Yes, and I too will voice my thanks to the Flyertalk Marriott Concierge team for your helpfulness on so many fronts. ^

Drew probably got tired of having to check with his masters before answering every single question-and I do not blame him one bit.

He announced he was moving on and now we have 2(was it 3 at one point?)new folks.Ira and Marie-although Marie has not been around for a while now.

Add me (and my "masters") to the list of people who think Ira is doing a great job on this thread. :D

Best regards,

Drew

I think the best I can do for you is to explain in greater detail what is currently happening and what will happen after January 15th in regard to capacity controls.

Currently all 365 nights of the year at all 3,000 plus hotels have restrictions on how many standard rooms can use reward points. On blackout dates no rooms are open for reward redemption. All other nights of the year hotels are required to open a certain percentage of their rooms for standard redemption. The percentage of rooms hotels are currently required to set aside on all non-black out nights is the same percentage they will have to set aside on the handful of nights when they will be allowed to limit redemption. For example, if XYZ hotel’s current mandatory inventory for reward redemption was 20 rooms per night on all non-blackout dates, when the program changes they will be required to offer at least 20 rooms for reward redemption on the hand full of nights when they have been allowed to limit inventory. On all other nights the hotel must release all of their standard rooms for reward redemption.

This is an interesting theory. However, these changes have been in the work for quite a little while.

Ira

Why doesn't someone file suit against all these programs? I am sick and tired of having points/miles devalued. My logic: vendors either sell product (rooms, plane seats) or miles (via ccard affinity programs). In the first instance, they promise consumers heavenly rewards for using their brands. Consumer relies on promise, spends money, gets nominal reward (points/miles), but the reward is retroactively devalued. In the second instance, airlines collect hundreds of millions of $ from likes of AMEX by selling FF miles. Airlines grab the cash and recognize a future liability based on redemption value of the sold miles. Except that they never "pay" out the redemption value -- they devalue the miles! When will we, the oppressed, band together and file a class action suit to stop this? Courts have ruled in divorce proceedings that miles/points are property rights. Given that airlines are administrators of this property, they probably have some type of fiduciary duty to protect the property (kind of like your bank has a duty to protect your money). Just think, your bank rewards you for keeping money in their institution by accruing interest in your account. What if they say, "Gee, we've gotten the benefit of the bargain, so we're going to give you a haircut: The 50 bucks in interest accrued in your account is now going to be called 50 cents." Well, clearly that would be fraud, unfair & deceptive business practice, theft by failing to make required disposition of property, etc etc. But in the airline business and now in the hotel business, it seems like business as usual.

I know they have a bunch of disclaimers about program changes, but these have to apply prospectively, not retroactively. How can they take 300,000 of my points and with a wave of the wand make them 30,000 equivalent? Make future point accruals dilutive, but not existing points. I don't even think this is necessarily the best place for this post, but this has just hit a raw nerve with me. My wife has been traveling this year overseas every month and one of the things that makes her absences tolerable is the rewards we redeem as a family. Well all that just gets blown away with wholesale devaluations like this and time has come for someone to seek redress. Any class action lawyers out there -- I will volunteer to be a lead plaintiff!

Terry let us know if you hear anything. I would love to see too where they got all the rave reviews. What Marriott does not get it, its top tier guests are really banking on the 7 night packages. The top tier folks have more than 1/2 million to 1 million points. They do not care abt the 1 and 2 night stays and how much it costs them. They are only interested in the 7 night packages. If the devaluation is really necessary, then create a package with 5 or 6 nights and keep the points the same.

swag, thanks for this link. I never knew that such a forum existed.

Add me to the list of people generally disappointed with the changes although, ironically, my last few redemptions have each been for five nights at a Category 2 hotel (namely, the Tysons Corner, VA Courtyard, which must have the distinction of being about the best redemption value -- weeknight rates are generally in the $269 range even though it is a C2 -- in the system), so this would benefit me.

All well and good, but I wish they'd allow the government rate for government contractors, something that we lost several years back. I work for a cheap contractor who only gets reimbursed at the government lodging rate, so that's all I get. When I'm traveling with government employees who are staying at a Marriott, either I have to spend money out of my own pocket to stay with them or stay at a place that covers my expense allowance.

This is bad juju.

OK-you just made my head hurt :confused:
Glad to see you are still around-thought you had moved on to bigger things at Bearcut Drive(or wherever it is you are based)
Glad to see you here-although not really happy with the circumstances bringing you back.Now what happned to Marie?
Musical Marriott Concierges.

PS-we reallllly think Ed should come forward soon.

At least the increased availability sounds like a big positive. It was difficult to structure our hotel-hopping trips in the past.

Marriott Concierge-
Back on page 16 (post #227) I posted a question. I think it got lost over the weekend. Could you please respond to the following (copied from my previous post):

I think you may be thinking of Chris Janecek.

Marie is still with us, working on other projects.

You may be interested to know that Ed French is responding to members' questions here: http://www.thefineprint.marriott.com...nt/14000000000 (You will need to sign in to your online Marriott Rewards account.)

Best regards,

Drew

Speak to a Reporter?
 

Hi all - I found this link thanks to a link on Marriott's Elite Member forum. I have a well known travel reporter who is willing to dig in and do an independant review of Marriott's changes - but he needs someone who will go on record with him and make statements. If anyone is interested and agrees that Marriott has been less than honest with their “enhancements”, please email [email protected] - I'd like to put you in touch. Also, for those of you who are not able to access the elite website, I've posted some response from Marriott and a recap of some misleading issues at: http://sites.google.com/site/makemarriottlisten/Home - Please visit and send any comments. It's nowhere near as well organized as flyertalk, but it helps spread a bit of truth about Marriott's intentions and treatment of customers. I'm mostly focused on the honesty behind the changes vs. Marriott's statements that these are not financial. Thanks for your help & standing up for members!

Vacation Club Points
 

Booooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am a Platinum Member thru MVC and I like to trade for points.

Do the math I do not see any enhancement forget the smoke and mirrors
what if you can only stay 4 nights you get ripped

Currently my property is worth Cat 7 .... 150,000 for 7 nights
and members only recieve 90k points or 110,000 for platinum w/a $100 fee
now to stay in a Cat 7 for a week is..... 210,000 points OUCH

Please tell me that this is wrong

Rgds Rodger

You may be interested to know that Ed French is responding to members' questions here: http://www.thefineprint.marriott.com...nt/14000000000 (You will need to sign in to your online Marriott Rewards account.)

Best regards,

Drew[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Marriott Concierge;10585991]I think you may be thinking of Chris Janecek"

Thats right----Sorry for the confusion.

I will have to check back on that forum thing-I did look at it on Saturday-and it was running at 95% negative.

As to Ed French not responding on Flyertalk.He is the face of Marriott Rewards at the Freddies each year.He should be present here as well IMO.You take the bad parts of the job with the good.