2 Questions
 

I have two questions.

First, long story short my flight from Knoxville around 8 was cancelled. I had reservations at The Lexington in NYC. They were unwilling to cancel the reservation, so do I still get rewards points for the stay even though I'm not checking in but they are going to charge me?

Two, I am a silver level member with 49 nights and staying Sunday night in a SHS in Charlotte. I have a 5 night stay coming up at the Marriott East Side in NYC starting Monday night. I know when I look at my account it takes several days for the nights to post, but will Marriott East Side see me as a gold member when I arrive Monday evening? And what can I expect, if anything?

1. no
2. probably not; whatever std benees a silver would get

Reach back out to the Lexington on Monday. Marriotts usually do not charge if your flight was cancelled. I've had to provide proof that my flight was cancelled before (itinerary from airline and printout from FlightAware) but I've never had a hotel charge me when my flight was cancelled. There is a thread somewhere on this board where many people report being able to cancel when this happens. If the hotel doesn't budge, elevate this to Marriott. If they still do not refund your money, go out to TripAdvisor and warn others.

In fact, I once was supposed to be in NYC, staying at the East Side FS, when I got stranded in CLT and wound up staying at the SHS by the airport. (Plane hit bird while landing in AVL and we couldn't take off until a mechanic came to the airport and certified nothing was wrong with the plane. Wound up missing connection in CLT.) The East Side FS did not charge me for the night, even though I didn't call them until well after 10:00 pm. In the last year, I've probably had three flight cancellations or delays where I had to cancel at the last minute and it has never been an issue.

And if you call the East Side hotel ahead of time and let them know you will be Gold by the time you get there, they will almost certainly extend Gold benefits to you. They have never been anything but bend over backwards accommodating in my experience. The big thing you get as a Gold is CL access.

Here is the thread mentioned in the post above: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...l#post24156777 Search for "flight" once you are in the thread. You'll see two things: Most people have been able to cancel due to flight issues with some mentioning that Marriott has a corporate policy to make exceptions to the cancellation policy for this; and, the one guy that had an issue filed a dispute with his credit card company.

Good luck.

and why pray tell should you get any relief from a credit card company?

the OP chose the non-CXLable rate fully aware that flight delays, or other mishaps, could always take place and now wants to disown his/her choice.

as I recall, there is travel insurance for such events although it needs to be purchased either per flight or on an annual basis.

OP - Here are two threads from the Insiders site where people report Marriott hotels are flexible when flights are cancelled. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...l#post24156777 http://www.rewards-insiders.marriott.../129583#129583

Posting on the Insiders site would also be a good idea. The Marriott employees who work on that site are often able to quickly resolve issues. You should not have to pay for a night when there is a flight issue. Other than the one person who posted on both FT and Insiders (in threads linked above) and disputed with Amex, everyone seems to have not been charged when the no-show was due to a flight issue. It seems like pretty standard procedure. You probably just got a Sunday night clerk on the phone who did not know.

Call MR - tell them that you'll be at 50 nights soon and they will make sure that they upgrade your status once you have paid for your 50th night. I did that when I made my Plat challenge - I called MR the night before checking out and ask them if they could make sure that my status will change at check out. It did, I was welcome as a newly minted Plat with my arrival gift waiting for me!

I must have terrible luck, called MR and stated I just completed my 50th night and asked if my account could be updated to show as a gold member before my arrival tonight and all I got was no, it will take 7 days to post.

And to be honest the woman was not helpful at all. In the last 3 months I have put in 50 nights in Marriott, I would have expected a little service and for the agent to not seem annoyed at my request.

Call the hotel directly later this morning. (After the morning check-outs) The staff at that property has always been terrific, IME, although its been over a year since my last stay. Ask to speak to the front desk manager. Explain you actually reached Gold last night. While it won't be noted on the Marriott site, the hotel will likely extend the status to you anyway. It doesn't hurt to call.

BTW, an upgrade at that property is to a room with better windows on a higher floor. The room will likely be smaller than your closet at home, but it will actually be a larger room in terms of that hotel.

One more thing.... I was a little confused on the chronology. So you could not reach NYC last night but stayed in another Marriott property in TN? The Lexington absolutely should not be charging you. Start a thread on the Insiders site. The company reps will take care of it for you.

Where does OP say he had a non-cancellable rate at The Lexington in NYC?

Marriott typically has had a very good track record with permitting cancellation due to airline IRROPs especially if due to weather, which was probably the reason OP's flight was cancelled. Weather is certainly outside of OP's control and I don't see anywhere OP, "wants to disown his/her choice!"

OP, you can also post on the MR Facebook page. They are pretty quick in having someone from their team contact you to attempt to work things out.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Regards,

RIP...

OP stated - First, long story short my flight from Knoxville around 8 was cancelled. I had reservations at The Lexington in NYC. They were unwilling to cancel the reservation, so do I still get rewards points for the stay even though I'm not checking in but they are going to charge me?

or am I misreading the post ?

OP could have had an pre-paid rate. OR, a rate with Marriott's (not so) new (anymore) policy of 1 or 2 days cancellation notice.

Making a dummy reservation for Wednesday...

since the OP stated he tried to CXL after 8PM the day before, whether he had an Adv Pay or was caught in the new window of CXL policy both would be non-cancelable.

If the cardholder is considered a HVC by the CC company they may be willing to eat the charge themselves should the merchant refuse to accept crediting the account. Keep in mind they make a lot of money off each account, even if it's paid off every month.