Recap: Marriott Playing Games With Availability, Dollar Tree To Close Stores & More

 

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    William Charles
  • On March 7, 2019, 09:00

View Comments (17)

  • Does Extended Stay America hotel have a useful credit card and or loyalty program? A cop was just shot and killed in their parking lot

  • I bought quite a few AirBnB Gift Cards a few months ago, to take advantage of different Amazon promotions ($30 off $60 when paying with at least 1 AmEx Membership Reward point, $15 off $60 when paying with at least 1 Chase UR point etc.) and then I tried applying the Gift Cards to my AirBnB account and indeed after maybe 4-5 GCs, I couldn't add more GCs.

    I wasn't aware of the Velocity Limit back then and innocently thought that it was just purely a system error/bug. I called AirBnB and they didn't have any idea what was going on either. If I remember correctly, I tried the next day too and still got the same error message. I think after 2 days, I was finally to add more GCs to my account.

    And yes, always choose to pay upfront in full as AirBnB doesn't allow paying with GCs for the 2nd installment should you choose to pay less in advance.

  • Thanks again for the link, Doc! Tons of engagement from readers on this issue - obviously a hot button and lots of people impacted. We encourage people to make their voices heard to Marriott on these issues such as playing games with award availability and the Points Advance issue (Marriott not living up to what its executive promised to Gary at VFTW). There are many customer service issues at Marriott and we don't want to just be "noise around the edges." Really appreciate your support. ~Craig

    • @guest_731749
      Seems like it more than just Noise around the edges.

      "No blackout dates is a bit of a farce" with a huge loophole that allows for floating blackout dates for an unspecified number of limited dates that can be applied at whim or based on demand or reservations" seems it applies to properties even not on the T&C exclusion list. Luxury collection not named on exception list - but properties have space for revenue bookings but not awards even today.

      https://flic.kr/p/2f1Tnft

      Even the "No black out dates is not in Elite benefits matrix

      • So peak award pricing is more of a revenue grab with no blackout dates being noise and gutted of true redemption value at the whim of properties

    • I've found Delta SkyMiles to be much more valuable that their reputation would indicate.

  • Although it states Airbnb gift cards cannot be used on "Reservations of 28 nights or more" I recently made two long term reservations using my gift card balance. So as usual YMMV!

  • I want to share my experience regarding Points Advance reservations with Marriott.

    So I booked a room at the Renaissance Amsterdam Hotel around 2 weeks ago (it was still Category 5) for 2 nights and so I'd need 70,000 points for the stay. I don't have enough points yet and so no Certificate has been issued for my reservation/stay.

    Today, I logged in, and to my surprise, the Points required for my stay have increased from 70k to 100k.

    I then called the Marriott Reservations hotline and had to explain the situation to the Agent. She looked into it and confirmed that this hotel has moved up 1 level to Category 6 and there's nothing they could do as far as changing the Points required for my stay. But in the end, what they did instead was crediting me the difference (100k - 70k = 30k) into my account. So now I have extra 30k points in my account. Quite surprised but I really appreciate that they did this. The whole call lasted 30mins. I was put on hold for maybe 15 mins while they were researching it.

    In the article written by Middle Age Miles (first bullet point above), I see this:

    "[UPDATE as of 2/11/2019, 6:00 pm – Gary at View From The Wing writes that he has communicated with Marriott, and Marriott will continue to honor the “old” rate as long as you make “Points Advance” award reservations before March 5. However, if you do not attach the points/certificate before March 5, you will have to call in to the Marriott Rewards line to get the “old” rate. (Parenthetically, good luck getting Marriott to do this. Among other potential problems, you do not receive a confirmation email when you make a Points Advance reservation. Best Practice: Screenshot everything when you make a Points Advance reservation.)"

    Turns out that is not the case. The old rate is not locked in. And Marriott Agents too are unable to change the Points required to the old rate. But I'm glad at least in my case, they credited my account with the difference between the old and the new rates.

    Some screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/3wkC5Bz

  • Thanks for posting that Marriott "losing trust" (in buckets) lament..... Figures Marriott would go to pieces after swallowing spg. (Not unlike the pattern at IHG after it swallowed Kimpton) Related note to the Marriott story -- those of us sitting on mountains of ms earned Wyndham points ought to be locking in reservations sooner rather than right up against the April 5th bewitching day.

    • I wonder if Wyndham is doing the same thing. I was looking to book a hotel in Galveston and couldn't find any availability. I bet it will return at 30k in April.

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