Which only proves that we each look at benefits through our own cranky, warped, self interested prism. Although, Sharon, I'm crushed to now know for sure that in your mind, your needs trump mine. :( (Where is the sarcastic heart crushed icon when it's needed?)

For the record, I've been dealing with the BOGO loss by not staying the extra night and have, so far, survived. No angst on that. Actually, I don't think I've been anywhere in the past eight months that I wanted to stay an extra night. (Although I do have Chicago next month...)

Marriott devalues again
 

Is Marriott Devaluing Their Elite Upgrade Benefits Even More? - View from the Wing

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfr...its-even-more/

People on Facebook dug up some archives to show the changes. Here's the benefits page from June last year:

http://web.archive.org/web/201106231...nefits/gold.mi

And that's the current one:
http://www.marriott.com/rewards/member-benefits/gold.mi

No response from Marriott social media team to that. :)

You might want to check out the http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...e-revised.html thread.

Thanks hhoope01

Must have missed that.

So, if I'm hearing this correctly, all of the information published on the public website, and the materials distributed to members every year, actually don't define anything. They're just words and the real T&C's are on internal SOP and websites that none of us have access to.

Can someone official from Marriott please let us know how we can find out what benefits we are actually entitled to and what T&C's apply to our membership? Assuming we are members. And that status really exists.

Apparently we're all just living in the Marriott Matrix.

EDIT:
To be accurate, I did check the program T&C's at http://www.marriott.com/rewards/terms/elite.mi and don't see anything regarding a next room category. The Wayback Machine doesn't have anything more recent than Feb 2010 so it's hard to compare with relatively recent data. Anyone have a recent copy of the actual T&Cs, not the overview page that are subject to (I assume, it doesn't actually say it) the T&C's?

At the same time, the T&C's don't actually say anywhere what your get. If the T&C only says "suites not included, based on availability and for personal use" - not included in what? what's based on availability? The only place that the benefit is actually described is in the overview page. Which I think we show has changed.

Club Level is excluded in Ritz Carlton.

Viks, can you point us to this discussion on Facebook so that we can add to the dialogue? Perhaps provide a link? I found a post on the Marriott Rewards FB page but the archive reference you mention isn't there.

You must have caught that in the few minutes between posting and editing - I had to scroll up to see the context.

Strange, I don't see the links on FB anymore. Anyway they were posted yesterday here:
https://www.facebook.com/marriottrew...54370601244259

I browsed to a newer version of the archived page than was posted on FB (was from 2010 IIRC).

Off-topic:

Of course we all look at things through our own prisms, although I don't categorize mine as cranky & warped. If you do yours, well that's up to you ;) :p :D

Nor did I say my needs trump yours, just I don't have much sympathy when someone complains about a loss of benefit that costs him nothing & that he might have to ante up a bit if he actually wants to stay somewhere. Shrug.

On topic:

I think Marriott is talking out both sides of its mouth on this one. Of course it's a change.

Cheers.

not at all what I'm saying - for years there's been a debate about the exact meaning of the phrase and wording as posted on the website.....my post was just to say it was my personal believe that it appeared to me that this might have been (get my point :D) an attempt to clarify things as many hear for years have felt it to be confusing

Then I'm not quite sure it is having the desired outcome. Changing "some" of the publicly viewable rules (but not all of them) AND then saying that nothing has changed AND then not providing ANY more info just doesn't seem to be the best way to clarify things. :confused:

+1.

Cheers.

socrates, not to jump on you, because you owe us nothing and have always bent over backwards to be helpful....

but Marriott, in the form of either Marriott Corporate, the Marriott Concierge, the Marriott Insider and/or MichelleL need to GET CONSISTENT and inform their customer what we are and are not entitled to, and what their hotels are and/or are not required to provide us....and let us KNOW IT CLEARLY and KNOW IT NOW.

And then put it on their website and in their promotional materials and pass it along to their hotels and make sure that EVERY HOTEL is held to that standard.

I would have thought that this was covered in Hotel Management 101 but apparently not.

Just my opinion.......