When does Marriott announce their program changes?
 

Do they typically announce changes, hotel category ups etc. this month?

To answer the question in your OP, no they do not announce the changes in January. They do announce them around the same time each year & when they do there's a very long thread re: the changes ;)

Cheers.

A simple search would have brought up the threads from last year & previous years & you would have seen the general time frame that the announcements & implementation of them occur. ;)

Cheers.

James, the majority of the posts I see here from you are always rude remarks. This is meant to be a helpful community verses always trying to fight against individuals, so I would recommend dropping the bashes against others and just replying with a simple "sorry, couldn't find it with a search" and leave it as that.

Anyway, to help answer your question, it varies, but the Marriott Concierge usually posts something in Late February to Early March each year. I did a "quick search" that took about 5 seconds and yielded these results for you.

Marriott Rewards Hotel Category Changes - Early March 2014
Marriott Rewards Hotel Category Changes - Mid February 2013
Marriott Rewards Hotel Category Changes - Late February 2012

So based upon the past three years, it was anywhere from mid February to early March.

Happy New Years

I removed all the snarkiness from this thread, which didn't leave much! Wow.

Bruce
Moderator

Thanks for that (as well as the edited advice :D ). I was actually asking more about program changes than hotel ups/category changes. By program changes I meant if they will discontinue executive lounges or make them more restrictive, if they will add a diamond/1k type elite above platinum, if they will discontinue rollover nights/rewarding events, if they will change requirements for lifetime or do away with it altogether etc. etc.

Are those program changes not actually an annual thing? Are they announced when "hotel category changes" are announced? That was what I was initially wondering (and do still wonder if people in the know happen to know)

They can -- and do -- appear whenever Marriott feels like announcing them, with no discernible pattern or schedule.

Bruce

I wouldn't wait for the changes if you are planning on spending your miles this year. Last year although Marriott gave us plenty of notice many of the "high demand" hotels simply blacked out a majority of their availability until the changes went into effect and then reopened it up. That basically killed any "warning" Marriott gave.

OK, yeah that was my main question and I was under the wrong impression that it was just done once a year. They could then for example, without any notice, decide to do away with free lounge access. It's not like their category changes where they do it once a year around a certain time. Got it, thanks.

Thanks but my OP I guess was misleading because it wasn't about using points. A million stored up and no hurry to use any, except maybe at the new JW Venice :). It really was all the other perks and benefits that make Marriott the best hotel program that I was wondering about, but I understand it better now.

While I'm sure they could make significant changes to the program rules without prior notice to members, I do believe that they have normally given fairly significant warnings in the past. And I would guess they would continue to do that in the future.