igoncrazy

I contacted Marriott through [email protected] and from their website.

I got a copy and paste answer from Marriott. Then I sent another being more descriptive and wanting the hotel to change its rate follow the "new government policy" that Marriott is trying to enforce.

Here is the first response. I'm awaiting the second response. The first response from Marriott doesn't say anything except the rules. It doesn't state why hotels are charging more for the government rate

__________________________________

Thank you for contacting Marriott. We appreciate the opportunity to provide you with information.

Please be aware, according to Marriott's new government policy, all U.S. hotels of all Marriott brands, with the exception of Ritz-Carlton and Marriott Vacation Club, must establish a Federal Government Employee Rate and must match the Federal Government Per Diem for that area and season.

All Marriott properties, with the exception of Ritz-Carlton and Marriott Vacation Club, must offer a State Per Diem rate, which must either match the state's published Per Diem, or mirror the Federal Per Diem if a State Per Diem does not exist.

Marriott has implemented new requirements to ensure our guests receive the rates to which they are entitled. Marriott will also implement technology to pre-qualify government travelers.

The following government travelers are eligible for the Federal Government rate:

- Civilian federal government employees
- Active military personnel
- Federally Funded Research & Development Corporations (FFRDC)
- Canadian government and military

Valid forms of identification for the Federal per diem include the following:

- Federal Government-issued credit card
- Federal Government picture identification card ("CAC" card)
- Military picture identification card
- Travel Orders
- FFRDC identification card (picture or non-picture)

The following government travelers are eligible for the State Government rate:

- State government personnel, including state inspectors, employees of libraries, state universities, state law enforcement agencies, as well as other state agencies

Valid forms of identification for the State per diem include the following:

- State Government ID (picture or non-picture)
- Travel orders on original state letterhead

Additional information regarding the government employee rate is available at the following web address.

http://marriott.com/specials/govtmil/default.mi

While government rates are available at Marriott hotels worldwide, the availability of rooms offered at these rates will vary from location to location.

You may check the availability of the rooms offered at government discount rates using the Marriott.com website. For your convenience, the steps to guide you through the online reservation process are listed at the end of this email.

If we can be of further assistance, we invite you to reply to this email.

Thank you for choosing Marriott.

Regards,
Katie Kafka
Marriott Internet Customer Care

jsporing

Here is an email I received from MAR when I made a reservation online using the GOV:
"Dear :

Thank you for making Marriott® your choice when traveling. We noticed that you've recently booked the government rate for an upcoming stay, and we wanted to let you know about our Government Traveler ID Program that goes into effect on March 5, 2007 throughout North America.

As of March 5, 2007, only Federal Government employees, active military personnel and those traveling on behalf of a Federally Funded Research and Development Corporation (FFRDC) will be eligible for Federal Government per diem rates at Marriott brands. State and Local Government employees will be eligible for State and Local Government per diem rates.

In a continuing effort to provide you with better service, we can now pre-approve your Government Rate reservation if you book your stay with your U.S. Federal Government-issued credit card.* If you are not using a Government credit card to hold your reservation, please present one of the following forms of identification at time of check-in:

For Federal Government Per Diem Rates:

Federally issued personnel badge or ID card
Common Access Card
SmartPay Credit Card
Active military personnel badge or ID card
FFRDC identification card
Travel orders
Canadian government or military issued ID or credit card
For State and Local Government Per Diem Rates:
State or local government issued personnel badge or ID card
Travel orders on original state or local government letterhead
If for some reason you cannot provide one of these forms of identification, Marriott will provide you the Best Available Rate offered by the hotel to the public.

For additional information on our ID requirements, please visit https://marriott.com/specials/govtmil/default.mi.

We look forward to serving you in the future and thank you for your continuing business.

* We may not be able to pre-approve your government credit card reservation if it was made at the hotel. We are working to address this in the near future."

Nothing more than had been said before, but it does seem that they have setup an auto email based on the booking code online.

While I do travel alot on official business, I also use the GOV rate from personal travel. I always bring my ID with me, although I almost never get asked for it.

Like others noted above, I usually pay with my MAR Visa for the extra points.

hoshman

I find this interesting. After the years it took getting the military to recognize the contributions of its Reserve components - we're finally getting there (access, priveleges, etc.) I have never had a problem using my Reserve ID as a valid Government ID for the Govt rate at Marriott properties before, and I hope that the field implementation of this new policy doesn't change that. It seems however that the new policy goes out of its way to make the distinction between the two groups, something the military has worked long and hard to reverse. Considering today's situation of reservists now in many cases bring practically "revolving door" full timers, I hope we don't take a step backwards here.

Renard

I hope the hotels don't forget the state govt in this change...I have some travel for work coming up and the hotel I need to stay at has the fed govt rates there but nothing for the state govt...so I guess I won't be at the Marriott

fiedler77

Can anyone explain why direct contractors (whose travel expenses are reimbursed by the government) are specifically excluded? As one of those contractors, I have a responsibility to minimize the cost to the government and if I can't get per diem rates, I may not be able to stay at Marriott's.

socrates

Trust me...it's been longer than 2 years

socrates

Please keep us updated (via this thread) on what you hear back, I'm sure the VP who's reading this would appreciate it (as would your fellow governmental travs)

socrates

The feeling is the water become muddied if you start making exceptions to the rules but that doesn't mean you employer isn't able to negotiate a special corporate rate equal to the per diem (or if you're like a great number of direct contractors you are issued a government ID which would allow you to show ID)

fiedler77

Ok, so if I have a CAC I'm eligible for the GOV rate? In that case, I'll have no problems.

Thank you for your quick and informative replies, btw.

igoncrazy

I havn't heard back from my second response. I will wait one more day and then send another email.

I did call reservations and asked if I can book the Courtyard Albany at the government rate. They said it wasn't offered for the days I wanted.

I then made up a date in June to see if it was available, and it gov't rate wasn't available.

Then I asked the person if the government rate should be $60 and the person said "yes." The person then said she would look for a $60 rate, but turns out there isn't one available, which means the hotel never offers a government rate.

I asked, what to do - this doesn't meet Marriott's policy, and the person said to call the hotel to request it and hope they offer it. There was nothing else she could do.

It still appears that it's up to each hotel to offer the rate - regardless of Marriott's new government policy

-Subash

ohmark

It's been two years and two months since Marriott changed the policy explicitly stated on its website from "We're honored to welcome government and military personnel as our special guests. Whether youre traveling across the country or around the world, our 2,600 Marriott hotels offer special rates AT OR BELOW your US government per diem" to "We're honored to welcome government and military personnel as our special guests. Whether youre traveling across the country or around the world, MOST OF our 2,600 Marriott hotels offer special rates AT OR BELOW your US government per diem."

So Socrates, you're right when you say "Trust me...it's been longer than 2 years." Of course, remember, I posted it was "about two years ago." Not sure why the "correction" or the frown was necessary.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ght=government

Edited to add another thought: It could be that, as you suggest, the internal policy was changed more than two years ago, but then nobody bothered to change the website until two years ago. So, until two years ago, the website explicitly stated that the government rate at all Marriott family properties would be at or below per diem. In any case, I'm glad the Marrriott powers that be have seen the light.

DJ_Iceman

Okay, I've finally decided to weigh in here after watching mutely from the sidelines for six pages. I'm a government employee who has been loyal to Marriott to the tune of top-tier elite for 13 years running. Most of those nights are at the government rate while on official travel. When on personal travel I often look for the government rate as well, as it is sometimes a great discount off anything else that's available.

That being said, I don't feel it is an entitlement in any way that any particular Marriott property HAS to offer me rooms at the government rate. If they don't, I just won't give them my business (at least on official travel)! I firmly believe that the law of supply and demand drives hotel room prices, and if a particular location is going to lose gobs of money by offering a government rate then I see no reason why they should.

I'll give you an example: a lot of my travel these days is to Phoenix. The government rate varies from $77 in the hot-as-hell summer to $141 right now. In the summer, you can get rooms at virtually any property in town, including the JW Camelback. Right now, even most Fairfield Inns are overbooked at well over $141. There have been nights when coworkers have found the ENTIRE CITY sold out, at every hotel of every chain, at any price!

Bottom line: it's great that a lot of Marriotts offer a government rate at or below per diem. I take advantage of it, and have been loyal to Marriott because of it. But I don't get at all bent out of shape when a particular location chooses not to offer rooms at that rate, and I don't think others should, either.

ohmark

I don't think anybody here has said that they feel entitlement at any particular property to a "government rate." That is a choice for a property or Marriott to make. My point is that when a property offers a government rate it should be a per diem rate, not just a discounted rate. The non-per diem government discount rate, in my opinion, is geared to a property pretending to offer a government rate to travelers pretending to be government travelers. Most government travelers, who do at least a fair amount of traveling (as you and I do), won't pay over per diem as they would end up paying for government business out of their own pocket, leaving the so-called government rate to travelers who don't mind impersonating government travelers.

I understand from your post that you don't object to a property offering an over per diem government rate. To me, it is hypocritical for a property to offer a so-called government rate when they know in advance that virtually no government travelers on official business will utilize that rate. I think Marriott has demonstrated they agree with this by instituting its new policy.

ackpfft

The CAC card that I got in spring 2006 removed the 'reserve' designation from my ID. Looks the same as active duty now.

hoshman

Problem solved. My three year old one (with the designation) is up for replacement in a month or two. Thanks for the heads up.