arlflyer

Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if these moves from the airlines were a pure money grab, betting on leakage. Take the money now, and then either don't cancel flights until very, very late (so customers can't get refunds), promise refunds but simply stonewall or don't give them, make changing tickets so difficult that many customers abandon, go through restructurings where the customers are way down the list of those getting paid out, etc. Kind of like how restaurants will be happy to sell gift certificates up until the day before they go out of business.

GrayAnderson

There are a few thoughts here. IANAL, TINLA, please consult a competent lawyer you trust, I do not know what laws are relevant (i.e. the jurisdiction you are in) and I have not read your contract, but:
-I suspect that the Hilton would have trouble prevailing in a collection action. It would depend a bit on the phrasing of things and the circumstances of the event...a mostly local get-together might be harder to kick, but a wedding where half of the family is coming from Europe would probably "trip the breaker" due to travel restrictions (at least in being able to force a downsizing). Even a significant contingent from the Bay Area might well trip this. The main impediment to their collection action is likely to be the fact that the case would be heard well down the line.
-By the same token, you might have room to sue them for failing to observe their force majeure clause and argue that this qualifies as a "natural disaster".or "Act of God". Hilton's decision to make all reservations refundable probably undermines the franchisee's case (particularly since this might constitute interference with any block you may have negotiated...I know there was one event in the UK that was having to deal with this, though I think the hotel climbed down on the event as well in the end).

Basically, I would cast doubt on the idea that pure "legal impossibility" is required at this stage. There are enough smaller circumstances piling up surrounding the virus (travel disruptions, meeting bans/gathering restriction sizes, and so on) that while the hotels are presumably staking out the best position they can at this point (some of them could easily go bust in the next month or two at this rate) it is not clear to me that their position is going to be legally tenable. But I sort-of can't blame them for doing what they can, either.

I think if they cancel late, customers would still be getting refunds (I'd also suggest that if they're intentionally holding massive schedule contractions until, say, 24 hours out there are going to be interesting cases about "conspiracy to defraud"...for another forum but worth noting). Also worth noting is that Delta is converting to credits automatically (the process isn't intentionally difficult; the system is just utterly overwhelmed at times) and I suspect that if you're the subject of a last-minute rebook (i.e. within 24-48 hours of travel) you'll be able to prevail on a chargeback.

Edit: And now we've got a Level 4 travel advisory out there, which just adds to the pile of things weighing against hotels trying to duck out on force majeure.

arlflyer

I'd actually raised this elsewhere, but in the case of the airlines, what if they actually wait to cancel until after the check-in window has closed? If someone hasn't checked in by the time the window closes, aren't they then a no-show and not entitled to a refund if there is cancellation?

GrayAnderson

Delta, at least, is simply defaulting no-shows to a credit. I think that's because a not-unreasonable response is "Yes, and I couldn't call in." At one point when I called a six-hour wait time was cited.

ckendall

Marriott International Inc. MAR 11.65% plans to furlough thousands of corporate employees at its headquarters and other cities around the world, the company confirmed to The Wall Street Journal, continuing a massive shrinking of payroll this week.

A Marriott spokeswoman said that the company was furloughing about two-thirds of its 4,000 corporate employees at the company’s Bethesda, Md., headquarters. Marriott is also furloughing about two-thirds of its corporate staff abroad, though the spokeswoman said she couldn’t immediately provide the number of Marriott corporate overseas jobs.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/marriot...d=hp_lead_pos2

cfabar1

Who will be left? At least they are furloughs only and not downright layoffs. No way that at the end of this period all the workers furloughed have jobs waiting for them.

Are they eligible for short term disability or other such benefits during this time?

It truly saddens me that Marriott was so poorly prepared to navigate this crisis. Their workers deserve better.

arlflyer

The front-line workers who break their backs cleaning rooms and cooking food absolutely deserve better.

The corporate folks who were engineering poor cash management schemes and figuring out how to put the screws to their most loyal customers? I hate to be vindictive, but I'm kinda torn...

whimsey21

The people that were designing lousy programs are most likely the ones not getting furloughed. Sadly I think this will mostly hit the people who were implementing those programs. The corporate bigwigs are no doubt too “crucial” to stop working.

cfabar1

Or keep working until they are BAILED OUT!!!

yurtripper

As UA-NYC pointed out on another thread, they were thoughtful enough to roll out mass downgrades today (no soft landing, despite lurker promises of such) just before putting 90% of the IT team on furlough.

Plat to Silver, Titanium to Gold. Something to remember Marriott fondly by in these dark times!

SPN Lifer

This all gives new meaning to the slogan:

You’ve been Bonv°yed!