nexusCFX

Marriott pays Expedia a 12% commission when the stay is booked through them. That's where the value of your benefits went.
Yes everyone here is obviously a Marriott employee rather than people pointing out a well-documented industry-standard policy that you could resolve with your TA for future bookings. We're all the same person, having spent many years making tens of thousands of posts across several accounts all for the evil purpose of trying to deceive you in the year 2020. You caught me.

Lifetimenotelite

Not at all. They still get money.

kevflyer

Unfortunately it's the same with other chains like Hilton....

Smiley90

words that have never been typed before


Saying "that's the rules" isn't "defending", it's simply stating facts.

escapefromphl

Lol I wish. This is really something Marriott needs to strong arm Expedia about, these rates are meant for college kids and 20 somethings etc, not well healed corporate travelers. Expedia has saturated the leisure market so it’s expanding into corporate travel now... this is not something that bodes well for most here.

lingua101

sometimes I wonder, why people with over 2500 nights and LT Titanium (which should be MR Plat lifetime?), but do not know the "basic" rule of the game

i only stay more than 10% of that nights.... but I know that non direct booking will not have any Elite benefit.....

Smiley90

to be fair - pre-Merger marriott was one of the few hotel programs that DID grant elite benefits on 3rd party bookings. That went away sometime pre merger (or at the merger? I don't recall). So the poster coming from the Marriott-side might've simply missed the change in the T&C.

SightseeMC

Your anger at FT posters is misplaced. You have been

1. Shown what the issue is (OTA booking)
2. Told who is to blame and why (your company travel office, because they booked rates ineligible for benefits as Marriott has clearly stated)
3. Given a solution (contact your travel office and have them book correct rates)

FT has a reputation for harshness on new arrivals, sometimes warranted. But your anger at not getting the answer you want from people here isn't proving that point, nor helping you on future questions.

der_saeufer

You can complain that other FTers and/or Marriott are being mean to you, but that's not going to change the root cause of the problem here. My employment situation means that my hotel rooms are booked through no fewer than three different travel agencies depending on where the trip is and who's paying for it. I have never been denied elite benefits at any Marriott family property because our travel agent is booking published or negotiated 'corporate' rates. I have been denied elite benefits--and MR, er, Bonvoy points--when I book a Priceline 'express deal' on a personal trip and wind up at a Marriott, but that's clearly indicated in the program rules and it's a fair trade for getting a room for half the price available through Marriott.

Your company's travel agent is using bulk/consolidator/opaque/whatever we're calling them rates through one of the OTAs and Marriott is treating the bookings accordingly. I could write a book full of things I hate about Marriott, but this wouldn't be in it.

This is like complaining that National is being mean to you and not letting you take a car from the executive selection when your travel agent reserved you a subcompact. Or complaining that United gives upgrades to Silvers while you sit in a middle seat in E- as a 1K because someone bought you a basic economy fare.

tl;dr: I'm sorry your employer is such a cheapskate.

I think denying elite benefits and Bonvoy points for stays booked this way is Marriott pushing back against the super-discount OTAs. It's not a new policy at all, but it's newly affecting business travelers whose companies are looking to save every last penny. If enough people like the OP take it up with their corporate travel agents like they should instead of complaining on FT, at least some companies will stop using the super-discounters for work travel.

R.O.

TROLOLOL

Hotels have to pay a sizable commission/fee when a customer books through OTA. The cost situation is totally different from a direct booking. And obviously, the hotel and the chain have further advantages when a customer books direct (just giving you two buzz words: big data and business intelligence).

fdem

I am most certainly not a defender of Marriott but if you have travelled 2500 nights you should better understand how the program works. It is 100% down to your employer by booking through an ota. Imagine if everyone whether silver, gold or above just booked using oats then what purpose would Marriott Bonvoy serve! Either explain to your boss that in order for you to get your perks you need to book via bonvoy or a travel agent that Marriott recognises.

warakorn

If I get to know, that "our" external consultants are booking more expensive hotel rates in order to receive elite benefits (e.g. free nights etc.) and charging it to us, these externals will get a boot.

warakorn

It always puzzles me. On the one hand the hotels are complaining about the high commissions that need to be paid to the OTAs.
On the other hand the hotels are releasing cheaper room buckets to these OTAs, but are not offering those cheaper rates on direct sales channels.

X-ON

Read the T&C of the MB program and it will be obvious why you are treated like a non-member, nowadays this is industry standard.
Why do MAR design the MB program in this way? I would suspect that it is to increase the booking through their own booking interface and reduce the fees paid to OTA, i.e. MB have at least two objectives:
(1) Get travelers to stay at Marriott portfolio hotels
(2) Get the above travelers to book through marriott.com

You can choose to be outraged over this practice but until something material change in the hospitality industry you will be your rate....

lingua101

is this true?

It probably gone pre-merger.

is it written as part if T&C or a goodwill done by the hotel? and I have found many instance like this in some other forum. Elite Gold/Platinum and they do not even understand the basic rules

but seriously with 2,500 nights he should fall into savvy traveler, not?