If the rate rules for this particular stay at this particular property do say that FFRDC ID IS an acceptable ID for the rate & you are an employee of FFRDC, then that's it as far as I'm concerned.

If the property wants to exclude FFRDC, then it needs to change the rate rules/qualification on its website.

You can do as kipper suggests & contact the GM for clarification, especially since you've stayed there previously under the same rate & it wasn't an issue. Alternatively, if you stay there again, print out the rate rules & bring it with so if you get issued, you can provide documentation showing you qualified.

PS - If you're still at the property, then heck yes get your $25 (I think that's what it is for FFIs) for the failure to ask re: Plat gift.

Cheers.

So, do you guys get issued Government travel cards? If so, then Marriott considers it proof a elibility for the Government rate if you have your travel card number listed in your MR profile. Since I put mine in I have not been asked for a Government ID to verify elibility.

That is correct, if you put your travel card # in your profile MI has verified it with the GSA as an employees account and flags all of your reservations as being verified automatically, if someone does not have their GSA approved travel card in their profile (such as a state employee) they will need to provide ID at check-in

Clueless front desk clerk or manager (if that's what she was).

macdann 911, welcome and thanks for responding. Don't be a stranger.

OP still needs to clarify the distinction of whether he is an employee or contractor. He showed two ID's, hence the confusion.

If he is an employee and the hotel provides a rate for such employees, than he gets it. If he is a contractor, he only gets the rate if the hotel provides it to contractors.

Often1, there wasnt any confusion with the front desk on the fact that I was employeed directly by a FFRDC, althought my wording on here may have made it sound like that.


I stopped at the desk this morning to request my $100 for forgetting to ask about the arrival gift. She said she would make a note of it and talk to the manager. When I returned this afternoon to inquire, she produced a gift card for $25 which I politely declined. She said I would need to speak to the manager for anything else.

I am going to send an e-mail to the GM and assistant GM on the check in issue and the arrival gift . When I start to feel bad for pushing for the $100, I just remember how aggravated they had me last night.

The OP has made this crystal clear: "I am employed directly by the FFRDC."

let me put some mud in this discussion to make it clearer (yes poor attempt at humor)

US Postal Service Employees are employees of a government chartered agency but are not direct employees of the Federal Government and do not meet Marriott's requirements for ID

Mayor of the City of (fill in the blank) as a direct employee DOES qualify as a government employee

Employees of Purdue University also are eligible as employees of a governmental body BUT employees of companies Purdue has sponsored as part of their incubator are NOT as they are employees of a company sponsored by a governmental body but not direct employees of that governmental body (granted PU and their incubator companies often share employees - these employees would due to their employment by PU)

If the OP is a direct employee of a governmental body they qualify - if they work for a company sponsored by a governmental body they do not qualify - yes it's splitting hairs but there is a difference

You may want to read up on what you are entitled to as a result of no welcome gift.......

It's $25.00 at a FI.

longing, thank you for the clarification. After your post I was able to find the link at https://www.marriott.com/rewards/mem...s/guarantee.mi

As you can tell, this is the first time I have done this.


Regards

FFRDC's are non-profit organizations funded by the Federal Government. They include places like Sandia and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. To the best of my knowledge, they have their own pay scale and are not technically Government employees. They do, however, enjoy a special relationship with the Government. According to this link

http://www.marriott.com/File%20Block...eals/chart.htm

Marriott considers them eligible for Federal Government rates. I suspect that they are subject to federal per diem reimbursement limits when they travel for business.

yes National Labs are treated like the Fed by Marriott (which by the way isn't subject to GSA limits) or CDC

BTW - it's $25 cash, not a gift card. Up to you on whether to accept the gift card or not. I'm assuming it was a Marriott gift card?

You definitely should contact the GM re: being told you weren't entitled to the rate you booked, even though you had the proper ID & their rate rules said that ID was ok. You don't want to have to go through this yes/no thing, based on which clerk you get.

Cheers.

Just wanted to follow up on this with an update. I wrote a polite e-mail to the GM of the hotel explaining the situation. We ended up talking about it later the next day. The thing that confuses me is she said she talked to the regional manner and got them to make an exception on the rate for me when I come back (still puzzled by this). I have checked into the hotel since then and havent had a problem.

To put further mud in this discussion, I traveled as a consultant working for USPS for 7 years. I never claimed the government rate (unless there was a government contractor rate, which some places do have). However, on a number of occasions I traveled with USPS employees who always used the government rate. They were never denied the rate and on the occasions that they were asked to show ID, their USPS ID was sufficient with no further questions.