I wish hotels would enforce the rules on this very strictly, possibly by charging the rack rate for any upgrades and lounge access. It's annoying when people try to cheat, especially since it often comes at the expense of genuine elites who do follow the rules.

In other words, that's my upgrade you're planning to steal.

I agree 100%. I believe the purpose of Flyertalk is to legitimately maximise the value and perks of each Loyalty Programme - not to scam the system by fiddling perks that you aren't entitled to.

Nick

In most of those places the hotel has a responsibility to document certain things (like citizenship, name and DOB) of the person checking-in and staying in the room. That's not because they want to make sure you don't cheat the system.

True, but we've had a few reports of elites wives arriving before they did (hubby coming in on a dif flight) at overseas properties & while the hotel allowed the non-elite spouse to check in they were not allowed access to the exec lounge until the elite spouse did arrive. So int'l might be more sticky on it than US. Note these were instances where both spouses were staying at the property, not instances where the elite spouse wasn't going to be there but wanted the better half to get his bennies.

Cheers.

IMO all properties should do this: No benefits whatsoever until the elite arrives. A spouse of an elite is not an elite unless he/she has earned elite status on his/her own.

Shrug. You're more a hard you know what on this than I am. Elite+1 is the policy for lounge access. If a non-elite wife (or hubby) is arriving earlier than the elite spouse on the same day & hotel allowed the spouse to check in, then I have no problem w/ the hotel extending the courtesy of allowing the spouse to utilize the exec lounge. And actually would think better of the hotel for being courteous, as presumably would the elite spouse.

Cheers.

I have no problem with them enforcing the rule but I do prefer the first method below, and have experienced both at different propertis both in and outside US

Polite: give first guest upgrade and lounge access if applicable and ask that guest 2 stop by when they arrive. Let them know that if the elite is not staying then the first guest will be charged

Impolite: no access unail elite guest arrives

The hotel has nothing to lose but our loyalty. Frankly if fewer people were trying to game the system they probably wouldn't be so strict.

Agree. #1 also covers both sides.

Cheers.

Paid Upgrade at Check-In (Marriott Courtyard)
 

Hi,

I might be soon staying at Marriott Courtyard in Linz, Austria. Marriot web site is showing that only rooms are avalible. I have question if I book a room if is possible to upgrade to Suite at check-in. How much does upgrade cost?


Best Regards

If you are asking about upgrading using points, points paid upgrades at check-ins are not really a part of the Marriott program. It might be possible to use a 5K upgrade cert, but you would need to do that before you checked-in. If there isn't an option for an award suite room using points online, you can try calling the hotel and speak to the GM and see if they would be willing to offer you one. If they are willing, you would need at least one 5K upgrade cert per night of your stay.

If you are asking about paying "cash" for the upgrade, then that is very dependent on each specific hotel as to what they would charge. Again, you would need to call the hotel to find out what they might offer.

If you are a Marriott Gold/Plat, you might well be able to get a complementary upgrade when you check-in. You would just need to ask. For CYs (in the US at least) I've been very successful at getting complementary suite upgrades when I ask during check-in. But I haven't stayed a lot at non-NA CYs (which may well have a CL and be more of a FS hotel rather than limited service.)

Marriott Elite Upgrade and Benefits Successes
 

I thought I would try to get a thread started on experiences with upgrades, benefits, and arrival gifts experienced.

Property:
Dates:
Award stay:
Room type booked:
Room type received:
Elite Level:
Plat Arrival Gift:
Other Gift of Benefit:
Comments:

If you were made aware of an upgrade in advance, such as through e-mail or a preassigned upgrade in your reservation, put it in the comments.

I've had a couple, but the most notable one I had was:

Property: JW Marriott Marquis Miami
Dates: Saturday in Dec 2015
Award stay: Yes
Room type booked: Standard Room
Room type received: Bay View Suite
Elite Level: Platinum
Plat Arrival Gift: Standard points
Other Gift of Benefit:
Comments: I honestly wasn't expecting anything considering it was a Saturday night and I booked last minute. The suite without question was the nicest room I've ever been in. It was a really nice surprise.

The solution for Marriott Upgrade
 

Do you prefere free 30% chance of upgrade OR Small extra cash to room price with 100% guaranteed upgrade before arraving ?

In my opinion Marriott should send emails before arriving ask you if you want to upgrade or no but it should be very small amount of cash added to the total price ,if you say no there is still small chance to upgrade ..

In some cases i prefer to pay for upgrades (with familly or friends) instead of paying for two rooms wich is some times cheaper than a big suite !
But also i been upgraded wile going for short business trip when the room only for sleeping and i dont really need this upgrade ..

Its hard to make every body happy but lets hear some opinions

Some properties (of dif chains) already do this by sending out an email saying you can guarantee an upgrade (price varies, but I've seen 75GBP; others depending on property can be less or more than $100). It seems to be property dependent (although maybe not w/ Hilton who's been doing it for a while).

A lot of elites get outraged - how dare they, I get this as an elite or they're selling to others my upgrade. Others take the approach of if I want to "guarantee" an upgrade then I might go for it.

What's your definition of small extra cash, btw, & what do you term an upgrade? Also, there was a thread on this topic in this thread not long ago that you might not want to read, although it wasn't phrased as a 'solution' ;)

Cheers.

Got the idea from Emirates airline booked flight in economy class got email from them if i want to upgrade to business i know its different between airlines and hotel upgrades but it was sweet i pay few $ more lot cheaper than original business ticket ..

75GBP daily or on top of total price ? if daily its too much oh by the way London is one of the hardest cities in the world to get an free upgrades :D

What's your definition of small extra cash, btw, & what do you term an upgrade?
something reasonable or i can say sweet deal as loyal

lets say they well upgrade you to suite wile check in why not asking i may don't need a bigger room ..
Sorry for my English im on the go and no way to check my spelling