the vast majority of them weren't offered positions with Marriott. Cant say for those in the customer service aspect of Starwood IT.

And, of course, IT has nothing to do with domain names. Further, Marriott registered Bonvoy as a trademark and the owner of the Bonvoy domain cant use it in the travel business so what does it matter. I suspect there are dozens of FTers who hold interesting domain names. I certainly don't blame Flueck on the domain name ... it's an abandoned business and Marriott owns the name. Who cares about that domain other than FTers?

Zorak

I think it explains why they would be scrupulous in referring to it always as the two-word phrase "Marriott Bonvoy". But as you say that's a different beast from, would they still try to acquire it. Granted, yes, we don't know what efforts they may have made along those lines and maybe the current owner wanted an extortionate amount, but are you saying you have inside info? Otherwise we're all speculating.

Fair enough And sure, maybe they're only using it for email (the MX records point to gmail), but then again, maybe they aren't. Unsurprisingly, merely elementary research isn't terribly conclusive in either direction.

miloworld

As if the entire worldwide-web resides in the states and have to respect US trademark law.

JBord

This forum just reminds me that Bonvoy is the name of Marriott's loyalty program. It was probably never meant to be used on it's own by Marriott. Without checking, I'm pretty sure they didn't own rewards.com either.

They aren't Bonvoy hotels. There's no reason to go to Bonvoy.com in the first place, the same way you wouldn't have gone to rewards.com for the old program. You go to Marriott.com. I would never, in a million years, think of typing bonvoy.com to go to Marriott's web site. I would never type skymiles.com to purchase a Delta flight or look at my account. I'm sure we could come up with hundreds of examples.

Maybe they just assumed their customers had a certain amount of common sense and they didn't need to purchase bonvoy.com?

Zorak

And yet, Delta does own skymiles.com and it redirects to delta.com. UA has mileageplus.com. I used to type spg.com all the time because it was shorter

Saying "the name is X so all we need is X.com" is too narrow for reasons of branding, anti-phishing, etc as mentioned earlier.

JBord

Right, I don't disagree with that. Just saying that maybe in their cost-benefit analysis buying that domain wasn't worth the cost to Marriott. Just another potential reason, and I make no judgment on whether or not they should purchase the rights for security purposes. Certainly Marriott has a history of making some poor IT decisions over my 12+ years as an elite customer.

miloworld

I was surprised how early they secured the @marriottbonvoy social media handles, so kinda shocked they didn't invest on Bonvoy.com

KRSW

I noticed this when they first announced the name and was hoping that the original domain owners would dig their heels in and put up a nice fight.

/also secretly hoping whoever currently owns the domain decides to put up a porn site.
//used to own the .net & .org domains for my former employer since their marketing department was too incompetent to buy them. Used the .net domain for all of our remote access stuff. I did ponder the porn site idea 'though

GoPhils

And "honors.com" directs to Hilton Honors

1353513636

If Marriott doesn't buy it, what if scammers do and send emails asking for people to go to a bonvoy.com link to "reset" their password thus giving up unauthorized access to their account accidentally.

Old Hickory

It's about time you left this journey, isn't it?

Old Hickory

Scammers? You mean Russians, right?

Tanic

How is it possible that Marriott doesn't own bonvoyed.com either?