porphyra

I am wondering if anyone has had any experience with getting the Go To Travel discount with Marriott in Japan. I have done it with Hyatt, and Hyatt handles the entire process themselves at check-in as long as booked on their website. However, Marriott claims you need to register on a third party website called Stay Navi. Has anyone used this, or can Marriott hotels process this at check-in like Hyatt without needing to register at Stay Navi?

partickboy

I was informed by the front desk at the Hiroshima Sheraton that for Marriott the Go-to-Travel campaign will only work for them through the Stay-navi system. They　gave me a printout (in Japanese) of the steps necessary. I've used it since; book through Marriott as normal, register with the Stay-navi system, input the details of the stay and that generates the discount. They send you an email, 35% off the price with some vouchers for another 10-15% or so, When I've used it I haven't needed to do anything, the front desk already seem to have it factored in and they give you the vouchers. I've used it with IHG hotels as well and it was the same.

porphyra

Thanks. Will try it. Did an independent ryokan this weekend - booked via Rakuten and it was all handled inside Rakuten (35% off the room, and the ryokan had my 15% worth of coupons ready at check-in). Again, unsure why Marriott makes you use a third party website but I guess if it works ok, then so be it - just one extra step.

Traveler56789

Anyone have experience using this for a corporate rate?

i just made a booking using my companies corporate code, and Marriott website is telling me I have to use StayNavi to apply for a discount to get that rate.

MSPeconomist

Is Go To Travel restricted to leisure travel or does it apply to business trips too? This could cause a problem with the corporate rate as most of these are set up for business travel.

Traveler56789

after giving this some more thought, I think the message I got about using the StayNavi website was just a blanketed notice that impacts all bookings regardless of if I used a Corp code or not.

I emailed the hotel to clarify

shonanroger

You must be a resident of Japan to be able to use Go To Travel. However, the campaign is currently put on hold. Not clear when it will be restarted. Depends on the further development of new infection numbers.

I applied once for the discount through Stay Navi using a non eligible rate. The application disappeared later from my personal Stay Navi page, and the hotel called me and informed me that the rate was not eligible for the go to travel discount. I rebooked with another rate.

Until beginning of November it was possible to use Go To Travel discounts for business travel. However, on October 29th the Japan Tourism Agency released a notification that Go To Travel discounts shall not be applicable for business travel starting November 6th.

porphyra

Agreed on the above. Another thing to mention is that they are very specific of either booking direct on a leisure rate or through one of the authorized agencies. For instance, I had a booking at an SLH via Hyatt's booking site and the hotel emailed me and told me that that rate was not valid for Go To Travel, as it was not direct (SLH only have a marketing relationship with Hyatt). They however, offered me a lower rate with breakfast that was applicable, and it made sense to forgo the Hyatt eligible earnings for the amount of discount that I received.

All said and done, I don't know if this is ever coming back now. By the end of 2020 it got a lot of flack for the reason COVID was on the rise, and Suga-san came under a lot of heat with regards to the program. It was initially suspended until Jan 11, but they seem to be in no hurry to bring it back as the suspension has been pushed forward since then.

CPH-Flyer

I am fairly certain GoTo Travel will return, it was suspended for the new year's period to not encourage too much travel there; then the state of emergency was declared and extended, and GoTo Travel followed.
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Once Tokyo is out of state of emergency, we will see it again. I could suspect with suspension during main hanami, or only starting after, and suspended again for Golden Week. No need to subsidise those periods.

fmkgb

Hi,
i believe the campaign is active again as I am getting this message when trying to book senior rate in Sendai for late October/early November:
"Please note - You must apply for discount on STAYNAVI website to get Go To Travel discount from the below rates."

Question: Do I still need to be a resident of Japan to get this discount? I am not. I will be vacationing from USA in Japan.

CPH-Flyer

You still need to be a resident of Japan to use this campaign.

fmkgb

I understand, thanks.

CPH-Flyer

Just to be clear. It is not a Marriott campaign activity, it is a government of Japan activity.

fmkgb

Yes, makes sense Japanese government would subsidize residents to stimulate domestic travel. Tourists will likely stay in hotels anyway. Thanks.