Al Maha claims they're overbooked and want to cancel my reservation
Mar 31, 2019, 6:37 pm
#166
Join Date: Sep 2018
Programs: Alaska
Posts: 2,188
i remembered it differently. It seems that the T&Cs have changed regarding point advance. The last sentence is different.
I did find an older version around merger.
i need check my point advance reservations and see what language they use. I did not remember about converting to BAR. My PA reservation is not in this property.
About my point advance reservation, not in this property.
You need additional points to make your hotel stay. Please remember to return here and deduct the points after you've earned them.
If you do not have sufficient points to use for a Redemption intended to be paid with points 15 days prior to your reservation, Marriott Bonvoy reserves the right to cancel your reservation. See terms and conditions.
If you do not have sufficient points to use for a Redemption intended to be paid with points 15 days prior to your reservation, Marriott Bonvoy reserves the right to cancel your reservation. See terms and conditions.
Mar 31, 2019, 6:43 pm
#167
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
most will not understand how point advance works after rate change. You gotta cut the hotel some slack about not knowing how many points to charge. That’s Marriott’s job, not the hotel’s.
The problem is OP has no intention to confirm all its reservations. OP uses point advance to book all possible date around NYE, only confirms one(?) and intend to cancel one(?) after finalising plan.
Maybe you should OP when he/she will cancel his/her unwanted reservations. He/she booked multiple without intention to confirm all.
OP is not alone with this. Tell me as a property manager how you intend to manage revenue?
Marriott creates a mess and now members are going to lose more aspirational properties.
The reality is people make deposit free, cash reservations -- sometimes multiple books across multiple dates -- and then cancel. So, that's no different than speculative award-redemption bookings.
And, as I've also said, it's March. The original poster's stay is in December. This property won't have an issue filling unexpected openings that could come about about a month from now or three months from now.
Mar 31, 2019, 7:22 pm
#168
Join Date: Sep 2018
Programs: Alaska
Posts: 2,188
Look, I have said that I think original poster very well could be a scammer but the property is a proven bad actor. When it comes to this hotel: Fool me once, shame on them; fool me twice, shame on me.
The reality is people make deposit free, cash reservations -- sometimes multiple books across multiple dates -- and then cancel. So, that's no different than speculative award-redemption bookings.
And, as I've also said, it's March. The original poster's stay is in December. This property won't have an issue filling unexpected openings that could come about about a month from now or three months from now.
The reality is people make deposit free, cash reservations -- sometimes multiple books across multiple dates -- and then cancel. So, that's no different than speculative award-redemption bookings.
And, as I've also said, it's March. The original poster's stay is in December. This property won't have an issue filling unexpected openings that could come about about a month from now or three months from now.
The difference with refundable rate is those are cash reservations, hotels can afford to overbook by a big margin. Hotels will be stupid to overbook for awards redemption. The points are worth a lot less to the properties. The penalty for a walk is simply too high for award redemption.
Apr 4, 2019, 8:34 am
#169
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 66
An update. Here are the latest emails I received from the GM:
----------
"Good day to you.
Thank you for your patience.
I am writing to keep you informed that we will not cancel any of the reservations you currently hold. As you mentioned in your previous email these bookings are confirmed as per Marriott statement. These bookings will also be redeemable at the 60,000 points per night as agreed by Marriott.
Thank you again for your loyalty and understanding.
I wish you a great day.
Please let me know if can assist with anything further."
------------------
I followed up and ask if he managed to resolve the overbooking and he said "The situation is not entirely resolved yet. I am still working on this." As I'm hoping to finalize my plans soon, I pressed further and asked if how/when can I know for sure if he will have a room for me, and what compensation he can give if I have to be moved. Here's the response:
----------
"As mentioned, your reservations are in place and will not be cancelled. The booking on 31st of December has already been paid for by redemption points.
In case we have to ask some of your other bookings to be moved, depending on the situation closer to the dates, we will be offering the compensation as per Marriot’s Guest Compensation policy."
------------
So it's not entirely clear, but after thinking about what the ideal outcome is, I know that I still want to stay at Al Maha, preferably over NYE. He agreed to keep my reservation and to try to "work on" the overbooking. So I'll probably check back in a few months and check in again, as I'm content with where things are for now (although I still have some doubts on whether the hotel is really full). I really am not the type that likes to go to court with anyone, let alone a royal family, and I think the GM has been gracious enough to earn continued politeness.
Will report back there are any meaningful developments.
----------
"Good day to you.
Thank you for your patience.
I am writing to keep you informed that we will not cancel any of the reservations you currently hold. As you mentioned in your previous email these bookings are confirmed as per Marriott statement. These bookings will also be redeemable at the 60,000 points per night as agreed by Marriott.
Thank you again for your loyalty and understanding.
I wish you a great day.
Please let me know if can assist with anything further."
------------------
I followed up and ask if he managed to resolve the overbooking and he said "The situation is not entirely resolved yet. I am still working on this." As I'm hoping to finalize my plans soon, I pressed further and asked if how/when can I know for sure if he will have a room for me, and what compensation he can give if I have to be moved. Here's the response:
----------
"As mentioned, your reservations are in place and will not be cancelled. The booking on 31st of December has already been paid for by redemption points.
In case we have to ask some of your other bookings to be moved, depending on the situation closer to the dates, we will be offering the compensation as per Marriot’s Guest Compensation policy."
------------
So it's not entirely clear, but after thinking about what the ideal outcome is, I know that I still want to stay at Al Maha, preferably over NYE. He agreed to keep my reservation and to try to "work on" the overbooking. So I'll probably check back in a few months and check in again, as I'm content with where things are for now (although I still have some doubts on whether the hotel is really full). I really am not the type that likes to go to court with anyone, let alone a royal family, and I think the GM has been gracious enough to earn continued politeness.
Will report back there are any meaningful developments.
Apr 4, 2019, 8:40 am
#170
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
An update. Here are the latest emails I received from the GM:
----------
"Good day to you.
Thank you for your patience.
I am writing to keep you informed that we will not cancel any of the reservations you currently hold. As you mentioned in your previous email these bookings are confirmed as per Marriott statement. These bookings will also be redeemable at the 60,000 points per night as agreed by Marriott.
Thank you again for your loyalty and understanding.
I wish you a great day.
Please let me know if can assist with anything further."
------------------
I followed up and ask if he managed to resolve the overbooking and he said "The situation is not entirely resolved yet. I am still working on this." As I'm hoping to finalize my plans soon, I pressed further and asked if how/when can I know for sure if he will have a room for me, and what compensation he can give if I have to be moved. Here's the response:
----------
"As mentioned, your reservations are in place and will not be cancelled. The booking on 31st of December has already been paid for by redemption points.
In case we have to ask some of your other bookings to be moved, depending on the situation closer to the dates, we will be offering the compensation as per Marriot’s Guest Compensation policy."
------------
So it's not entirely clear, but after thinking about what the ideal outcome is, I know that I still want to stay at Al Maha, preferably over NYE. He agreed to keep my reservation and to try to "work on" the overbooking. So I'll probably check back in a few months and check in again, as I'm content with where things are for now (although I still have some doubts on whether the hotel is really full). I really am not the type that likes to go to court with anyone, let alone a royal family, and I think the GM has been gracious enough to earn continued politeness.
Will report back there are any meaningful developments.
----------
"Good day to you.
Thank you for your patience.
I am writing to keep you informed that we will not cancel any of the reservations you currently hold. As you mentioned in your previous email these bookings are confirmed as per Marriott statement. These bookings will also be redeemable at the 60,000 points per night as agreed by Marriott.
Thank you again for your loyalty and understanding.
I wish you a great day.
Please let me know if can assist with anything further."
------------------
I followed up and ask if he managed to resolve the overbooking and he said "The situation is not entirely resolved yet. I am still working on this." As I'm hoping to finalize my plans soon, I pressed further and asked if how/when can I know for sure if he will have a room for me, and what compensation he can give if I have to be moved. Here's the response:
----------
"As mentioned, your reservations are in place and will not be cancelled. The booking on 31st of December has already been paid for by redemption points.
In case we have to ask some of your other bookings to be moved, depending on the situation closer to the dates, we will be offering the compensation as per Marriot’s Guest Compensation policy."
------------
So it's not entirely clear, but after thinking about what the ideal outcome is, I know that I still want to stay at Al Maha, preferably over NYE. He agreed to keep my reservation and to try to "work on" the overbooking. So I'll probably check back in a few months and check in again, as I'm content with where things are for now (although I still have some doubts on whether the hotel is really full). I really am not the type that likes to go to court with anyone, let alone a royal family, and I think the GM has been gracious enough to earn continued politeness.
Will report back there are any meaningful developments.
Apr 5, 2019, 11:38 am
#172
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Aug 2002
Programs: UALifetimePremierGold, Marriott LifetimeTitanium
Posts: 71,110
It sounds like your booking is ok & they're hoping someone else will cave/agree to be booked elsewhere, which is why they're able to say your booking will not be canceled.
Cheers.
Cheers.
Apr 13, 2019, 4:21 pm
#174
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Atlanta Metro
Programs: DL , AC, BA, Hhonors Diamond, IH Platinum, Bonvoy Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 2,356
Just now getting around to checking back in on this thread.
Boy, that GM sure changed his tune. Now it sounds as if the hotel was just trying to bully you into canceling your reservations, and when you put up a fight, they gave up. I'll be interested to see what happens New Years Eve 2020.
Boy, that GM sure changed his tune. Now it sounds as if the hotel was just trying to bully you into canceling your reservations, and when you put up a fight, they gave up. I'll be interested to see what happens New Years Eve 2020.
Apr 13, 2019, 5:18 pm
#175
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 902
Did he? Or did the hotel hust postpone the issue to later days? If overbooking is not resolved by the stay dates, maybe OP will arrive at the hotel just to be walked to a midrange hotel in the Dubai suburbs (by then all nice hotels will be fully booked), with USD 200 and 90k points in his/her pocket and the holidays ruined.
Apr 13, 2019, 5:41 pm
#176
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 17,455
Did he? Or did the hotel hust postpone the issue to later days? If overbooking is not resolved by the stay dates, maybe OP will arrive at the hotel just to be walked to a midrange hotel in the Dubai suburbs (by then all nice hotels will be fully booked), with USD 200 and 90k points in his/her pocket and the holidays ruined.
Apr 14, 2019, 4:40 am
#177
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
Did he? Or did the hotel hust postpone the issue to later days? If overbooking is not resolved by the stay dates, maybe OP will arrive at the hotel just to be walked to a midrange hotel in the Dubai suburbs (by then all nice hotels will be fully booked), with USD 200 and 90k points in his/her pocket and the holidays ruined.
Apr 14, 2019, 6:37 am
#178
Join Date: Aug 2018
Posts: 902
Apr 14, 2019, 10:45 am
#179
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
Yes, but weren't his reservations over different days that weren't necessarily consecutive? So, they may accomodate him the first and fourth nights but not the second and term or whatever.
Apr 14, 2019, 1:21 pm
#180
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,413