itsaboutthejourney

Um no. I think you have said yourself that you are a legacy Marriott person so you likely don't understand that while the structure of the program (i.e. suite nights, 4pm check-out, etc.) has resemblance of SPG, most of our experience has been changed and is a downgrade. The website & app are big downgrades in function and information displayed. Having to call or fax things that we used do online is not SPG oriented. Delays or errors in stay credits are not the SPG way. Ambassadors who are overwhelmed is not the SPG way. SPG hotels now using the less sophisticated MARSHA and no longer having your stay history or room preferences is not the SPG way. Seeing rates that are non-cancelable but can be canceled until 24 hours prior to check-in is not the SPG way. Having hotels collect a deposit for award stays 6 months out is not the SPG way. Silence from the company is not SPG oriented. Shall I continue? Bonvoyed is a good way to sum it up.

C17PSGR

I have five stays this month. I have been getting properly greeted (although one was for a Titanium Ambassador???). All five stays have posted with the proper points including the one I checked out at on Thursday. No SPG games of excluding bar or other spend. The mobile key worked at both properties that had it while I never had it work at legacy SPG properties.

I have 17 different stays so far in 2019. All 17 stays have a "download" link on the app and on the website that allow me to download the bill.

My credit card nights posted properly. I have the old Chase card with the 1 night credit per $3,000. They are all posting as well.

I'm only talking about March so far ... February was a mess but if everything is working going forward, I'm OK with that.

And yes ... I saw the posts on here and initially had only my two night stays post for the megabonus. Then the rest appeared a couple of days later without the need to call. That seems pretty consistent with the megabonus thread on FT where most posters have acknowledged it was fixed.

I don't like the inability to sort by price on the website or checking multiple rates at once. And I don't like the no connection on the app or the obvious problem when the website says there are no hotels in Los Angeles.

But ... its crying wolf to fail to acknowledge the progress. I suspect the progress would be have been quicker other than the diversion of call center/IT resources to the state actor data theft.

That being said, this month, I've been avoiding legacy SPG properties who (a) try to upsell a suite that is a program benefit, (b) upgrade plats before titanium or ambassador because everyone is equal, (c) call three breads and a coffee breakfast, and (d) charge me for my plat breakfast and internet.

EuropeanPete

Saying this as delicately as I can, isn't there a risk that you (as many others) are trying to take your own personal experience and extrapolate it onto that of everyone else in the Marriott programme? Like you, I've seen some improvement since Sept, but despite being a higher end Ambassador guest with a great Ambassador I still mainly don't get appropriate hotel recognition, nearly half of my stays go missing or are miscounted, I am ineligible for all promos (even those open to all), none of my invoices are ever available online, some hotels refuse to honor terms without consequence and I am frequently unable to book the rooms I want on the website.

I am not going to attack others who don't have the same experience, but can I perhaps recommend just a little bit of EQ and/ or empathy amongst those who have no problems but who feel a compulsive need to attack those who are unable to use the Bonvoy programme as advertised?

Kacee

I appreciate your perspective and that you are simply reporting your personal experience, but mine is completely different. I had my two most frustrating Marriott experiences ever in February, all the result of Marriott IT massively bungling SNA upgrade process at legacy SPG properties.

Jaunts

Isn't the person who is running the Bonvoy program the former SPG loyalty program director? There are a lot of disgruntled SPG alums here, and it is a bit ironic if that is the case.

KRSW

Just adding the experiences from myself & coworkers:

1. Points are automatically posting again at the proper rate? Nope. Even when filling out the on-line missing stay form, incorrect points/nights were added, requiring I call the 800# to straighten out what should have already been done correctly in the first place...or at least the rep reading the folio should have seen.
2. Lounges I have been in have exceeded brand standards with additional fish/meat/cheese at breakfast not required? Haven't noticed any change here.
3. All properties have greeted me at the proper level? Haven't received any status greeting, not that I really want one. I did receive a "Thank you for being a loyal member" at the last CY I was at, which is more than satisfactory for me.
4. Mega bonus brand posting posted properly without the need for me to call? Nope. Every single account required calling the 800# to get both of 2019 ones added to the accounts.
5. Suite upgrades are happening again? We've seen some. I even got upgraded to one of the nicest suites as a Gold member. I'll give Marriott the benefit of the doubt on this one.
6. Ambassador continues to respond in a timely manner? n/a
7. App and website now allow be to download bills from all properties? Nope. Still not consistent. Ironically, one of my missing stay hotels, once posted, did display a Download Bill button. Others still just show Rebook and have for months.
8. Website is mostly working? Not even close. When it's down for 16+ hours mid-week, not even close. And that's just the site being up. Never mind things like searching for destinations, sorting by price (still missing), or searching by area to work correctly. When it tells me there's only 1 Marriott hotel near Disney it's obvious the website is broken.
9. Mobile key is mostly working at several Marriott properties? Nope. I had it show up once at the last CY I was at. Fortunately when checking in I requested physical keys as well. I'm glad I did -- the mobile key worked for a whole 12 hours and then it disappeared from the app.

Kacee

Based on what I've read, the problem is not David Flueck, but that guest loyalty has been losing out in the intra-corporate political battles. Arne Sorensen's famous "noise around the edges" comment being the perfect example.

margarita girl

bigshooter

Not sure which side to blame for this, but I don't remember ever being able to download a hotel folio from Starwood site, while Marriott before merger always made it available. I guess I can blame the Starwood influence and say that things are now "not the Marriott way" since it's about 50/50 whether I can retrieve a prior folio or not.

What have you had to fax in btw? I know it's YMMV on points/nights posting (I have not had any of the issues others have experienced including a stay that posted this morning from two nights ago), but I can't believe you area being asked to fax in folios.

I think things are messed up, but apparently I have lucked out or just don't care about certain things that others do.

h2rdw1r3d

Just as an aside, I have not once seen 5 happen and that includes the time I went to a property on my birthday, knew they had availability and mentioned very directly that it was a special occasion not only to the front desk but also to the concierge, the manager and whatever poor soul answers the questions in the app chat room. Nothing.

And 7 and 8 are factually incorrect, and could not be true. I have looked at the website and the app and determined that the reason some of the hotels are having issues is because it appears there should have been a migration script of some sort that ran moving things in and out of a directory (/aries-reward along with permission changes) that apparently did not happen. You can watch it all play out in real-time if you go to the site and use the developer tools in Chrome to see the network panel flicker back and forth trying to get into that directory and failing, but only doing so for some properties. I have a stay in San Francisco, works without a hitch. And then there are some that will kick me right back out to the activity page with the hidden error for authentication. So, unless it was fixed in the past 30 minutes when I double checked this to still be the case, then no, it does not work for all properties. The website is awful and I say this as a career professional in web development but I digress.

The website and app are broken and they are doing everything they an to make a bad situation worse. There are entire industries built around crisis management -- textbooks written, studies already done and categorically everything they have done (or failed to do) flies in the face of that wisdom.

UA-NYC

AA had some legacy sAA loyalty program people in charge until recently there IIRC - didn't stop the sUS crew from torpedoing that airline.

Same goes for David Flueck being in charge of loyalty now. When the fish rots from the head (or however it goes), not much he can do to change things.

In many ways it's gotten worse in the month or so post-8/18, not better.

Sabai

UA-NYC

margarita girl

I think he had great plans for a new Marriott loyalty program. Classic example: "No black out dates". I'm sure he didn't expect it would only apply to legacy Starwood properties.

hockeyinsider

On the other hand, Marriott may be thinking most legacy Marriott customers will stay at legacy Marriott properties and most legacy SPG customers will stay at legacy SPG properties.

Regardless, I don't know why everyone here loves David Flueck.

Last spring he and others claimed there would be a breakfast benefit. At best, he was confused. At worst, he was disingenuous, untruthful or whatever else you want to call it.

Beyond policies related to redemptions and categories, the breakfast benefit of elite status has turned out to be one of the biggest complaints.

Just look at this headline from a Marriott press release:


This was fake news. There wasn't "one set of benefits" under the short-lived Marriott Rewards–Starwood SPG–Ritz-Carlton Rewards unified loyalty program.

There also isn't "one set of benefits" under Marriott Bonvoy.

Instead, there was and is a loyalty program with multiple sets of benefits that depend on the property's brand, whether the property is located in North America or somewhere else, and whether the property carries either a "hotel" designation or a "resort" designation.

And here's what Marriott said about breakfast in April 2018: "The breakfast offering for Platinum and Platinum Premier members will be expanded to 23 participating brands, including Courtyard, AC Hotels by Marriott, Protea and Moxy, as well as resorts. For certain brands, members will receive free breakfast or an on-property food and beverage credit for breakfast or other dining options."

But there is neither a "breakfast offering" nor a "credit for breakfast" at some of these brands because what's offered is not significant to cover breakfast. Then, there are the many named-and-shamed properties in brands that are required to provide a "breakfast" in the restaurant -- not a "continental breakfast" and not a "breakfast snack" but "breakfast" -- claiming a muffin or bagel with coffee served at Starbucks or wherever is a compliant "breakfast offering."