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Marriott Bonvoy® updated its terms and conditions recently. It should surprise no one that the changes have the potential to downgrade one of the best benefits offered to Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador members. Members may still receive upgrades at check-in, but those being the “the best available room, subject to availability upon arrival” has changed. This gives the hotels more leeway and many will certainly take advantage of not upgrading elite members to suites or provide better rooms at all.
The Marriott Bonvoy® terms and conditions were updated last week. Here is what they used to say:
Platinum Elite Members and above receive a complimentary upgrade to the best available room, subject to availability upon arrival, for the entire length of stay. Complimentary upgrade includes suites, rooms with desirable views, rooms on high floors, corner rooms, rooms with special amenities or rooms on Executive Floors.”
Here are the updated terms and conditions:
Platinum Elite Members and above receive a complimentary upgrade, subject to availability upon arrival, for the entire length of stay. Complimentary upgrade includes suites, rooms with desirable views, rooms on high floors, corner rooms, rooms with special amenities or rooms on Executive Floors.”
It’s a subtle difference, but words have meaning. A “complimentary upgrade” can mean anything. This could be a higher floor, a corner, or a Marriott agent simply telling the member that they have been upgraded even if they end up in the room they originally booked. It’s clear that once again, Marriott is focused on the hotel owners without regard to the members that spend countless nights in its hotels each year.
Marriott has long been a problem in this regard. I can’t tell you the number of times that I have arrived at a hotel and seen tons of upgraded rooms and suites available for sale only to be told that the app is incorrect and the hotel is sold out. I’ve even gone as far as booking a suite at check-in and calling the bluff of the agent, but it shouldn’t have to be this way. Hyatt is by far the most generous with upgrades and I find that I am upgraded pretty close to 100% of the time even if I do not apply a certificate. Marriott is a craps shoot. Sometimes I get an upgrade and other times it’s the room I booked (or recently one hotel tried to downgrade me to an accessible room on the ground floor even though the hotel was mostly empty).
Anthony’s Take: Once again, Marriott is finding a way to Bonvoy its members. Upgrades should be a clear benefit and making the language murkier will only add to the frustration of both guests and check-in agents.
(H/T: View from the Wing.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
1 comment
Marriott never had the best hotels, but Marriott used to be consistently good. They didn’t promise much, but they delivered on what they promised. When there was a significant issue you knew that Mr. Marriott would make things right.
Then, everything started to change when Mr. Marriott retired and his replacement as CEO, Arne Sorenson, wasn’t a hotelier but a corporate lawyer. Marriott shifted big time under Sorenson. No longer was the customer the guest. The customer became the owners, who are primarily franchisees and licensees since Marriott now operates less than 30% of its properties across all brands.
Under Sorenson is when customer service stopped serving guests. They found every excuse in the book to defend bad properties. Customer service became about serving the owners. If you had an issue, it was just kicked back to the property and not resolved by corporate. Gone were the days when you could get a hold of Mr. Marriott’s office to make things right.
Then after Sorenson died, his replacement accelerated the shift. He only cares about adding “keys” (rooms). Who cares about guests or even current properties — lots of longtime owners are mad as new brands are acquired and old brands are neglected. I remember when someone pulled up his Instagram and Facebook before it was scrubbed. The Marriott CEO didn’t even stay at Marriott hotels. When he traveled with his family he went to Four Seasons and other non-Marriott hotels.