Dec 30, 2015, 10:18 am
Last edit by: rustykettel
Ten (10) Elite Nights are given for each meeting held in a participating hotel under the "Rewarding Events" program. See below for non-participating brands. Information about the Rewarding Events program may be found at https://www.marriott.com/meeting-eve...els/rewards.mi
The 10 elite nights per meeting are independent of any hotel rooms booked in conjunction with the meeting. In fact, no hotel rooms have to be booked as part of the meeting in order to receive credit for 10 elite nights.
Although the Rewarding Events webpage refers to room nights for meeting participants, the most important section is the one that states 10 Elite Nights, regardless if you or your guest is paying for it
In general, a written contract is required (or should be obtained). In many cases, the meeting is booked through a central Marriott group sales office instead of directly with a hotel. If booked through a central Marriott group sales office, there is a three-page contract that makes reference to the Rewarding Events program on page 2 of the agreement. A MR member number should be included in this area of the contract by the group sales office.
FAQs:
Q: What brands participate in the Rewarding Events program?
A: AC Hotels by Marriott, Aloft, Autograph Collection, Courtyard by Marriott, Delta Hotels by Marriott, EDITION, Element, Fairfield by Marriott, Four Points by Marriott, Gaylord Hotels, JW Marriott, LeMéridien, The Luxury Collection, Marriott Hotels, Marriott Vacation Club, Moxy Hotels, Protea Hotels by Marriott, Renaissance Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, St. Regis, Tribute Portfolio, W Hotels, & Westin.
Residence Inn by Marriott, TownePlace Suites, & Marriott Executive Apartments do not participate in the program.
Q: How do I find a hotel that participates?
A: Click on the link to the Rewarding Events page and then in the "Plan" section of the page click on the "Find a Hotel" box. Enter the city you'd like to have your meeting in, purpose of event (Business) and then check the "I need meeting/event space" box. Enter the size of your meeting (2 attendees should work) and then click the "Find" box. Leave the start date and end date blank. A list of potential hotels will be shown. The smallest meeting room is not usually shown online --- you may need to call each hotel to find out which one has a boardroom or other small meeting room. Once you've found a small meeting room, then request a quote online.
Q: How quickly will Marriott respond with a quote?
A: Usually within a day or two --- and usually via email. The email should contain a telephone number of the group sales contact. Give them a call and tell them you'd like to follow up on the quote and you're interested in booking the smallest room available for a 2 person meeting for an hour. If they quote a price that's higher than you want to pay, ask them if they can get approval for a lower priced meeting (e.g., a recent quote was for $75 for an 8 hour use of a CY boardroom). They accepted a counter of $50 for a one-hour meeting in the room (plus service charge plus local sales tax). Urban hotels may charge significantly higher rates for meeting space than a smaller, less congested city.
Q: Is a contract required?
A: The terms of the program suggest "yes" --- although there are reports that 10 elite nights have been granted without contracts. A best practice would be to obtain a contract.
Q: How long do points and EQNs take to post after the event is over?
A: Generally, this takes 3+ business days. According to Marriott, it can take 15 business days. If you do not see anything post after 15 business days, contact the hotel before contacting Marriott customer support. The hotel has to be the one to post it.
You will get an e-mail with a subject line Your Rewarding Events Award has Posted: EVENT NAME
Q: Will the hotel know what I am talking about when I say points and elite night credits?
A: Probably not. They may know about the rewarding events points being 3x per dollar spent, but not always. Usually they know of only the Marriott system (Group Posting Tool) where they input how much you spent and when. This is done after the event and is usually authorized by the sales or general manager.
Q: The contract doesn't say anything about points, will I still earn them?
A: YMMV but so far all the electronic contracts from the website state it, but some fail to read it. The paper contracts usually talk about points, but some reports that they don't, but still post. Remember this is a Marriott Rewards benefit that the hotels don't seem to be footing the bill for.
The 10 elite nights per meeting are independent of any hotel rooms booked in conjunction with the meeting. In fact, no hotel rooms have to be booked as part of the meeting in order to receive credit for 10 elite nights.
Although the Rewarding Events webpage refers to room nights for meeting participants, the most important section is the one that states 10 Elite Nights, regardless if you or your guest is paying for it
In general, a written contract is required (or should be obtained). In many cases, the meeting is booked through a central Marriott group sales office instead of directly with a hotel. If booked through a central Marriott group sales office, there is a three-page contract that makes reference to the Rewarding Events program on page 2 of the agreement. A MR member number should be included in this area of the contract by the group sales office.
FAQs:
Q: What brands participate in the Rewarding Events program?
A: AC Hotels by Marriott, Aloft, Autograph Collection, Courtyard by Marriott, Delta Hotels by Marriott, EDITION, Element, Fairfield by Marriott, Four Points by Marriott, Gaylord Hotels, JW Marriott, LeMéridien, The Luxury Collection, Marriott Hotels, Marriott Vacation Club, Moxy Hotels, Protea Hotels by Marriott, Renaissance Hotels, The Ritz-Carlton, Sheraton, St. Regis, Tribute Portfolio, W Hotels, & Westin.
Residence Inn by Marriott, TownePlace Suites, & Marriott Executive Apartments do not participate in the program.
Q: How do I find a hotel that participates?
A: Click on the link to the Rewarding Events page and then in the "Plan" section of the page click on the "Find a Hotel" box. Enter the city you'd like to have your meeting in, purpose of event (Business) and then check the "I need meeting/event space" box. Enter the size of your meeting (2 attendees should work) and then click the "Find" box. Leave the start date and end date blank. A list of potential hotels will be shown. The smallest meeting room is not usually shown online --- you may need to call each hotel to find out which one has a boardroom or other small meeting room. Once you've found a small meeting room, then request a quote online.
Q: How quickly will Marriott respond with a quote?
A: Usually within a day or two --- and usually via email. The email should contain a telephone number of the group sales contact. Give them a call and tell them you'd like to follow up on the quote and you're interested in booking the smallest room available for a 2 person meeting for an hour. If they quote a price that's higher than you want to pay, ask them if they can get approval for a lower priced meeting (e.g., a recent quote was for $75 for an 8 hour use of a CY boardroom). They accepted a counter of $50 for a one-hour meeting in the room (plus service charge plus local sales tax). Urban hotels may charge significantly higher rates for meeting space than a smaller, less congested city.
Q: Is a contract required?
A: The terms of the program suggest "yes" --- although there are reports that 10 elite nights have been granted without contracts. A best practice would be to obtain a contract.
Q: How long do points and EQNs take to post after the event is over?
A: Generally, this takes 3+ business days. According to Marriott, it can take 15 business days. If you do not see anything post after 15 business days, contact the hotel before contacting Marriott customer support. The hotel has to be the one to post it.
You will get an e-mail with a subject line Your Rewarding Events Award has Posted: EVENT NAME
Q: Will the hotel know what I am talking about when I say points and elite night credits?
A: Probably not. They may know about the rewarding events points being 3x per dollar spent, but not always. Usually they know of only the Marriott system (Group Posting Tool) where they input how much you spent and when. This is done after the event and is usually authorized by the sales or general manager.
Q: The contract doesn't say anything about points, will I still earn them?
A: YMMV but so far all the electronic contracts from the website state it, but some fail to read it. The paper contracts usually talk about points, but some reports that they don't, but still post. Remember this is a Marriott Rewards benefit that the hotels don't seem to be footing the bill for.
Platinum Status in Eight Days and $800 - No Stays Required
Jun 4, 2018, 10:54 pm
#2371
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Seat 1L these days :)
Programs: AF Platinum/AY LUMO/SK EBG/baEC S/HYATT Globalist/MR LTP/A3 *G/HH Dia/IHG plat
Posts: 7,947
Well, $400,000 between my colleague and I isn't insignificant.
My biggest issue is not honoring what was signed. I get they have the right to change the program, but that's really only applicable to individuals booking guest rooms. You don't sign a contract guaranteeing X benefits when you book a room. For Rewarding Events, you sign a legally-binding contract for an event that guarantees benefits under Rewarding Events and most people would understand that to mean as in place at the time of signing. Especially since Marriott is honoring other parts of the old program after August 1.
My biggest issue is not honoring what was signed. I get they have the right to change the program, but that's really only applicable to individuals booking guest rooms. You don't sign a contract guaranteeing X benefits when you book a room. For Rewarding Events, you sign a legally-binding contract for an event that guarantees benefits under Rewarding Events and most people would understand that to mean as in place at the time of signing. Especially since Marriott is honoring other parts of the old program after August 1.
This is my main beef with them doing so as well. Changing benefits mid stream is bad form. I dont care if they are alowed to do so or not.
If they do choose to NOT honor existing reservations as promised, there is not much I can do about it but shift alot of my other business away from MR as a whole.
not a significant loss to MR I am sure nor is it to me, but if enough people who who feel slighted by MR do it will start to make a difference
I am not loyal to MR and IF they choose to change things this radically mid year then perhaps theres a good reason for that. I hedged my bets for this very reason.
Then again if hey keep existing reservations whole and only change for future reservations I am okay with that, time will show for sure
Jun 5, 2018, 12:44 am
#2372
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Trident Plat, DL Diamond, AI Maharajah
Posts: 29,655
It's gone. Officially.
I sent an email complaining to Arne Sorenson that the "new" changes haven't been revealed, which is deeply unfair to legit event planners with contracts on the books. I also complained that if the rumored changes and marketing materials indicating the 10 elite-qualifying nights was going away then it would be a negative change. Between my colleague and I, we do $400,000 a year with Marriott.
A "corporate liaison" from Marriott called me. She first said all the current contracts would be honored by the old program. Then when I read the FAQs, which say current contracts will be credited based on the new program, she said she was wrong and the FAQs were correct. She confirmed the new Rewarding Events would only credit 10 nights for the first event and 1 night for every 20 room nights. I complained that this penalizes big spenders who do banquets and non-room events. She said road warriors who spend 300 nights per year complained that people who never stay in hotels are getting status. I said if that was the case then people who do banquets shouldn't get any Marriott points. Apparently, the new program will give points for food-and-beverage spending which SPG Pro didn't do. I said that kind of contradicts her justification of the change. She then said she used a bad analogy. I said I understood that Marriott wanted the new program to move toward a revenue model, but penalizing big-spending customers for legit events is bad business. I also told her my colleague and I will reconsider our events business with Marriott after August 1. She said she would relay my further complaints, but I could definitely tell Marriott doesn't care even though it's obvious they haven't fully thought the Rewarding Events component out.
I sent an email complaining to Arne Sorenson that the "new" changes haven't been revealed, which is deeply unfair to legit event planners with contracts on the books. I also complained that if the rumored changes and marketing materials indicating the 10 elite-qualifying nights was going away then it would be a negative change. Between my colleague and I, we do $400,000 a year with Marriott.
A "corporate liaison" from Marriott called me. She first said all the current contracts would be honored by the old program. Then when I read the FAQs, which say current contracts will be credited based on the new program, she said she was wrong and the FAQs were correct. She confirmed the new Rewarding Events would only credit 10 nights for the first event and 1 night for every 20 room nights. I complained that this penalizes big spenders who do banquets and non-room events. She said road warriors who spend 300 nights per year complained that people who never stay in hotels are getting status. I said if that was the case then people who do banquets shouldn't get any Marriott points. Apparently, the new program will give points for food-and-beverage spending which SPG Pro didn't do. I said that kind of contradicts her justification of the change. She then said she used a bad analogy. I said I understood that Marriott wanted the new program to move toward a revenue model, but penalizing big-spending customers for legit events is bad business. I also told her my colleague and I will reconsider our events business with Marriott after August 1. She said she would relay my further complaints, but I could definitely tell Marriott doesn't care even though it's obvious they haven't fully thought the Rewarding Events component out.
Jun 5, 2018, 12:46 am
#2373
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: India
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Trident Plat, DL Diamond, AI Maharajah
Posts: 29,655
Again, you are expecting them to know the rules. Most times they don't. Simply ask if they will be using the Group Posting Tool, DO NOT ask what that will trigger. It is outside their control. I suspect they do pay for the points you earn on the event, but the 10 nights come from MR. I do believe they are making up the point about the amount of spend needed, it may be what they were told by the person that trained them or material they read, but again, it's wrong.
Jun 5, 2018, 1:54 am
#2374
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: London, UK
Programs: Marriott, Virgin Atlantic, BA
Posts: 187
Jun 5, 2018, 4:28 am
#2375
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
Jun 5, 2018, 5:36 am
#2376
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CPH
Programs: UAMP S, TK M&S E (*G), Marriott LTP, IHG P, SK EBG
Posts: 11,075
What's the definition of "First meeting" per the new rule?
First one you ever do since you became a member?
First one in a calendar year?
First one you ever do since you became a member?
First one in a calendar year?
Jun 5, 2018, 6:28 am
#2377
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
Customers who spend $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 and so forth should get night credits. They're spending as much or more on a single event than a road warrior spending 200 nights at $150 per night let alone someone getting elite-qualifying nights for a $3,000, 20-room event.
Jun 5, 2018, 7:02 am
#2378
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: BDU
Programs: DL:MM, Marriott:LTT
Posts: 8,779
This is also the problem. They should have the terms and conditions for the new program published now. Crediting existing contracts to a new, undefined program with next to no notice after August 1 is bad business. But beyond that, the whole problem is Rewarding Events, even what we know about the new program, completely contradicts the revenue-based model of the new combined Marriott Rewards--SPG--Ritz-Carlton program.
I absolutely believe a CS Rep told you that the ten nights for additional meetings is gone. I do not believe a CS Rep would know that for sure and think the Rep may have huddled with some coworkers or even a boss to give you that answer. That is what we have seen happen too many times. My understanding was the company had told the reps to stop doing that which is why we are getting the drip drip from the Lurkers. Again, until the rules are out of there is an official announcement i would take whatever a CSR says with a grain of salt.
Jun 5, 2018, 7:25 am
#2379
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: CPH
Programs: UAMP S, TK M&S E (*G), Marriott LTP, IHG P, SK EBG
Posts: 11,075
This is also the problem. They should have the terms and conditions for the new program published now. Crediting existing contracts to a new, undefined program with next to no notice after August 1 is bad business. But beyond that, the whole problem is Rewarding Events, even what we know about the new program, completely contradicts the revenue-based model of the new combined Marriott Rewards--SPG--Ritz-Carlton program.
Customers who spend $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 and so forth should get night credits. They're spending as much or more on a single event than a road warrior spending 200 nights at $150 per night let alone someone getting elite-qualifying nights for a $3,000, 20-room event.
Customers who spend $20,000, $30,000, $40,000 and so forth should get night credits. They're spending as much or more on a single event than a road warrior spending 200 nights at $150 per night let alone someone getting elite-qualifying nights for a $3,000, 20-room event.
Mr. was trying to host a conference and I asked him to see if he can host it at the Marriott and the quote he got was basically insane, it's about 5x the cost of a conference centre nearby and they look pretty much the same.
Jun 5, 2018, 7:45 am
#2380
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
I guess Marriott thinks that there aren't as many choices to host conference vs hotel rooms. Maybe they are having really good results in hosting conferences that they don't see a need to reward people who did that. For those who host banquet for weddings most of them don't care about the points/elite nights.
Mr. was trying to host a conference and I asked him to see if he can host it at the Marriott and the quote he got was basically insane, it's about 5x the cost of a conference centre nearby and they look pretty much the same.
Mr. was trying to host a conference and I asked him to see if he can host it at the Marriott and the quote he got was basically insane, it's about 5x the cost of a conference centre nearby and they look pretty much the same.
Some were destination-specific. Others were chosen because of the property and the package I negotiated. In almost every case, I could have went with a non-Marriott option, be it Hilton, IHG, Hyatt or an independent hotel. The only location in which Marriott was the only option was Los Suenos, Costa Rica.
Jun 5, 2018, 8:53 am
#2381
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: DL Gold, UA nothing (ex-GS), Marriott lifetime Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 920
Jun 5, 2018, 9:06 am
#2382
Suspended
Join Date: Jun 2005
Programs: Delta Diamond, Marriott Ambassador & Lifetime Titanium, Hertz President's Circle, United Silver
Posts: 6,334
No. I think the only "clueless" part is how Marriott will handle existing Rewarding Events contracts, not what the Rewarding Events benefits will be after August 1.
Jun 5, 2018, 9:24 am
#2383
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: CLE -> BNA
Programs: IHG Spire Ambassador, Hyatt Explorist, Hilton Gold, Bonvoy Titanium, UA Silver, RR A-List
Posts: 312
/edit: given to 10 people.
For those of you who got the info, please let me know when you are "done" with it so that I can cycle the information to someone else.
For those of you who got the info, please let me know when you are "done" with it so that I can cycle the information to someone else.
Last edited by kerrigjl; Jun 5, 2018 at 11:04 am
Jun 5, 2018, 3:12 pm
#2384
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: YXU
Programs: Marriott LT Titanium Elite, AC 25K
Posts: 127
This is how it should work.
Rewards programs are supposed to encourage extra spend and reward their most loyal customers. The old program did that. I run 3-5 team dinners per year at Marriott properties. As they tend to price higher then other options, I will not do this going forward if the rumoured changes prove true.
It should work like this. You get 1 night credit for each $100 of spend up to a max of 10 nights per event. This takes care of the platinum for $800 crowd, encourages extra spend, and rewards true loyal customers.
Thank you. MR, you can send my cheque to the address you have on file for my account.
It should work like this. You get 1 night credit for each $100 of spend up to a max of 10 nights per event. This takes care of the platinum for $800 crowd, encourages extra spend, and rewards true loyal customers.
Thank you. MR, you can send my cheque to the address you have on file for my account.
Jun 5, 2018, 6:17 pm
#2385
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2008
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Programs: Some of this 'n some of that
Posts: 17,263
If meetings are booked on consecutive days with different contracts are these posted as separate events or merged into one?