flyerUSA

for anyone who might think, "there are no stupid questions, only stupid answers" –

i joined this group, for god-knows-why reason, and I can confirm. There are MANY stupid questions. For example, every single question ever asked in the Facebook Marriott group.

Answers are all pretty stupid too.

cubeman

The FB Group is just censorship as well if you post anything criticizing the bonvoy method. Just spent $1500 euros for two rooms at Prince De Galles. I didn't mobile check in because every-time I did I never got the welcome points anyway. The rep offered me points or breakfast and I said since there's no lounge I could opt for breakfast through that channel no? She said no just points. So I agreed for what should have been 1,750 points additional to my stay.

Stay posts, only posts one room and no welcome / lounge points. Amazing. If they agree to post my points at the desk and I leave I can't use my guarantee for either. This time I emailed the ambassador line asking for the $100 for each of the guarantee's and to correct my missing room on my stay.

dgreen12

Well, Hilton just made me a Diamond through March 31, 2023. I hold the business Amex Hilton card (the low end one) and I think the last time I stayed at a Hilton was August 2019. If a Marriott Bonvoy Lurker can let the folks know that are searching diligently for my 10th platinum year of my newly-made Hilton Diamond status, perhaps they'll find that missing 10th platinum year faster.

Otherwise I suppose I keep slugging to maintain my Bonvoy Titanium status (which means the missing 10th platinum year will never show up.)

I'll have to practice future Hilton stays by watching the giraffe video.

WasKnown

Honestly, given the messaging from Marriott to guest oriented sites like TPG, hospitality sites like Skift, and to investors….

It seems a given to me that daily housekeeping is going to go away for a large number of properties. It also seems like Bonvoy will be nerfed. I suspect that will be done through a massive points devaluation and not a loyalty program devaluation (which is worse IMO).

RIP

Horace

The Prince de Galles is a Luxury Collection property.

At Luxury Collection, as well as at most other SPG legacy brands, daily restaurant breakfast for member + 1 is a Platinum Welcome Gift (and higher) choice. Another Platinum Welcome Gift choice is 1000 points. The choice is yours. But you're not entitled to both.

You're thinking of five Marriott Rewards legacy brands that normally provide breakfast in the lounge at non-resort properties. If the lounge is closed or there is no lounge, then you're entitled to 750 points daily or daily continental breakfast in the restaurant for member +1. You get this on top of the Platinum Welcome Gift choice or 1000 points or $10 F&B credit per stay.

Yeah, it's ridiculously complicated to have so many variations of Platinum Elite benefits, but it's a function of two systems being merged, but hotel owners having existing franchise agreements with differently structured benefits.

Even though I primarily stayed at Marriott Rewards properties, not SPG properties, before the merger, I actually prefer the SPG approach. It means when my wife and I travel, we can always get a nice restaurant breakfast for both of us, daily. At Marriott legacy properties, if the lounge is open, complimentary breakfast in the restaurant is not an option. Lounge breakfast can be good, but it can also be quite limited and basic.

khabah

LoyaltyLobby is reporting a devaluation in Platinum benefits:

- The Ultimate Reservation Guarantee at St. Regis and Ritz-Carlton previously offered walked guests compensation of 200 USD or 140000 points to Platinum, Titanium and Ambassador Elites; it has now been amended for Titanium and Ambassador Elites only
- The Guaranteed Room Type is no longer available for guests staying at St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, EDITION, Marriott Vacation Club, Marriott Grand Residence Club, Design Hotels and Vistana.

Sneaky. Probably next up on the chopping block: lounge access for Plats.

khabah

cubeman

I wonder if the room type became an issue because of COVID as they reduced rooms being used. I stayed quite a few hotels this year where they might have had 10-20 floors but only used 4 or 5 and since there were so many kings or doubles on 4 or 5 floors they'd give people doubles that asked for a king.

Regardless, reduced benefits sucks. I'd be annoyed as an Ambassador if my ritz stay was a single king oceanfront and I got two doubles instead.

randomdude

my employer booked a bunch of rooms for an upcoming trip. How to make sure I'll receive the benefits and elite night? Can I add the booking into my account? Or this must be done upon checking in?

cubeman

If your name is already on the room you can call and add your bonvoy number. It'll instantly show in your app.

WasKnown

I did the math. People keep talking about Marriott's portfolio advantage being in random Courtyard and Fairfield Inns. Let's quantify the difference:

Marriott has 2500 full-service properties. Hilton has 1000. Hyatt has 500.
Marriott has 304 "luxury" (loosely using this term but not including brands like JW Marriott, W, Conrad, Grand Hyatt, etc) properties. Hilton has 37. Hyatt has 65.
Marriott has 30 five-star hotels. Hilton has 2. Hyatt has 3.

So if you hate Marriott Bonvoy, your best bet is to hope Hyatt picks off more properties (especially luxury properties). But I think it's safe to assume WoH would be much weaker if Hyatt had a portfolio even remotely competitive with Marriott's.

In terms of portfolio composition, 30% of Marriott's properties are full service, 66% are limited-service and 4% are "luxury". 0.36% are five star.

--
To better understand the portfolio difference, let's use an example. Let's say you hate every Marriott limited-service property, 80% of all full-service Marriott properties, and 75% of all"luxury" Marriott properties. Let's also say you love 100% of the Hyatt full-service and "luxury" properties. Even in this extreme scenario, Marriott still has a superior portfolio.

fedor

General question from a Marriott newbie here. I signed up to Marriot Bonvey last November and my wife and I did 9 nights at the St Regis in Abu Dhabi. We also booked 2 nights at a Marriott London hotel in December so I could get to Silver Elite status, but we then had to cancel that booking because of Covid restrictions.

My question is, have I screwed up by remaining stuck on 9 nights last year, as it means I am still at basic member status and have to start again this year? I am a bit bewildered by the complexity of how best to navigate the loyalty scheme for maximum benefit. I generally do around 25-30 nights per year, so I should hit Gold by the end of the year if I don't screw up again?

EDIT: Apologies if this is the wrong thread to ask this

ftrichard

Well, I'll answer whether or not it's the correct thread. Your qualifying nights are counted by calendar year Jan-Dec and reset to zero on Jan 1. You don't carry over "unused" nights. So, yes, your nine nights from last year are now a sunk cost. As you're new to Bonvoy, you will learn that the first tier of status that actually gives you anything meaningful (suite upgrades, breakfast, lounge access, 4pm late check-outs) is the 50-night Platinum tier. Your experience at this tier will depend on the region (Asia is great, Europe okay, US currently meh apparently), the brand, the hotel itself, and your loyalty to the individual hotel but in general you can say that the tier worth going for is Platinum. So, whether you hit Silver or Gold is pretty much a moot point. Don't beat yourself up about it but get out a spreadsheet and work out how you can get to Platinum. 50 nights may feel like an impossibility but... there's a double night promo at the moment so pack your stays in the next few months and if you're in the US or the UK take out a credit card that gives you 15 qualifying nights up front. With a credit card, you'd only need 18 nights during the current promo to hit 50 nights and you'd be Platinum through January 2024. Food for thought.

fedor

Thank you very much ftrichard, this is really helpful and I have a much better idea of how to go about this now.

gobluetwo

Kind of annoyed at Marriott right now. Had to call in to get signed up for the Q1 global promotion. Wasn' showing up in my account promotions page.

cubeman

Anyone see where you book multiple rooms and when they finally assign/upgrade rooms to your reservation they drop multiple rooms? Just had a 3 room res get knocked down to only 1 room and charges lining up to only 1 room. Hotel seems to have availability but now the price is double per night then when I booked. Emailed Ambassador line to see if they can get this resolved before I get burned out of a few extra thousand dollars now trying to get rooms not even a week prior to a stay in a popular place during spring break...