iknowthings

The change was, in part, to correct this. Each room posts as a separate line item in your activity now, with only one of the (up to) 3 awarding Elite Night Credits. Previously, it was as you said, where there was only one line item for all rooms, which caused issues often.

littlevoices

Sigh, this one is such a PITA move, though I knew that when it popped up in the FAQ. I appreciate what iknowthings means, in that the chances of points posting properly from 3 rooms was fairly slim, even with the same dates, never mind with different dates. However, this one keeps popping up and causing me annoyances so thought I'd pointlessly complain here. My challenge is really around people connecting from different timezones, which often means an extra night either side of the main reservation occurs due to flight timings.

Just had to do a booking that means I am actually checking out of a hotel a day earlier than I would have done otherwise to avoid losing out on USD1000 of credit for the second room on a 3 night stay. But that means the hotel loses some ~300USD for a fourth night to a competitor. It certainly won't be the last time this happens....

GalaxyChris

if you use a cashback website, you will get only one room cashback

rccsd

Super disappointed by this new policy and Marriott's complete lack of flexibility. Just completed a stay in Asia where I had 2 rooms, 1 from 9/26-9/30 and another room from 9/27-9/30. I unexpectedly had to stay another night so I booked another night for both rooms from 9/30 -10/1 on a separate reservation. When I arrived to check in, the JW Marriott had already combined the extra night to my existing reservation for each room. They did this completely unsolicited. Now, Marriott is refusing to give me points for the second room for the entire stay from 9/27-10/1.

At the very least, I should be given points for second room from 9/30-10/1 since they were on a completely different reservation where both rooms matched up on the dates. However, Marriott is still refusing to budge.

This rule is completely asinine. I do not see any logic in this policy other than to make it difficult for people to get the points they deserve. I could have easily booked 1 night for 1 room and then 2 rooms for the next 4 nights. What's the rationale for this policy. This is totally frustrating and sucks.

iknowthings

I can't tell if you are seeking an explanation or just venting, so I'll assume the latter and just offer advice.

If the hotel truly did deprive you of the points for one room on one night, you should make that your focus instead of trying to get the stay adjusted. That would fall into a service failure rather than a policy conflict. Ask the hotel, either directly or via CS, to compensate you the missing points. It sounds like they could learn the lesson that they shouldn't be doing that anyway.

littlevoices

I am not sure if I agree with the logic, as the hotel is just trying to be helpful. From a typical organisational perspective, the hotel is essentially doing you a favour by properly combining the reservations, by which I mean stopping my keycard working part way through the stay (ok, its a minor inconvenience to get it re-cut, but it always seems to be such a long walk to the front desk) and keeping any room upgrades intact.

It doesn't mean it can't be tried, but the number of guests inconvenienced from not combining reservations with likely outweigh those trying to do multi room stays .

iknowthings

Every hotel has the capability to make your key card work from check-in to any checkout. From today until next month. Until July 31, 3099. How do you think master keys work? They're just a keycard with access to all rooms with a "checkout" of 100 years from now.

Combining reservations is the easy way, not the only way. You having to checkout and check back in and get your card rekeyed is a choice the hotel is making, not a necessity.
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rccsd

I was mostly venting but also curious if anyone could think of a legitimate, rational reason for this policy (other than to stick it to members) that might make me feel better about their decision.

I also understand the hotel was trying to be helpful which is another reason why they shouldn't be discouraged from performing this service . The policy change seems to just make life more difficult for everyone for the sake of withholding a few points. To be clear, the few points matter to me but probably doesn't move the needle for Marriott.

cubeman

At first I thought this policy would cost them money, but reality just increased earnings since now I have to equalize all my stays with rooms.

iknowthings

The main reason was to reduce the amount of stays that don't post and increase the speed at which they do. Previously, the way the system worked, if there were multiple rooms with varying dates, they'd sit in a sort of purgatory while the system tried to figure out which one to post and add all the credit together. Or it would reject it as an overlapping stay. With the new method, everything just posts when it comes in, and the first room receives ENC, the subsequent ones do not but the points are added. Taking away the varying checking/checkout days across multiple rooms increases successful post rate and reduces processing time.

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by this, but you don't have to book rooms you don't need. You just have to break up the reservations to have the overlapping days match in length.

yscleo

So I completed a recent trip to Ottawa, booking 3 rooms. One with redemption, and two rooms paying, in 3 different bookings. I'm Plat, and only got for my room 2 x F&B vouchers at Cad$10/ea (not US$10). I did get points for all 3 rooms, and 1 night credit.

In other countries we've been to, when breakfast isn't included for Plat, they give F&B vouchers for US$10/p worth. But for Canada the F&B voucher is only Cad$10 worth.

frankvb

That's just policy AFAIK - you'll only get benefits for one room, anything more is a bonus.

USCTrojan83

This policy is absolutely ridiculous. In my case, I often pay for a second or third room for family or friends. However, I much prefer to get in a day early and sometimes leave a day later to unwind and relax solo. Just because the of the second room don't match (but do overlap) then I can't earn points for the room I'm paying for?

iknowthings

Book your first night on a separate reservation, you will get credit for the rooms.

Cathay Dragon 666

Haven't done this at Marriott for a while and usually do it at Hyatt. With Hyatt I can book multiple rooms and will get a max of 3 rooms credits (points). But recently booked 5 rooms for Marriott and only got credit for my room, and asked if I can get credit for at least 2 other rooms the answer was no. I remember SPG used to allowed that (yes, I'm a dinosaur). Has Marriott got rid of it?