I was a die-hard Starwood loyalist back in the day, I always used my SPG AMEX, stayed at SPG hotels, and earned Platinum status annually.
On my first trip to Israel in 2007 we criss-crossed the country and stayed in SPG hotels in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Eilat, Haifa, Tiberias, and the Dead Sea on point bargains.
I loved the friendly customer service phone and chat agents, and the suite upgrades that hotels generously doled out, as per the program terms. Marriott downgraded phone agent support and killed off chatting customer service.
I also loved redeeming points for SPG Moments, where I got to watch ballgames from a suite catered with kosher food, play softball in Wrigley Field with a DDF team, and throw out the first pitch before game 7 of the 2016 World Series in Cleveland.
Mergers are rarely good for the consumer. The Marriott purchase of Starwood started off promising enough. Marriott allowed Starwood points to transfer into Marriott points at a 1:3 ratio. Marriott initially had lucrative award charts. Marriott kept the Starwood promise to upgrade Platinum members to suites.
But it didn’t take long for that promise to crumble. Marriott killed the Starwood AMEX by cutting earnings by a third, while saying it was OK because the card came with a free night.
The merger was one fiasco after another.
Hotels were allowed to charge resort fees on award stays, something that Marriott didn’t previously do and that Hilton and Hyatt don’t do.
MLB Moments were killed off and were MSG Moments.
The devaluations came so fast and furious that they became known as getting Bonvoyed.
Award charts were Bonvoyed as well. As were several airline mileage transfers. Elite benefits such as free breakfast have so many asterisks that many hotels don’t bother offering them and Marriott never bothers enforcing their terms. That’s perhaps the biggest devaluation since the SPG merger. Starwood would stand up for guests when wronged by a hotel and even had social media liaisons to help when needed. Marriott only cares about the hotels and doesn’t offer any support to guests.
The Marriott program has consistently over-promised and under-delivered. Hotels that used to upgrade elites to suites under Starwood, now block all upgrades under Marriott, despite the terms stating that Platinum members and above were entitled to standard suites when they were available at check-in. And good luck asking Marriott to request that their hotels follow the Bonvoy program terms.
Gary Leff flags that Marriott has now officially changed their terms to remove that verbiage, which previously guaranteed upgrades to standard suites when available for Platinum members and above. With the change, suites are no longer guaranteed when available.
I suppose it’s no surprise that hotels stopped awarding upgrades when anyone can achieve Platinum status simply by opening a credit card. But what a long way this program has fallen since the Starwood days.
If you want a suite these days, you’ll have to pay for one, or use a nightly upgrade award, though even those rarely clear and only do so in the days before a stay. At least Hyatt’s suite upgrades can be confirmed at the time of booking!
I don’t see Marriott’s change of terms as much of a devaluation, as the terms weren’t being honored anyway, and Marriott didn’t enforce the terms.
It’s just Marriott admitting that elite status is worth very little and that they will sooner change their terms than enforce brand standards.
If a hotel wants to upgrade elites to a suite when available, they can still do so, of course. There are just no longer (unenforced) terms that require it.
What do you think of this change? Do you try to earn status with hotel chains, or are you a free agent?
As for me? I have status with several chains from credit cards, but Hyatt is worlds ahead of any other hotel loyalty program, and I’ll continue to be a Globalist for as long as they keep it up.
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28 Comments On "Marriott Bonvoys Elites Again, But Does It Matter Anymore?"
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Hyatt is amazing 🙂
@chatgpt Can you remove the hyperbole and tell me what’s changed today?
+1
TL;DR Marriott terms no longer guarantee standard suites to higher-tier elites.
Spoiler alert: It doesn’t change much as they never enforced the terms.
This was like a 2 minute read. Attention spans have been Bonvoyed too.
Welcome to the AI era!
Hyatt all the way since the Starwood massacre
Lots of Hyatts don’t upgrade either, though they will sell Suites for that night. Looking at you baha Mar.
Did they have the base suite for sale? Usually, those get booked up by confirmed suite upgrades.
Yes they did. In the description even said “this is a standard suite…”
I’m told nobody gets upgraded at Bahamar anymore. Maybe it’s because I was a GOH, which ought to to be the same as a “real” elite, but perhaps wasn’t treated as such.
They get a ton of GOHs there, so I can’t say I’m surprised.
Bottom line- they can do what they want and get away with it. IHG and Hilton require a absurd amount of points for stays and Hyatt just doesn’t have the footprint Marriott has.
Zin zin
It is the same everywhere. Hyatt is the best program right? Well…I just stayed at 2 international Hyatt properties and was not upgraded to a suite as a Globalist. I rarely get upgraded to a suite unless I can use a SUA which Hyatt is restricting more and more. I guess since it is in the TC with Hyatt I could call and make them fight with the hotel but who want to do that every single stay? Sadly we are in a world where most of the time we are going to get what we pay for plus some minor benefit. The sooner we accept it the happier we will be.
Did they have standard suites for sale?
Annoying to have to ask, but Hyatt will still go to bat for you.
Many credit cards offer Hilton & Marriott upgraded status. Any credit cards or way to get Hyatt upgraded status?
Hotel loyalty programs don’t seem to make much sense in most of the world where there is no credit card tie-in. Basically, in most countries, very few people (and almost no “value travellers”) can earn anything truly valuable from a hotel loyalty program. That’s why foreign travel booking is dominated by sites like booking.com. Basically, everyone is a free agent every time they need lodging, and they pick the hotel that works best for them. US travel has been different, and our hotel loyalty programs were really geared to “road warriors” as portrayed in the “Up In the Air” movie. But now the market has shifted more to high end leisure travel. Are those programs sustainable in this age? The answer seems to be “no,” as hotels seem willing to cut back rewards that make even credit cardholders and “gamers” walk away from the programs. Apparently, these programs aren’t driving profitability, and the chains don’t seem interested in offering the value that would entice participation.
This is a tremendous loss for us!
My experience with suite upgrades has been very different from yours. Probably because we stay mostly at mid to low-tier Marriott brands, and perhaps they’re more likely to upgrade because the cost value differential is usually not as significant vs. at the luxury brands. It makes it possible to travel as a family without cramming into a standard room and have some space to prep food.
We usually book same-day and call the front desk ahead of time to request the upgrade. Sometimes, they make us wait to check in to confirm, but rarely are we refused. We tell them that we’re travelling with a baby and can really use the space… Same experience with IHG.
It’ll be a stretch now to rely on Marriotts when traveling with the family.
I also got upgraded at the W in Budapest.
If IIRC, getting a room with two beds in Europe required an upgrade in some hotels, which would complicate traveling with a friend without this benefit.
You can still call and ask for an upgrade.
The terms still say you can get upgraded to a suite. It’s just up to the hotel, which is really what it’s been up to since the merger.
I also stay at the lower end brands like Fairfield and Four Points and almost never get an upgrade. True, I don’t call ahead. When I’ve asked the reaction is often no reaction, like they haven’t even heard me. “Any chance for an upgrade this stay?” “Here’s your key, you’re in room 307.”
The whole program became a scam when they added a new tier and messed everyone over.
We recently hosted an event at a Marriott. Brought in 90 guests and something like 140 nights and $15K in lodging over a 4-day period, plus an additional $3800 in banquet rental. We got a discount on our room but had to pay for the upgrade and we did not get a single Bonvoy point for all the revenue we brought to the hotel. We were told Marriott does not give points for hosting events at their hotels. The hotel (which is franchised-owned) and staff were terrific but corporate Marriott cares little to keep us satisfied.
Negotiated rates with most brands are not typically eligible for loyalty point earnings.
I, too, was an SPG lover and really hate what has become of Marriott now. I was a lifetime Titanium Elite for many years. Somehow that changed to lifetime Platinum Elite last year. No idea how/why. I called to inquire and ask that it be reinstated and was told the status doesn’t exist anymore. I said, I know you can’t earn it anymore, but I had it and “something” screwed that up. That was last year — still didn’t get it resolved and no one in their backend IT world seems to be able to fix it either.
Just adding that it sucks that they seem to be less and less willing to work for those that kept them in business.
What hotel chain/cc is worth focusing on instead? I have business and personal travel (mostly U.S., occasionally Europe) and would prefer putting it into a single brand.
What is the best/easiest way to get status at Hyatt?
@Dan, could you make or reference a post with the various Hyatt cards and what they offer?
Tachlis, is the Amex Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card still worth the annual fee?