Yeah, I'm Plat now, but as of Feb 1, I hadn't stayed in a Marriott for years.

Last year, I made a decision to focus on Starwood, since their no-blackout no-limited-award-inventory policy better met my leisure travel needs. But I found myself travelling on business where Marriott better met my immediate requirements (travelling with my dog).

I booked a 45 night stay at a Res. Inn. The manager who I booked with was able to look up my long-dormant account, and it even had about 1000 points in it. MR kudo #1: other chains (Hilton for sure) would have expired those points years ago.

Since it was a Res Inn, there's no Lounge access for elites or anything, but I just figured I could use the extra 5% points when I checked out. So after I checked in, I called up MR (FT suggestion, thanks) and was comped to Gold status based on that one stay, no muss no fuss. MR Kudo #2.

A couple of weeks later, along comes the Mega Bonus promotion, and thanks to my new Gold status, I am able to switch (FT suggestion, thanks) from a stay-based bonus (which might have netted me nothing, to the nights-based 30K bonus. Boy that seemed generous. MR Kudo #3.

Well, my RI stay extended to 66 nights, and was followed by a bunch of 3 night stays at a full service Marriott. Immediately I am enjoying lounge access, and the lounge is very nice, a great breakfast and a great happy hour spread, much nicer than the last Sheraton lounge I had access to. MR Kudo #4. And 3 weeks later, I'm Platinum.

Edit to add: At Starwood, those 66 nights would have earned me no status, no stay credit, and no points. SPG does not earn anything for stays of 30 days or more. No such silly rule at MR. MR Kudo #4 1/2.

One of my stays, booked on short notice, the only way to get decent airfare was to book it as a prepaid air+hotel package. That meant no points or stay credit, but I did still get Platinum benefits (welcome gift, upgrade, lounge access). I know Starwood won't do that. MR Kudo #5.


Now comes this Summer Promo. I'm not targeted (why should I be, I'm staying there weekly without it, I don't blame them). But a couple of calls later (thanks, FT), and now I am. MR Kudo #6.

And now I'm planning a 4th of July weekend with my girl. The cities we are considering are all pretty much sold out, so I decide to give the Platinum 48 hour Guarantee I try. I'm expecting either "special event" exceptions, or else sky-high rates. But the rooms are offered, and the rates, while high, are not especially unreasonable. MR Kudo #7.

So I'm pretty impressed. I haven't tried to cash any points in yet, so I may feel differently then. But so far, so good.

If I have any complaints, it's that it can take more than one call, for example, to get signed up into the Promo, or that I have to call back to get the Megabonus points into my account. But really, maybe that's a sign that the reps are actually empowered to go outside the box sometimes, which is a good thing.

You've summed up 10+ years of Marriott experiences for me. Overall, there is no other chain that offers a consistently better product or customer service than Marriott. I hope that their behavior has earned your loyalty!

Sure Marriott was consistent -- consistently boring -- with respect to the types of hotels they had, as well as the types of bonuses they provided for your loyalty.

HOWEVER, in the last couple of years, they have moved away from the boxy cookie cutter hotel (See Rennaisance Hotels, and even some Marriott properties), and with Ed French now running their Reward program, they have really come out of the doldrums.

Now, they have married their consistently good service product with the above, and they are a huge force to be reckoned with (re Loyalty Program and free stays, etc.) -- commensurate with their gargantuan size measured by the number of properties they possess.

You likely will not find much difficulty in reward space, if you do not plan last minute -- and, even if they have rooms sold out at standard rewards points, they might have inventory available, but it will cost you 50% more in Rewards points.

Two other things you should know:

1). Marriott has a very handy calendar for each property for you to see what reward days are available -- 30 days out from a specific date -- always search by 1 day and then project the search for up to 4 weeks -- this discloses all the days that are available. Unlike other chains (Hilton) you can string non-reward days with reward days so thta you get the benefit of the increasing point discount per day, the more days you book at a given property.

2). The packages that include up to 120,000 FF miles and a 7 day stay plus a 25% Hertz discount are exceedingly good redemption options -- so long as you plan to spend 7 days at a property -- and can get 7 days of rewards at that property.

Wow. Thats pretty impressive. Just out of curiosity how did you wind up with the comped Gold status? My understanding was that is nigh impossible save the 50 night stay criteria.

There is an unadvertised rule that you can, once only, get "bumped" to Gold or Platinum if you are within 5 nights of the requirement, 45 or 70. Anyone can request it if they're within the 5 night range.

It's best used only if you really need it. Using it up to jump to Platinum when you're going to stay 5 more nights by the end of the year may not seem like such a good idea when, years later, you find out you missed the Platinum level by 1 night and get downgraded to Gold and don't have this 'saving' exception available.

Oh, and I should mention buybacks. If you drop a level, from time to time, MR will send a "buyback" letter. You can keep doing this as often as you like. 35K points for gold, 50K points for platinum. You don't actually need the letter to do the buyback, you only need to have been at that level before.

I have also noticed that if you stay at Gold or Platinum for several years, and suddently don't stay enough nights, that you'll be "courtesy" renewed by the MR computer. For how long the courtesy renewal will last, or what stay frequency triggers it, I haven't found an explanation of that from anyone at MR yet. It certainly isn't something you can request (so far as I have found).

I called 'em up. I was already checked in and a few days into an extended stay reservation, 45 nights I think, and asked if there was a fast track into elite status. I didn't explicitly ask for silver or gold. He asked if I had any other reservations, I said I didn't but would likely have some more nighst following this stay, and he offered up Gold.

I got comped to Platinum!

Showed them my history at a Marriott property on Priceline (!), and showed them my upcoming stays as a MR member. Also showed them my Hilton Diamond card.

I, too, did not request anything specific, just politely asked if they could do anything for me. Back came an email with the plat comp! I never looked back.

They're getting over 150 nights/year out of me, so I guess it was a good gamble on their part.

Thanks for the info - it raises another question though. Do you mean to tell me the "bump" is a once in a lifetime thing?

If it is then I may need to rant a little bit....

It is "officially""supposed"to be a one time thing.
But why rant?All of the chains(and the airlines too)will tell you that status matching/bumping are a one shot deal.

MR doesn't have the no-blackout policy? I too am a newbie here. I have stayed at Hilton for as long as I can remember. But they have done some stupid things with me and I decided to check out other options. I just assumed that all programs had the no-blackout for top elites.

Ha! We wish!

I don't know. I'm was only talking about the bits and pieces of the MR program that I know about.

When you explained what had happened exactly in a later post, it sounded to me like you got something other than what I was talking about.

I'm sure there are a lot of people who would be interested in knowing what it was.

Exactly why some people get status-matching upgrades, and others don't, or why some people get upgrades based on stays not yet made or completed, appears to be based on something that other people have mentioned several times in various topics. It depends on who you are talking to.

Frankly its infuritating. I hear one thing from five different reps, and then discover later on, whoops, it was really something else.

I can only imagine what people who don't come here to flyertalk and read about this sort of stuff must think about it.

No. Awards/Points are on limited availability at all hotels. It's first-come, first-served until that availability runs out.

FWIW, at the time I decided to collect Starwood points, I was not top-elite anywhere and had no expectations of ever getting there (funny how quickly things change). Starwood's if-a-standard-room-is-available-you-can-get-it-on-points policy applies to all members, even those with no elite status at all.

Marriott Rewards - what a joke - what a shambles! I have been in contact with Marriott since Oct 08 and am still awaiting my rewards. Apart from emailing, faxing and writing letters to their customer services dept (?) I am still awaiting a response! To cap it all they sent me a new card with my name spelt completely wrong - Marriott - NO THANKS