stallion114

I hope my gut feeling of this bene being slashed is just bc of the recent kick in the balls I recieved from UA.
My prediction is the following:
-Usable on rack rate only (like AMB bogo)
-Limiting the available FS properties participating and adding a bunch of crappy courtyards in weird locations
-Non transferable
-One use per member will be tracked

Basically just enough for me to regret hitting gold.
I really hope I am wrong but like I said I am very sour about the UA deal.
Especially announcing it this late in the year.
These programs are not stupid. Had UA and possibly Marriott announced major changes a year ago taking effect in 2012 they would have lost a lot of business.

UA especially probably figured by annoucing it late in the year people would not have time to qualify somewhere else and would just continue with them for next year since its the only status they have.

Sad to see these programs pulling year end changes.

I hope I am wrong with Marriott but might requalify for Hyatt Diamond as backup.

Newman

And Marriott will call of these downgrades "enhancements"

Newman

NJUPINTHEAIR

Although Big Guy is pretty upset, he does have a point that the notice of their temp discontinuance is pretty poor.

Remember, most Gold/Platinum elites don't post here and how in the heck are they going to know of this temp. cessation?

Mr. Vker

I think this information was likely available way before we received it. IIRC, the latest round of BOGO's ended several weeks earlier than normal. (Ended late August instead of mid-Sept.)

Something was out of the ordinary before the announcement.

aaupgrade

Well, the same goes for how the heck are they going to know the Fall BOGO start date since it was never officially announced by Marriott.

While I hate to introduce facts and put a damper on what I feel is a well deserved rant, but the only reference to the Oct 28 start date was by fmkgb back on June 28 (see quoted post from June 28 below). That was 4 months prior to the alleged Fall BOGO start date, and fmkgb's source was a Plat CSR having told him... Hardly an official public announcement. All other references to the Oct 28 date, are by those quoting fmkgb's June 28 post.

Now I have been known to overlook things occasionally, so if I am wrong then would someone please point me to the post where the Fall BOGOs were actually publicly announced.

ljknecht570

I called CS to see if I could verify the dates. He told me he could not see the fall or winter BOGO dates in his system. He told me he has worked for Marriott for 15 years and it was a little odd that there was nothing there. That should have been my first clue!

cova

Not clear why BOGO needs to be put on hold during the re-vamping process. The current process is manual with paper certificate and mostly manual correction when you check out.

Yes - BOGO was a big benefit. Makes me question whether there is really any reason to be Gold/Plat on Marriott - with lounges closed on weekends, no breakfast to Plats on the weekend at most hotels, and now BOGO on hold. Marriott doesn't have many suites and you have to request and force the issue if you ever get one. Other than free internet, Marriott Elite offers little.

Now that I am Hyatt Diamond (from the StarMegaDO3) - I am going to consider Hyatt instead. I have 4 confirmable suite upgrades and will get 4 more early next year. Hyatt keeps its lounges open on weekends and also gives top elites free internet. I think Hyatt appreciates its top tier better than Marriott.

VA1379

This has been a disappointment. I need to get in my stays to keep my status with Hyatt, so I will focus on that for the rest of the year. There will be some additional Marriott stays, but I am going to guess that Hyatt will gain 5-10 nights.

As for keeping lounges open: Marriott keeps them open later in the evening during the week (10 pm vs 9 pm) for US properties. Hyatt does close down lounges on the weekends, but you get 2500 points for a stay with a closed lounge as a diamond member. When Hyatt closes a lounge on the weekend, it includes Sunday night.

The Hyatt Regency Irvine's lounge is closed on the weekend, and they don't serve breakfast Monday morning in the RC. You have to take it in the restaurant.

As for the lounge offerings themselves, I would give Marriott the edge when it comes to offering hot items for breakfast and better evening food (at least in the California hotels).

BillMorrow

One of the biggest perks of gold/platinum status with Marriott has been the BOGO. Over the last few years it has been significantly diminished with shorter use periods and a steadily lengthening list of hotels that do not participate. I had to convince my wife for us to start using Marriott again so that I could obtain lifetime status. One of biggest benefits we could see was the ability to use BOGO even when we retired. Now we are being told that it is being 'enhanced'. If that enhancement is really a degradation, I will have to reconsider our decision. I would hate to walk away from my 700 nights (2 years of my life) with Marriott, but that is something I might have to think about. A move back to Hilton would be very tempting. We have one of their few 'mutual' accounts, their bonuses and credit card program is much better than Marriott and my wife loves Hilton Garden Inns.

cova

The last food offering I had at a Marriott lounge (large Marriott owned hotel in N. Virginia) was your choice of hot cheese sauce or chile sauce to pour over chips. The sauces were served in the hot entree dishes.

I am also finding that as a Platinum - the room I am first given is not satisfactory - and I have to go back to the front desk and change. Problems like overlooking A/C units, etc. My last stay at the Denver City Center - I was told I would be in an end room on the concierge level (which is four complete floors). But then the room was on a lower floor - so I went back to the desk (original clerk had disappeared) so another clerk gave me a conciege floor room on the same tier (again there are four levels of conciege rooms - about 20% of the hotel).

VA1379

I am not trying to take this thread off track, but I have not experienced the bad treatment for rooms (as a PP and a platinum member since 2006). I usually get a room on the floor of the concierge lounge, and I get a room with a view if it is available. Being a PP has not really changed this versus being platinum except for the Marriott in Redmond, WA, which gives PP suite upgrades on weekend stays.

The hotels that I have stayed at have usually had decent food in the evening. A "bad" offering would be hot wings at the Tysons Corner Marriott, but they have also put out a tuna ahi salad, panini sandwiches and mussels on various nights. Last week, the Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks had rice with beef and peppers and dessert was cookies and cheesecake for Sunday night.

In Northern Virginia, I usually stay at Washington Dulles Marriott Suites (no lounge), Tysons Corner Marriott or Fairfax Marriott at Fair Oaks when I make my Marriott stays at FS properties. I have stayed at the Fairview Park Marriott in the past. I cannot vouch for their current lounge offerings, but they were quite good in the distant past (2008) in comparison to the other two listed above.

The offerings on the West Coast are usually more substantial with a greater number of appetizers and usually some hot entree for breakfast along with bacon or sausage. East Coast Marriott hotels usually have scrambled eggs for breakfast. I have never seen a Hyatt in the USA offer any hot entrees for breakfast in the RC. The Hyatt Regency Reston has good stuff in the evenings (sushi is out one night a week, either Tuesday or Wednesday; I forgot the specific night).

The loss of the EEOs is a big negative. Personally, I am about 2 years away from lifetime platinum status with Marriott. I am short less than 40 nights and need the extra time to hit the 12 year mark for lifetime status. I can cruise until I hit lifetime platinum and spend more time exploring Hyatt hotels.

bdschobel

Yes, it would be, if Marriott were doing that. Long-term, they said that they are doing the opposite. Short-term, one quarter's EEOs have been lost so far.

Bruce

capebuffalo

Wow. Having spent the past year at Flyertalk as a silent reader...it is a shame that this is what is prompting me to leave my first post.

So incredibly disappointed and disenchanted. Had a choice in Q1 between heading down the road of Starwood or Marriott status and it seems I could not have make a worse choice (especially considering all the incredible benefits from the "Starwood Ambassadors" my colleagues who had made a different choice at the same point in time are receiving). Sitting here as a Platinum member feeling like there couldn't be an emptier title.

BrightlyBob

I suspect times are tough at Marriott and they are looking at ways to increase paid stays, obviously cutting 1/4 of BOGO offers for the 2011 year will help... Or will it?

Well, my Marriott stays are well and truly down on previous years, mainly due to price. IHG are getting much more of my stays now. Marriott used to be competitive with IHG offerings, only a little more expensive than Crowne plaza and Holiday Inns. These days the gap more of a yawning chasm. Heck, I've even started to consider Hiltons, which are also considerably cheaper than Marriott offerings. Put simply, Marriotts prices are now beyond me. That and the slippage on non-USA BOGO has enormously cutailed my Marriott nights, from 100 in 2009, down to 30 this year and in all likelihood a bust-down to Gold awaits. Marriott needs to look at its competitors pricing in the UK and consider whether it really can maintain its rates.

Much-higher-than-competitors midweek rates don't encourage business stays funded by my cash-strapped clients and a "special offer" of 4pm checkout on weekends doesn't encourage me to put my hard earned leisure spend their way either.

The whole thing is then compounded by the lack of BOGO's which really are what attracted me to make the effort to get to Gold in the first place all those years ago. If these "enhancements" are simply another Ed French euphamism for cuts I can see me not making the effort to maintain Gold next year and slipping back to Silver...

gardener

Very disappointed to hear of this. I fall in to the group of people who booked airfare for a leisure trip in Jan 2012 - booked a Marriott hotel - and even had the Platinum Premier line put a note in the ressie that I would be using an EEO cert.

I will still make the trip as I have booked the non refundable airline ticket. I hope they reinstate the EEO in time for me. I will book the best rate I can find now to protect myself in case I can not use an EEO with the rack rate.

This on top of the abortion of a website enhancement really has me wondering what is going on at Marriott HQ. And I am standing at (perhaps) 970 lifetime nights. I say "perhaps" because I can no longer verify that on the website.

Can't wait to head over to the UA forum to see what enhancements they are sending my way. Since I retired I have not been visiting FT as often - seems like only bad stuff has happened since I have been away.