Knowing you I know you know this.....(it must have been late )

there are only X days (shall we call this X1?) where redemption inventory is allowed to be limited, these days are controlled by MR not the hotel and the minimum they are allowed to make available to MR members for redemptions is the original X of total inventory (maybe this is X2?)....X1 days are very limited and on other days (non-limited dates) x2%=100% of inventory

IOW, for most every day, hotels will have all standard rooms available for awards. For certain special events that take up all the hotel's rooms, Marriott will limit the number to what the program previously required rather than every room. (And if I remember correctly, I think that MC stated that on average, hotels will only have around 11 nights per year with limited award availability.)

But you forgot the X + free breakfast for $5 more = NO ROOMS FOR AWARDS! This is bogus, and will cause me to spend more and more time at Hyatt.

I have absolutely no doubt that Marriott Legal has themselves covered with the small print.

I understand that Marriott considers the number of restricted dates and the number of award rooms on that date both to be trade secrets, and I respect you for honoring that confidentiality.

But clearly, there's a problem here. The policy has been in place for a year now, and still we seem to get a new thread every few weeks from someone who is discovering that the actual policy does not match the marketing hype. These frustrated MR members run the gamut from newbies to Plats.

When they complain, the answer is that the exceptions are reasonable and few, yet since the numbers that quantify that are confidential, it boils down to "trust us".

It does seem like some system changes could help perceptions, even without changing the policy or disclosing secrets. Having PLT overrides labeled as such, ensuring the search works correctly, including an explanation on why a room is unavailable ("not a standard room", "reward rooms not loaded yet", "limited availability date/reward rooms all reserved already") - these could help address perceptions.

But I'd still really like MR to publish a calendar showing the limited dates...

Marriott Concierge, or other official Marriott representative, lack of presence in this thread and also on this board for the most part speaks volumes IMO.

While I have not seen evidence of this, I guess those who claim (PhillyPhlyer40) that when a hotel makes a package of a standard room like adding breakfast, parking, gas card, and don't have a standard room available for sale then they don't have to offer award rooms. TTBOMK Marriott Concierge, or other official Marriott representative, has not weighed in on this and as such one can only assume that not only is this occurring but that Marriott is allowing it.

Deleted

sorry I dont understand the point you are trying to make...package availability doesn't impact reward availability

I do agree on the system changes - would help a great deal...but on the posts about there not being availability, recently someone posted (I think Sharon??) that most of these claims weren't correct and other FT'ers were typically showing availability over the dates in question (I apologize if it wasn't you Sharon, I honestly haven't paid attention and am not sure if that statement is correct or not) - but regardless if the issue is percieved or not it is an issue that should be addressed just not sure how they should address those (not that I've given it any thought either)

I think these two points are at the crux of the issue. There are the very same posts in the SPG forum concerning issues around award availability that we are seeing here. The primary difference is that Starwood has two very visible and frequent "lurkers" who are proactive in addressing these issues. And in most cases, the issue really isn't the hotels not following the rules.

With Marriott, they don't have nearly the visible presence on FT that SPG does. And as a result, where in all probability, most of these issues are also probably just misunderstandings, it isn't perceived as such due to no proactive inquiries.

* Geesh, I'm still tired & math not great on a good day BTW - I was not referring to special event sanctioned by HQ days, I was referring to others. So what you're saying is that on non-event days, 100% of standard rooms are available for awards? Yet there have been reports that that isn't the case, hence a lot of the frustration.

* Agree 100%.

* Well it is one way to get around the offering up awards if true, and as such, not really within the spirit of no blackout dates.

* Heck, I can't remember if it's me either, but as you say, something that should be addressed.

* Agree that if Marriott is actually assigning MCs to FT, they should empower them/let them be pro-active.

BTW - I would like to see a Platinum force along the lines of Hilton's Diamond force wrt awards.

Cheers.

+1 That would be a great enhancement!

--Jon

Back in 2009 we responded to questions/ complaints about hotels manipulating inventory to get around the No Black Out Dates policy: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...what-joke.html

I will quote two important points that relate to this thread. Firstly, "hotels do not have the ability to define a standard room on their own; it is defined by corporate and enforced by corporate."

That means extra things tied to the rate, such as breakfast, don't affect the type of room and shouldn't affect reward availability. It also means that hotels can't simply throw a toaster in the room and call it "upgraded", and restrict reward use.

Also posted last year: "redemption room availability is controlled through our global reservations system to ensure hotels comply with the No Blackout Date policy. If you think a hotel is in violation , you can email [email protected] with the specific hotel and dates in question. If the hotel is not in compliance, we will ensure they come back into compliance, book your reservation, and award you 5,000 points for the inconvenience."

I would add that I'm also happy to field those inquiries and complaints by email or PM. I'd go even further in saying that the MR CSR's have become pretty adept with this issue too, if you prefer a faster response that we can give. I know there are probably genuine instances of hotels not playing by the rules, but it seems in most cases on Flyertalk that when a poster gives specifics as to when and where he's trying to book a redemption reservation, the other posters either help him with tips that work to get it booked, or demonstrate that the hotel simply doesn't have the availability. Again, if you encounter a hotel that you think is violating the policy, send it to us; we'll get them in compliance if they are not.

I just tried booking a 3 and/or 5 night stay in New Orleans arriving either 12/28/2010 (5 nights) or 12/30/2010 (3 nights) using MR points. The Marriott and the JW on Canal St. show no availability with points, same with the CY. All three have availability with hard cold cash! So much for using my points

You do realize that as a Marriott Plat when you are searching for room availability, even if the hotel is sold out you will still be able to reserve a paid room (but not an award room.) Try your search after you have cleared out your Plat credentials and you may find that those hotels are in fact sold out for at least some of those nights.

You were able to see paid availability due to your Plat status.

This is the very reason a number of folks here on FT have begged Marriott to have some type of noticable notification that a Plat override is in use when looking a paid availability. It is so easy to not see or notice the over ride being used.

+1

Yep here we go again, someone claiming standard rooms are available when they are actually plat override rooms. I did a search and no paid room came up for either of those hotels for those dates.