Sometimes Platinums are the only ones who can't book a room after an overide occurs?
 

Something wierd just happened.

I reserved a room at a property, no evidence of override needed. All room types available.

A couple of minutes later I go to reserve a second room at the same property and get the following message:

So I go back and log out and try to reserve a room at the same property to see what happens - now I can book a room once again, but only if I do not log in. But I do notice now that the room type I previously booked (2 double beds) is not available now. So does this mean that an overide can occur for a single room type and then this, unbeknownst to the platinum member, means now that PLATINUMS ARE THE ONLY ONES WHO CAN'T BOOK A ROOM of any type once the overide occurs for a scarce room type in the background?

I looove the Platinum override
 

Decided to see friends in Edinburgh for new years eve, but with Edinburghs biggest event (Hogmonay) on that very night (an extra reason to go) the cost of a decent hotel is exorbitant, if you can find one. I didn't search for Marriott as I didn't expect any availability but when it became clear that rooms were like gold dust, and those available similarly priced I decided to give Marriott a whirl. No luck, then I logged in and "abracadabra", £99 Plat override:D

Good job Marriott!!

Also, booked a members only 3 for 2 in the very comfortable Birmingham Marriott on the weekend before Christmas, including breakfast, less than a Premier Inn!

2 great membership experiences in the same day!

I have at times been a critic of Marriott during my first year on FT (my initial post was a vocal complaint), but felt that these 2 instances deserved recognition, and appreciation.

Seasons greetings to all...

Seasons greetings to you, too, Bob.

I love the plat override too....even though I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've had to use it during the last few years. But its like a "get out of jail free" card....nice to have.

Surprised that it worked in Edinburgh, having tried to use it a few weeks ago at Sydney over the new year was disappointed to find only a hugely expensive room rate available (600AUD, min stay of 3 nights).

However, good for you - I use it regularly and its a big positive of Marriott for me, compared to the Hilton where the diamond override is hugely overpriced ( prices in atrack rate, so, typically 3x the normal price of a room). Plus Marriott's IT is second to none for website/channel integration etc, great you can easily use it online etc.

Enjoy your stays!

PS: Brum Marriott is very nice too!

I never speak to the hotel directly on making a reservation. I've used the Plat override many times through the website. In fact, I made reservations for my daughter at the Sydney Marriott (Hyde Park; Harbour was horribly expensive) over New Years with a Plat override that the hotel honored.

I love the Plat override.

A couple of months ago I started a thread in praise of the overide... Obviously I dont know when it gets used because I book on the website but on a few occasions I have tried to add to bookings only to find it refused as "Plt override already invoked."

My best Plt override was for Edinburgh at hogmanay (new year eve). When almost the entire city was sold out of decent rooms, and the last rooms were £250 for the night, went to Marriott in helplessness only to find, abracadabra, PLT override £99!!!

I am well aware its not universal and believed it wouldn't apply to hogmanay, but it did... I still think its one of the most important benefits of PLT and would be really ticked off if it was lost. Before PLT I regularly found hotels were not available, at least half a dozen times every year, thats now a thing of the past... thanks Marriott :)

Even if it is rack rate, you can still use LNF. I booked a room at rack using the Platinum 48 hr rule at Waikiki Marriott late last year for about $370. I then found a rate and room at about $220 on Travelocity. With in 5 minutes on the phone the had my rate change to $167 a night due to LNF even though I booked using the Platinum 48 hr rule.

I believe that there might be some confusion between the room TYPE guarantee 24 hours before check in and the 48 hour PLATINUM OVERRIDE ROOM RESERVATION guarantee.

The room TYPE guarantee must be requested at least 24 hours before check in, and is for a specified room type, such as for a king room or two double beds room, and the hotel can deny that request if the hotel is too full and simply state that the room type is not guaranteed.

The Platinum OVERRIDE ROOM RESERVATION guarantee must be made at least 48 hours in advance, and must be made through Marriott General or Platinum Reservations line, NOT through the specific hotel, and may not be denied if a hotel is fully booked or over booked, except under special circumstances, such as Super Bowl, World Series, Inauguration, National Political Conventions, Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting in Omaha, Olympics, Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500, and similar events. The reason that the OVERRIDE ROOM RESERVATION guarantee may be denied during special events such as the above listed is that most every hotel room in the local area would be full, and there would be no where for the guests being "put out" or overridden or bounced out to be "walked to," so they would be essentially homeless for however many nights their reservation was for.

Those two types of guarantees are very different, and should not be confused!

Although the "guarantee" is good for some situations, I'm kinda with you on this one.

I was trying to book a room at, get this, the Springhill Suites in Newnan, GA (of all places!) and I was told that they were sold out. So I inquired about using my 48-hour platinum guarantee and they said that it didn't apply to the dates I was wanting to stay. They told me they obtained some kind of special waiver from HQ to exempt them from that benefit for those dates. I tried to explain to them the definition and benefit of a guarantee (that it's there when you need it, i.e.- when the hotel is already full. It's worthless when it's not available when you need it) but it didn't get through to them. (Actually, the agent agreed with me, but said that it was corp policy.) I told them they should call it something else, like a "good-faith xxxxxxx" or whatever. But that they shouldn't call it a guarantee if they can't guarantee you a room.

Anyway, the agent then gave me the phone number for Mr. Marriott's customer service line. I'm not quite sure what that is exactly, but the lady I spoke with was incredible - she also agreed with me about the definition of a guarantee and that she would see if she could get me a room in the hotel. I eventually got one, but they said it was because there were some cancellations. That may very well be true, but I have my suspicions because when I asked one of the hotels' front desk staff what special event was going on that weekend, she said there was none. In a town like Newnan, GA, if there's a special event and the hotel has a corp waiver, it seems to me every member of the front desk staff would know about it.

So what's to prevent Marriott from using the "corporate waiver" excuse when it's inconvenient to provide a room for someone?

BTW - I agree w/ you. If the hotel was just sold out in general, then shouldn't the Plat override apply (although I don't normally use it so I could be fuzzy here). But if there is a 'special event' that the staff is touting, they should be able to tell you what it is for crikey's sake & the nice lady at Mr. Marriott's cust svc line should have been able to pull it up. BTW - what were the dates? Maybe football playoffs (oh wait, we're past football season - BB?).

Cheers.

What are the dates of your stay? I'm not finding any dates where a Platinum override wouldn't work for you (I checked all dates in inventory which currently goes out through 1/15/11) I also dont see any dates where they've recieved a waiver from HQ

I have also not been successful with the Plat override. Just last week I tried to book a Marriott room for the Olympics in February. Marriott has denied and said that they couldn't honor the Plat. Override because of occupancy.

Definitely more than 48 hours in advance and willing to pay rack rate.

Trying to stay 2/11 through 2/14

The Olympics is like the Super Bowl or The Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffet) annual meeting or a Republican or Democratic Convention, where they must suspend the 48 hour Guarantee for Platinums, since they would have no where to walk other guests who have been "bumped," since every other room in that city/area would also have been occupied. That is Marriott's allowable exclusion, for truly HUGE events.

I would suspect that the Olympics would easily fit within the exception criteria for limiting the Plat Override. It doesn't surprise me at all given that rooms anywhere are probably going to be hard to come by for the Olympics.

There will probably be no hotel rooms of any kind within 100 miles of Vancouver during the Olympic festivities, plus private people will be renting out their own homes at outrageous prices besides. There would be no way for Marriott to allow the 48 hour Guarantee to be operational, it would cause abject chaos!