They certainly are. And they certainly are entitled to change the rules at any time, in which case I'm sure lots of MR members would re-evaluate their loyalty.

BUT Marriott HAS NOT changed the rules....at least not formally. Their Elite Benefits still claim "when you check in, we'll upgrade your room whenever we can at no additional charge. Suites not included." Many here have cited that this is not happening.

Their rules also guarantee lounge access and/or free continental breakfast. Of course, beware of the asterisk that says "at participating hotels, resorts excluded". Still, many say they are not getting this benefit.

Their own rules guarantee a room 48 hours out for Platinum, and guarantee your requested bedding choice. They also guarantee Priority late checkout. I can tell you from my own personal experience in the past 4 weeks that this is not always happening.

Continuing on...they guarantee free local phone and free fax. Some have stated that this is not happening.

They offer Elite certificates which, according to their rules, are excluded by most of the more in-demand properties (and, up until recently, were mailed by pony express, apparently, as they had less than half their expiry time left). If you do stay at a hotel that is not excluded, many report problems with untrained front desk staff who are unfamiliar with the EEO certs.

They offer Bonus Buck rates, and THEIR rules say they have 3 or 4 month longevity. MANY here, including myself, have gotten Bonus Bucks with less than 3 WEEKS longevity left.

They offer award rooms (apparently not at all hotels these days) but the standard award seems to have become the parking lot/construction site view and any other view including Garden is considered an upgrade and requires more certs (=more points).

So, it would seem that Marriott itself is the one who is either stretching the truth, self-modifying the rules, or flat out chiseling away at the benefits which they themselves still tout on their website as being reasons for frequent travelers to remain loyal. And I think that's the the operative word....LOYALTY. They want it, and we are willing to give it. But they must be held to follow their own rules.

And just for the record, I am one who rarely complains about Marriott and I am far from one who feels "entitled".

Just looking for consistency and compliance.

When flyerwife complains, I listen. She has been my Marriott guru for years. That is an impressively detailed list. I hope that someone at Marriott Corporate offices prints it out, passes it around, and then takes some positive action.

WRONG!!!!!!
We EARN our points by CHOOSING to stay with Marriott.And Marriott does not offer the points out of the goodness of their stone cold greedy little hearts-they offer them as an INCENTIVE for us to stay at their brand of lodging rather than the competition.

If they would ever cease to honor the points already earned by thousands of loyal customers the lawsuits would be never ending.

Sense of entitlement-you betcha baby!I have spent a lot of time and money with Marriott and I am going to get everything they owe me.

I agree.Flyerwife is a sane and reasonable a customer as one could hope for.She is also a great flyertalker and was very kind and helpful to me when I first started here.
But I now see a lot of very good,sane,and reasonable people now responding negatively to Marriott's programs decline.Meny of whom had been long time Marriott guests and boosters.
Then of course you have screaming yahoos like me(I prefer the lable prophet over screaming yahoo-but whatever works)who are so upset with Marriott as to appear to be of a lunatic fringe :D

Thanks so much for the kind words, SanDiego1k and bigguy :)

The rumored further (and imminent) changes to the Marriott rewards program could really be an opportunity for Marriott to make a lot of MR loyalists very happy.

Why am I getting this sinking feeling, however, that the changes are NOT going to be good????

Just to pile on, here is my recent rewards request attempt today.

I have a 1MM+ points and little time to use them and when I try, I'm always shot down.

I'm looking for a summer weekend in Syracuse, NY, near the in-laws for a visit in late July. Nothing "going on", colleges are out, Syracuse proper is hardly a resort vacation destination having lived there for 8 years and visiting family annually for 30 years.

6 Marriott properties available in the area, all with "standard" rooms available for purchase. One recently reflagged REN and the rest CY's, FI's, RI's. All of these are "overlooking the interstate" types, no views, resorts, etc. REN is $109/night, the others cheaper.

Put in for the points stay, and only 3 come up available.

2 of these, including a Cat 1 FI, are the "stay anytime if we let you" type at 2times the points.

The REN and RI, where I would prefer to stay and spend my points, are absolutely unavailable.

Drives me absolutely nuts, having a huge cache of points and a simple pratical reason to actually have to use them and I can't treat my family to a comfortable stay in a REN or RI. But I can certainally spend $250 more and get what I want.

This is why I complain and am such a pessimist on MR lately.

Yes, I know, switch hotels/program, its a free market, stop complaining, they have to do this to stay in business, their T&C say they can do whatever they want, I'm not entitled to anything, its not real currency, etc...

I just wish I had this great advice and sense of the "real redemption world" some 10 years and 1MM points ago.

I still contend Marriott is playing some serious, undisclosed "behind the scenes" game playing with their redemption policy otherwise 6 stay anytime rewards would pop up.

We are constantly being "thanked for your continued loyality to Marriott" at check-in and in print lately. Isn't loyality a two way street?

Just to check out the situation, I tried to make an online reservation for July 21-28th at the Ren Syracuse. I did not receive a no room available message. What I did receive was a message stating that the online tool couldn't calculate the points needed, so to make the reservation please call the 1-800 reservation number. I also noticed that the hotel doesn't have a Rewards Category Level listed. Maybe there is something wrong with its online listing and because of that the online tool can't make rewards reservations there.

So you may still be able to get the Ren. I have no idea why the online tool couldn't figure out the rewards reservation, but you might be able to get one by calling Marriott Reservations. Another option might be to send a PM to the Marriott Concierge, Chris, and see if he can help you figure out why the Ren doesn't show up as participating with MR.

Good luck.

[Edited to add]Just noticed the Marx Syracuse to become Renaissance Syracuse thread. Possibly the problem is that since it is a new Marriott Property there are some "kinks" to work out of the system. So maybe calling the hotel directly might be helpful.

Thank you Mr. hhoope01, also for the info on the phyiscal locaiton of the REN. I would have thought it was the fomer Hotel Syracuse as opposed to the round building that I've past a million times before.

My actual dates are July 27-29. When going to the hotel's page itself, I got the same message you did. So I'll call next.

I'm still upset that I can't pull up the other 2 hotels and get a "stay anytime" award.

Any resolution?
 

Has there ever been any resolution of the issue at Marriott EGE? I want to book an award week for next January/February. I am OK with paying 50% extra for the "Stay Anytime As Long As We Feel Like Letting You", but I want to do it before the premium goes up to 100% over Standard at the end of this month. Frankly, this issue leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and makes Starwood's "True Redemption" look appealing.

Chris got back to me via a PM on May 10 as shown below:

My response to Chris on May 14 was as follows:

Now, why Chris hasn't responded to this thread baffles me, but someone else can take up that fight. I think they are starting to show their true colors, IMO. Marriott Corporate is powerless over the Hotels that refuse to play by the rules. I will continue to stay at Marriotts when it suits me, but not 100% as I have for the past few years. I will be mailing them copies of my Hilton and SPG folios!

So it's true
 

It really is "Stay Anytime As Long As We Feel Like It". Very disappointing, even the airlines will give you an award seat for 2x normal miles if they have a seat to sell.

I am disappointed in Marriott Corporate and the fact that they hold no sway over the rogue properties.

AAupgrade I am sorry for your loss.Best wishes to you and your family.
These sort of things make the petty things we discuss on these boards seem so trivial in the big picture of life.

Here is wear Starwood really comes through-there is a significant fine levied against "rogue"properties for noncomplience to brand standards.

Yet another example of Marriotts disrespect of one of its most loyal customers

He did the same thing regarding the gift card issue. Seems to be the new M.O...except we keep quoting him...

I may be mistaken, but isn't it against FT rules to post private PM's without the author's consent? http://www.flyertalk.com/help/rules.php#q84

My previous post corrected per T&C.