Beware of Marriott Bonvoy Program (Formerly SPG)

[BoarderPhreak]

I've been a "Starwood Preferred Guest" (SPG) since 2012 with a five night stay at the Swan. Stayed again in 2018 for six nights. Staying again in 2019 at the Dolphin for ten nights.

The only points I got is for the middle trip, and somewhere along the way it switched from SPG to Marriott Bonvoy.

I just had a chat with Marriott and come to find out there's nothing they could do about the first trip being so long ago; why it's not listed in my account is they likely expired; I opened the account with that stay. They refuse to credit me for the upcoming trip though because I booked it through a third-party (Priceline). Oddly, this wasn't an issue with the middle trip I was credited for; also booked through a third-party. Only afterwards did I vaguely remember asking about the points during check-in last time.

Another thing to note; at my service level I should have had "Free WiFi" which was clearly not the case, as the Swalphin charges $30/night (+tax) for a "resort fee." Granted, that also includes two water bottles every day. I suspect this only applies to other hotels that don't provide water bottles... Still, it's stupid - every hotel I've ever stayed at offers free WiFi.

Moral of the story: Be careful when using this program. There's fine print and outright B.S. I plan to ask about it again when I check in later this year.

Disclaimer: In the grand scheme of things, this means very little except getting a free night eventually and other (questionable) perks. This ten day stay would have given me "Silver Level" status. I've yet to ever actually gain anything through this program (like a free coffee let alone a free night).

 

[BoarderPhreak]

They made the mistake of offering me a customer service satisfaction survey after the chat...

 

[Hakunamatata]

Ive been a Marriott customer, traveling regularly for business for around 15 years. Really never had issues with Marriott, a couple one offs here or there. Ever since the merger with Starwood and the new program, service is sub standard to the past and rewards are not as beneficial. My guess is to help offset the cost of the merger.

 

[markc]

They made the mistake of offering me a customer service satisfaction survey after the chat...

Not cool - you're punishing an agent who has to live by the rules of Marriott by responding negatively to those surveys. Just because you dislike their answers, doesn't mean they deserve to be rated poorly.

As others have stated, NO hotel program gives credit for stays booked with third parties. This is VERY clearly stated in their terms. Why? Because they lose out on commission from the booking. Thats why orbitz/hotels.com/expedia etc all have their own points scheme to compensate and entice customers to use their booking engine instead. And retroactive credit for a stay from years ago? Nobody does that...not the airlines, not the hotels, not car rental companies. This is VERY standard and done for a very good reason. Adding points to somebody's account years later can negatively skew a companies liabilities in their financials. You're right though - they should've had your first stay credited if you opened it up upon checkin, but its ultimately the guests responsibility to catch that within a 6 month time frame to make any corrections if necessary.

Also - resort fees (while highly unreasonable and questionably unethical) are standard, not sure why this is a surprise to you. Wifi is just one of the "many" features in that resort fee (gym, transportation, business center, etc). You still got free WIFI...you just unfortunately were at a hotel that charges a resort fee to get extra revenue.

I know your intentions are good in warning us all about the program, but rather than posting here about your frustrations... spend that time learning about the Bonvoy program. . Based on your travel patterns, It sounds like you'd be better off booking through hotels.com or orbitz and using their frequent guest hotel schemes instead.

 

[21stamps]

HHonors has the same rules. I always book direct as it’s often a similar price as a 3rd party, and the points make it worth any minuscule difference.

 

[DisneyOutsider]

I've been a "Starwood Preferred Guest" (SPG) since 2012 with a five night stay at the Swan. Stayed again in 2018 for six nights. Staying again in 2019 at the Dolphin for ten nights.

The only credit I got is for the middle trip, and somewhere along the way it switched from SPG to Marriott Bonvoy.

I just had a chat with Marriott and come to find out there's nothing they could do about the first trip being so long ago; why it's not listed in my account is baffling as it should be; I opened the account with that stay. Worse, they refuse to credit me for the upcoming trip because I booked it through a third-party (Priceline). Oddly, this wasn't an issue with the middle trip I was credited for; also booked through a third-party. Though I did raise the issue during check-in if memory serves.

Another thing to note; at my service level I should have had "Free WiFi" which was clearly not the case, as the Swalphin charges $30/night (+tax) for a "resort fee." Granted, that also includes two water bottles every day. I suspect this only applies to other hotels that don't provide water bottles... Still, it's stupid - every hotel I've ever stayed at offers free WiFi.

Moral of the story: Be careful when using this program. There's fine print and outright B.S. I plan to challenge this again when I check in later this year.

Disclaimer: In the grand scheme of things, this means very little except getting free nights and other (questionable) perks. This ten day stay would have given me "Silver Level" status though.

I think you're being a bit unreasonable here.

To clarify... you called Marriott about receiving points for a stay that happened in 2012, when the program was run by a completely different company?? 2012 is forever ago in rewards points-world. That was 6 years before the program was transferred to Marriott's control and those points would have expired long before the merger to Bonvoy began. You were likely given credit for those points in 2012, but they subsequently expired if you went years without using the points.

About not receiving points for the Priceline booking... there isn't a hotel chain in the US that I've encountered who will give you points on their rewards program for booking their hotel through a third party. Why would you expect Marriott to do this? The whole reason they offer the rewards program is to incentivize you to book and stay with them. I'm very skeptical that you received rewards points from Marriott for staying at the Swan and Dolphin under a Priceline booking, as this is strictly against the terms of the program. If they did credit you, I would consider that very generous of them and applaud them for it - but I would never expect it.

Regarding wi-fi, most Marriott hotels have different tiers of Wi-fi that vary in speed and strength of signal. As a Gold Elite member, I am eligible to receive the upgraded wi-fi free of charge. Not sure if that applies to silver or not, but in the grand scheme of things you are correct - it's not much of a perk in today's world.

I will say this about Bonvoy -- SPG was a vastly superior program. I used to be able to stay at Swan & Dolphin for New Year's Eve on points alone. It was a fantastic deal, but with Bonvoy's arrival the party is now over. Shame

 

[21stamps]

Based on your travel patterns, It sounds like you'd be better off booking through hotels.com or orbitz and using their frequent guest hotel schemes instead.

I want to second this.. unless you’re using more Marriott’s throughout the year, then I don’t think a hotel rewards program will be as beneficial to you as one of the hotels.com etc programs would be. I don’t know the rules for those sites, but I often see advertisements for a free night after so many stays.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

I didn't contact them for points from 2012; I did ask about it as I did have those points in my account. No idea what happened to them. No way we'll ever know now. I contacted them to see about getting credit (or at least adding my upcoming trip) to my account... Which they declined because of the third-party thing. It stinks, sure. It is in their fine print, yes. I didn't realize that until afterwards because as I stated - I got credit for last year's third-party booked trip.

The survey had one question regarding the agent; I answered neutrally on that one.

Regarding resort fees and WiFi, etc. - none of that is "a surprise to me." I just suggested that the Marriott "benefit" of free WiFi is a bit... Stupid.

 

[Hakunamatata]

I didn't contact them for points from 2012; I did ask about it as I did have those points in my account. No idea what happened to them. No way we'll ever know now. I contacted them to see about getting credit (or at least adding my upcoming trip) to my account... Which they declined because of the third-party thing. It stinks, sure. It is in their fine print, yes. I didn't realize that until afterwards because as I stated - I got credit for last year's third-party booked trip.

The survey had one question regarding the agent; I answered neutrally on that one.

Regarding resort fees and WiFi, etc. - none of that is "a surprise to me." I just suggested that the Marriott "benefit" of free WiFi is a bit... Stupid.

In most survey driven industries a neutral response is a negative.

 

[markc]

I didn't contact them for points from 2012; I did ask about it as I did have those points in my account. No idea what happened to them. No way we'll ever know now. I contacted them to see about getting credit (or at least adding my upcoming trip) to my account... Which they declined because of the third-party thing. It stinks, sure. It is in their fine print, yes. I didn't realize that until afterwards because as I stated - I got credit for last year's third-party booked trip.

The survey had one question regarding the agent; I answered neutrally on that one.

Regarding resort fees and WiFi, etc. - none of that is "a surprise to me." I just suggested that the Marriott "benefit" of free WiFi is a bit... Stupid.

If you realized that all of this is in their terms and conditions of the program, then why are you complaining on here in the first place and why did you rate the agent you spoke with so poorly (neutral/negative - all the same)? Again, rather than posting on here, relax, learn, accept that you may have some misunderstandings on your part (and not the part of the Bonvoy program) and move on. Your post is coming off akin to a spoiled child upset that his parent isn't giving him more than his agreed upon allowance, and I'm sure that wasn't your intention nor your character. You're only true grievance is that you dont have points from 2012 - but in reality, if you didn't realize until 7 years later or haven't had the need to cash them in for over 7 years...they really aren't that important to you to begin with.

 

[BoarderPhreak]

This has nothing to do with 2012, as I said numerous times. This has to do with an upcoming booking. Please read.

 

[donsullivan]

It has been a pattern with Marriott (now merged with former Starwood) that they do not offer rewards on reservations made through most travel agencies or online travel websites. This is nothing new. I ran into it most recently with a trip to London booked through AMEX Travel services in 2016 where I did not get Reward points awarded.

The nuance I learned was that all my corporate travel used to be booked through AMEX Corporate Travel and everything from that received normal Marriott (now Bonvoy) points. But a room booked through any sort of discounter or aggregator (in my case AMEX Travel Services and Booking.com) were not eligible for Marriott points.

 

[lazyboy97o]

This has nothing to do with 2012, as I said numerous times. This has to do with an upcoming booking. Please read.

If you really want the points and the Silver status (which will require additional stays to maintain), then rebook with Marriott and cancel with Priceline. You were extended a courtesy last year and are upset it was not repeated. You want to have your cake and eat it too. You also keep mentioning the 7 year old trip, one that in all likelihood expired so of course it is now gone from the records.

 

[xdan0920]

Ive been a Marriott customer, traveling regularly for business for around 15 years. Really never had issues with Marriott, a couple one offs here or there. Ever since the merger with Starwood and the new program, service is sub standard to the past and rewards are not as beneficial. My guess is to help offset the cost of the merger.

Goes the other way too. I was/am SPG, and since the merger it’s been a mess.

Edit to add....

I did have a good experience at The Canal Street Marriott in New Orleans. Harrahs put me up there in a comp room, and they still allowed me to add my Bonvoy account to get credit for the stay.

 

[Minthorne]

The rewards level for swan/dolphin took a huge jump after the merger. I miss SPG.

 

[markc]

This has nothing to do with 2012, as I said numerous times. This has to do with an upcoming booking. Please read.

Nobody is just referring to the 2012 trip - I think everybody's responses are targeting ALL the points you made. You called their policies B.S. that you were going to fight when you check in regardless of the fact that their terms and conditions state 3rd party bookings don't count....that's unreasonable. Let it go. Like somebody said - you want the points; cancel on priceline and book with Marriott and be done with it.

 

[markc]

I think you're being a bit unreasonable here.

I'm very skeptical that you received rewards points from Marriott for staying at the Swan and Dolphin under a Priceline booking, as this is strictly against the terms of the program. If they did credit you, I would consider that very generous of them and applaud them for it - but I would never expect it.

Hilton once gave me points for an "name your own price" priceline bid stay that I had at one of their hotels. They somehow were able to link my Hilton Honors number to my stay (I didn't ask them to do this...it was all on their own) , and sent me an e-mail to note that they were giving me points as a courtesy and would hope that I would consider booking next time directly through them. It happens from time to time, but as you said, one should never expect it.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Program was good when it was SPG. Now that it is Marriott (Bonvoy)..not so good.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

Not ready to start a thread about this until the lawsuits get clearer. But this is happening on a larger scale now

https://onemileatatime.com/hilton-lawsuit-resort-fees/

Let's see what happens, and if the hoteliers just compensate by raising the room rates. Might force Disney to rethink implementing a "resort fee" as well (But I'm sure they'll get creative - that or they'll just raise the rates)

 

[BoarderPhreak]

Apropos to the conversation...

Earlier this month, the District of Columbia attorney general filed a lawsuit against Marriott, accusing the hotel giant of deceptive fee practices. The suit accuses Marriott of employing “an unlawful trade practice called ‘drip pricing’ in advertising its hotel rooms, whereby Marriott initially hides a portion of a hotel room’s daily rate from consumers.” This is commonly labeled as a resort fee. Per the suit, Marriott has “reaped hundreds of millions of dollars over the past decade from this deceptive drip pricing.”