craigthemif

If they only do it 2 months from now, they will have permanently alienated anybody other than their "I stay at Marriott no matter what" members.

Marriott have a couple of weeks at most, before it becomes obvious that they are actively trying to avoid doing the right thing, rather than just analysing the situation...

LDNConsultant

I agree - with the recent news of Hilton/Hyatt (from major hotel chains) to Delta/UA/Qantas/QR/Air New Zealand - extending status, I give Marriott till post Easter Holiday to announce it.

JBord

I think this is a fair point. On the other hand, if they ultimately do the right thing and extend status like everyone else, before all the "stay at home" orders are rescinded, I'm not sure it makes much difference. They currently look like an outlier, but I would imagine the average non-FT person would forget quickly as long as they make the announcement prior to travel returning to a more normal state.

At some point, it just makes more sense for them to announce it soon and get it over with though. I assume they're getting calls from people asking if they'll extend like everyone else. Take the burden off their employees, make a decision and communicate it.

escapefromphl

I’m expecting to resume travel by late May or early June. The death rate will still be high then but new infections should be lower. Hopefully they also offer lower threshold like United (or faster qualification promotions) by that point as extending 2020 status doesn’t work for some.

Fims

Basically I'd be expecting a fair treatment globally, or at least across non-US countries, which were also impacted by COVID19 and do not have option to get extra 30 nights by credit card spend/sign-up. As they gave extra 12 months to Greater China... then now that should apply globally. Or if they don't want to.. They could send message to all Greater China members that "Sorry, 12 months extension was a hoax, you need to requalify like everyone else."

X-ON

More likely, and in line with MAR current communication policy, just downgrade Greater China members at the end of the year without saying anything ... and when people inquire they say "...sorry but we changed policy one week ago...."

cfabar1

My approach with Marriott has moved into "wait and see". I'm inclined to move all my stays to Hyatt whenever possible. Frankly, Platinum hasn't meant anything since SPG ended anyways. If things change, I may come back. Otherwise, probably not. Hyatt has better properties, often better prices.

Kacee

Given all that Marriott has already done to alienate members, I'm not sure delay in announcing the inevitable will have any additional material impact.

MSPeconomist

What's the point of AMB status if one no longer has an Ambassador?

SunshineStay

Who needs an ambassador right now, when you cannot travel anyways?

But coming back to the topic and following the mantra that everything has already been said, but not by everyone :
How hard is it for Marriott to do the right thing here? If it was okay to extend the status in Greater China, why not do the obvious and extend status for the rest of the world as well?

GoldenItalianBoy

Impact of Covid19 in Italy is now worse than China (if we compare official numbers of deaths, of course): I really hope that will be taken into consideration by Marriott, even if here we are just a few members....

lost_in_translation

It's looking like the whole of Europe and North America is going to end up being more affected than China, making Marriott's current position a bit bizarre.

I think the issue is Marriott was originally working on a (typical, pretty short-sighted, slightly insular) assumption that this was a problem far away and wouldn't really affect the rest of their business materially. Therefore they obviously figured extending status for the relatively small number of status members in China was an easy decision and wouldn't affect the rest of the loyalty scheme much. Now they're faced with doing the same thing for all of Europe/Asia, or God forbid the US, it's a very different calculation. I have a feeling the management team in charge of Bonvoy wish they hadn't done this in China now.

Kacee

It doesn't matter. They'll have to match the competition. Same as AA will.

samosa

Apparently they extended by 12 months, but choice benefits still need to be earned.

kaizen7

Fair enough.
The 50 and 75 nights choices can become the benefit for people who manage to travel during this period and reach those nights the hard way

so in 2021 member could theoretically have 20 SNA in their account