The bonvoyed.com website
Mar 9, 2019, 5:35 am
#17
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Toronto, Canada
Programs: Altitude 100K Super Elite; AC Million Miles; Emirates Gold; Bonvoy lifetime Platinum Elite;
Posts: 350
Status renewals. Breakfast policy. Lounge access. Points not posting. Points inaccuracy. Promotion sign-up. Honoring promotions. A total IT cluster cluck. Inadequately trained help-desk staff. And being beaten over the head with pages of terms and conditions that are all too frequently unintelligible and open to interpretation.
Whether you're amused by this or not isn't the point. The point is Marriott deserve this.
Bonvoy. Destroying loyalty one customer at a time. (Breakfast not included).
Last edited by Mustang Sally; Mar 9, 2019 at 5:54 am
Mar 9, 2019, 8:23 am
#19
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Hotel Guru
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Titanium, UA Gold
Posts: 1,455
I honestly wish only half of all those saying they jump ship would actually do it. But I don‘t see that happening. Lounges and hotels are as full as they‘ve always been and the rates remain sky high above the competition (at least where my travel takes me).
Mar 9, 2019, 8:31 am
#20
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
I think the lounges are as full as they have ever been because more and more hotels now bundle lounge access into rates. Some of these properties even have rates that include lounge access on the weekend when their lounge is closed. Talk about deceptive.
Last edited by hockeyinsider; Mar 9, 2019 at 11:19 am Reason: typo
Mar 9, 2019, 8:32 am
#21
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: SPG Lifetime Plat, Hyatt Diamond, Hilton Gold:AA Plat, Now retired but previous NWA PLAT 2 Million +, United 1K plus etc etc
Posts: 541
Great web site, thanks to OP for sharing it!
See the flyertalk thread for does cash and points still exist for another I’ve been bonvoyed story.
If you haven’t been Bonvoyed yet, don’t worry you will. Doesn’t matter if you’re Titanium or a basic member. Can happen to anyone.
See the flyertalk thread for does cash and points still exist for another I’ve been bonvoyed story.
If you haven’t been Bonvoyed yet, don’t worry you will. Doesn’t matter if you’re Titanium or a basic member. Can happen to anyone.
Last edited by Bigshaker; Mar 9, 2019 at 8:54 am Reason: Add
Mar 9, 2019, 10:40 am
#22
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: DCA
Posts: 7,769
Yeah, the messaging ship sailed months ago. We had "Link your accounts", then we had "No, really, link your accounts", then we had "Combine your accounts", which would have led most people to believe that they were working with the new program. Then, all of a sudden, they decide to launch a "new new" program without actually changing or fixing anything. A better approach would have been to keep things separate until they can actually handle doing it all in one shot, with a formal launch and associated changes.
Mar 9, 2019, 11:06 am
#23
Join Date: May 2013
Programs: UA Au Marriott Ti Hilton C
Posts: 159
I think this whole fiasco will end up in Harvard Business Review as a cautionary tale. I’ve been through plenty of M&A in my career and it’s common for one side (generally the acquired) to feel burned by the process.
It’s less common for both sides to be unhappy and that takes real talent from management.
Of course, I acknowledge that shareholders and property owners may feel differently.
It’s less common for both sides to be unhappy and that takes real talent from management.
Of course, I acknowledge that shareholders and property owners may feel differently.
Mar 9, 2019, 11:17 am
#24
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2017
Programs: AS 75K, DL Silver, UA Platinum, Hilton Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Marriott Platinum + LT Gold
Posts: 10,496
So many folks posting about "unexpected downgrade to Gold", including here 
What was unexpected? It was clearly spelled out in the T&C from last year. Also, your status is still comp'd through the partnership with UA.
Kindly enjoy Hilton where everyone can be a Diamond for $450/yr.
What was unexpected? It was clearly spelled out in the T&C from last year. Also, your status is still comp'd through the partnership with UA.
Kindly enjoy Hilton where everyone can be a Diamond for $450/yr.
Mar 9, 2019, 1:03 pm
#25
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: BOS/EAP
Programs: UA 1K, MR LTT, HH Dia, Amex Plat
Posts: 32,026
Mar 9, 2019, 2:21 pm
#27
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SLC/HEL/Anywhere with a Beach
Programs: Marriott Ambassador; AA EXP 3MM; AS MVP, Hilton Gold, CH-47/UH-60/C-23/C-130 VET
Posts: 5,234
I think this whole fiasco will end up in Harvard Business Review as a cautionary tale. I’ve been through plenty of M&A in my career and it’s common for one side (generally the acquired) to feel burned by the process.
It’s less common for both sides to be unhappy and that takes real talent from management.
Of course, I acknowledge that shareholders and property owners may feel differently.
It’s less common for both sides to be unhappy and that takes real talent from management.
Of course, I acknowledge that shareholders and property owners may feel differently.
Unfortunately, the SPG side has been more vocal on expressing their issues even though the new approach is much more SPG oriented, which is far less consistent than Marriott regulars expect.
A lot of this could have been avoided by better communication, surveys of best guests, and enforcing standards at hotels.
I'm not a Delta regular, but they send me a survey after every flight.
Just sending surveys after every stay to Titanium and Ambassador level guests would involve minimal cost and result in significant cheap improvement.
1. Were you greeted as a ______
2. Were you provided with lounge access
3. Were you offered a breakfast choice with a hot protein
4. Were you provided with a suite upgrade
All that being said, its clear from the 3d and 4th quarter 10Q's that Marriott is doing just as well as its competitors.
It's an excellent social media poke in the eye for a company that has run roughshod over the concept of a loyalty program. Despite multiple requests for clarification and help, Marriott has been largely deaf to their most loyal customers
Status renewals. Breakfast policy. Lounge access. Points not posting. Points inaccuracy. Promotion sign-up. Honoring promotions. A total IT cluster cluck. Inadequately trained help-desk staff. And being beaten over the head with pages of terms and conditions that are all too frequently unintelligible and open to interpretation.
Status renewals. Breakfast policy. Lounge access. Points not posting. Points inaccuracy. Promotion sign-up. Honoring promotions. A total IT cluster cluck. Inadequately trained help-desk staff. And being beaten over the head with pages of terms and conditions that are all too frequently unintelligible and open to interpretation.
That being said, so far in March, there are signs that it is starting to come together.
1. Points are automatically posting again at the proper rate
2. Lounges I have been in have exceeded brand standards with additional fish/meat/cheese at breakfast not required
3. All properties have greeted me at the proper level
4. Mega bonus brand posting posted properly without the need for me to call -- after the initial glitch, of course, posting only two brands
5. Suite upgrades are happening again
6. Ambassador continues to respond in a timely manner
7. App and website now allow be to download bills from all properties
8. Website is mostly working
9. Mobile key is mostly working at several Marriott properties
10. In the earnings call, Arne acknowledged there are actual problems
I suspect a lot of resources and attention were diverted to the state actor data theft problem or some of this would have been taken care of earlier. So, other than the website being intermittently down, things are definitely moving in the right direction.
Mar 9, 2019, 3:33 pm
#28
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Toronto, Canada
Programs: Altitude 100K Super Elite; AC Million Miles; Emirates Gold; Bonvoy lifetime Platinum Elite;
Posts: 350
That being said, so far in March, there are signs that it is starting to come together.
1. Points are automatically posting again at the proper rate
2. Lounges I have been in have exceeded brand standards with additional fish/meat/cheese at breakfast not required
3. All properties have greeted me at the proper level
4. Mega bonus brand posting posted properly without the need for me to call -- after the initial glitch, of course, posting only two brands
5. Suite upgrades are happening again
6. Ambassador continues to respond in a timely manner
7. App and website now allow be to download bills from all properties
8. Website is mostly working
9. Mobile key is mostly working at several Marriott properties
10. In the earnings call, Arne acknowledged there are actual problems.
1. Points are automatically posting again at the proper rate? Inconsistent at best
2. Lounges I have been in have exceeded brand standards with additional fish/meat/cheese at breakfast not required? Not seeing any change
3. All properties have greeted me at the proper level? Nope.
4. Mega bonus brand posting posted properly without the need for me to call? This is a joke, right? Nope.
5. Suite upgrades are happening again? Sporadic
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.
8. Website is mostly working? 'mostly working' not exactly an endorsement. And let's be clear here, the website and the app don't seem to be synced at all.
9. Mobile key is mostly working at several Marriott properties? 'mostly working at several properties... Maybe this sounds better? 'Our planes mostly get to some of our destinations...'
10. In the earnings call, Arne acknowledged there are actual problems: Well good on Mr. Albert Einstein. He's finally woken up to the fact 'there are actual problems...' What a genius to work that one out.
So where are we at after 2 years? 3 out of 10?
I wonder if it'll take good old Albert another 2 years to start do something about it?
Mar 9, 2019, 3:38 pm
#29
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,448
I have to agree with you. I'm seeing no improvement. Still problems with stays posting properly. SNAs have been an utter disaster. Absurdly punitive award cancellation policies are spreading like wildfire. And of course, most of the properties I'm interested in redeeming at just jumped in price by over 40%.
Mar 9, 2019, 4:10 pm
#30
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Toronto, Canada
Programs: Altitude 100K Super Elite; AC Million Miles; Emirates Gold; Bonvoy lifetime Platinum Elite;
Posts: 350
I have to agree with you. I'm seeing no improvement. Still problems with stays posting properly. SNAs have been an utter disaster. Absurdly punitive award cancellation policies are spreading like wildfire. And of course, most of the properties I'm interested in redeeming at just jumped in price by over 40%.
But, as I've said before: Bonvoy. Destroying loyalty one customer at a time. (Breakfast not included).