In early 2000 I decided to make a commitment to the Marriott program and accumulate 15 night stays over 12 months in order to obtain their gold card.

By the end of December I had accumulated 13 nights and, earlier this month, received a letter advising that the ground rules were being changed to a calendar year qualification period. That meant that my "clock" was reset to zero on Jan 1 and I have to start all over again.

Whilst I realize that the calendar year is a common qualification period for most airlines and some hotels, one would have thought more notice would be given by Marriott.

I am boiling over this one and am considering switching my allegiance to Starwood.

Any comments about the "fairness" of this manoevre??


------------------
AC SE
BA Gold

I've swiched most of my stays to Hilton. Under the current promos, you can become Gold in as little as 4 stays and get 50,000 points to boot! Moreover, they now have both a NO FEE AMEX and a NO FEE VISA. The first earns you a 5 point/3 point split and the latter a 3 point/2 point split. That is far better than Marriott's 3point/1 poiint split on CC charges and you don't have to pay an annual fee!

[This message has been edited by DOC 2 BE (edited 01-29-2001).]

Silver requires 15 nights.

Gold requires 50 nights. (And has for some time.)

[QUOTE]Originally posted by UpgradeMe:
[B]Silver requires 15 nights.

Oops! Sorry - silver was what I meant.

Cam,
I would send them an e-mail.
I do not think they will act like delta, their representative at this adress:
[email protected] (Brand Customer Service)
are usually helpfull.

Good luck , felis

I do not understand, for during that switch over, they kept me at Silver despite my having qualified only later the "normal" way.

On the other hand, Silver is virtually worthless in my opinion, except for the 20% bonus, as you are neither given an upgrade nor a breakfast for free. You just have to hope and get a nice front desk rep.

On the other hand, as a Hilton Gold, you get a 25% point bonus (in addition to the 5 points/$ for your stay if you pay with their AMEX) and you get, at the very least, a free breakfast, and perhaps if available, upgraded accommodations. Now what's wrong with that?

It is not that I have been such a booster for Hilton, indeed, their program until recently was not as good as Marriott's and I, therefore, had accumulated most of my stays in Marriott Rewards. It is just that I feel that now Marriott has fallen so far behind Hilton in their promotions. Hopefully, they will change this situation and then I might resume my Marriott habits!

..........the problem is that I am required to attend board meetings every two months at a Marriott Hotel so no hotel choice here.

I guess it's been said on this site before but Marriott doesn't seem to know what the words "double-dipping" mean. Clearly when I am selecting my own hotel I always go for Hilton if there's one in my destination area - top of the pack as far as I'm concerned

Cam --

No argument from me on that point. IF the company springs for it, why not! The only thing I would add, is that you should arrange it that you are the one to have scheduled said meetings, so you can get the Meeting Planner Bonus!!!!!!

DOC2,

Can you tell me where I can get info on the Meeting Planner bonus? We have an administrator who has been making our meetings for years and I would like to find out if any bonus accruing therefrom is going back into our charity's bank account or into his own!

Thanks,
Cam

http://www.marriottrewards.com/point...plan.asp#group

Ooops!! I did not want to get anyone into trouble, I thought I was just helping you out so YOU could earn the bonus!!

BTW, what type of charity do you work for? Can you name it?

Being Platinum at Marriott and Diamond at Hilton, I must say that I get the feeling from my Hilton stays that everyone there is at least a Gold. It is such a watered down membership now. I still feel that Marriott Elite levels are much less watered down and therefore more valuable. Even redeeming awards seems to be easier at marriott than at Hilton.

As for the notification, maybe b/c I'm a Platinum who knows, but I was notified quite a few times of this change all year long.

Man, you must be on the road a lot! It sounds to me as though Marriott might be the preferred program for those who reach the upper echelons of "elliteness".

At the lower level, however, I cannot see much about the Marriott program to get excited about.

I'm with you Cam. I know the scent of "noblesse oblige" when its typed! For this Plebian, Marriott's tier levels are just too remote; it's Hilton for me!

BTW, what type of charity is it?

I see you do not show an email address. If you provide it I'll let you know but would rather not broadcast it.