Marriott Bonvoy elite members are eligible for a number of guarantees that are backed by a cash payment to ensure property compliance.
One of the guarantees is the Elite Welcome Gift, one that I have exercised several times this year. Hotels should offer Platinum, Titanium and Ambassador members a Welcome Gift-choice at the time of checking in. If they forget, you can exercise this guarantee and collect the cash or negotiate bonus points as a compensation.
You can access Marriott’s page for elite gift guarantees here.
READ MORE: Marriott Bonvoy Rate & Bonus Points And Miles Promotions
Here are the Platinum, Titanium & Ambassador Elite Welcome Gifts:
Guaranteed Platinum Elite/Titanium Elite Welcome Gift
Check out this when you check in: As a Platinum or Titanium Elite member, you’ll receive a special gift upon arrival at participating hotels, with a choice of an amenity gift or points. If guarantee is not met, guest compensation applies.
|
BRAND
|
WELCOME GIFT CHOICE/POINTS
|
GUEST COMPENSATION*
|
|---|---|---|
|
Marriott Hotels, JW Marriott, Delta Hotels, Autograph Collection, Renaissance Hotels
|
U.S./CAN/EU:
1,000 points per stay or $10 Food & Beverage credit per stayAP/CALA/MEA: 1,000 points per stay or Food & Beverage amenityRESORTS only: U.S./CAN/EU: 1,000 points per stay or breakfast in restaurant per day. Member + 1 AP/CALA/MEA: |
$100 USD
|
| Gaylord Hotels | 1,000 points per stay or $10 Food & Beverage credit per stay | $100 USD |
| St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, W Hotels, Sheraton, Le Méridien, Westin, Tribute Portfolio | 1,000 points per stay or amenity per stay or breakfast in restaurant per day (including resorts) |
$100 USD |
| The Ritz-Carlton, EDITION, Marriott Vacation Club, Design Hotels™ | 1,000 points per stay | N/A |
| Courtyard | U.S./CAN/EU: 500 points per stay or $10 Food & Beverage credit per dayAP/CALA/MEA: Hotels without lounge – 500 points per stay or Food & Beverage amenity or $10 Food & Beverage credit per dayHotels with lounge – 500 points per stay and breakfast in lounge (if lounge is closed- breakfast in restaurant per day) |
$50 USD |
| AC Hotels, Moxy Hotels | U.S./CAN/EU: 500 points per stay or $10 Food & Beverage credit per dayAP/CALA/MEA: 500 points per stay or Food & Beverage amenity per stay or $10 Food & Beverage credit per day |
$50 USD (AC Hotel)$25 USD (Moxy Hotels) |
| SpringHill Suites, Fairfield by Marriott, Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites | U.S./CAN/EU: 500 points per stay or Food & Beverage itemAP/CALA/MEA: 500 points per stay or Food & Beverage amenity |
$50 USD (SpringHill Suites, Residence Inn) $25 USD (Fairfield by Marriott, TownePlace Suites) |
| Four Points, Aloft | 500 points per stay or amenity or breakfast in restaurant per day | $50 USD (Four Points) $25 USD (Aloft) |
| Protea Hotels | 500 points per stay or breakfast in restaurant per day | $50 USD |
| Element | 500 points per stay or amenity | $25 USD |
*Outside of the U.S. compensation will be paid in the local currency
Here’s what you need to keep in mind:
1. The stay must be qualifying.
2. You must have your Marriott Bonvoy number attached to the reservation.
3. You should NOT check-in using the app (defaults to points).
4. Compensation only applies if they don’t ask for your welcome gift choice at the time of checking in or forget to deliver the chosen F&B amenity.
5. You need to exercise this guarantee while still at the hotel.
6. The guarantee doesn’t apply if chosen amenity points fail to post. You just need to follow up with customer service.
This benefit doesn’t apply for Ritz-Carlton, EDITION, Marriott Vacation Club, Design Hotel brands because they only award 1,000 bonus points per stay (no other options).
Some members wrongly believe that this guarantee applies if they are not “welcomed” as an elite member which is incorrect. The Elite Welcome Gift-guarantee only applies if it is not offered at the time of checking in.
How To Request
Some members may feel uncomfortable when exercising the guarantee. If the hotel has a lounge, just request to speak with the Manager on Duty, Loyalty Champion or Front Desk Manager while there. If not, give the operator a call and ask to speak with one.
They likely argue first that the guarantee doesn’t apply yet because they can offer it until you check out (wrong). This is a Welcome Gift that needs to be offered at the time of checking in.
Another argument that I often hear is that everyone chooses the points and hence they have selected it for me. Wrong again. It is my choice which option I prefer and a hotel needs to offer it, again, at time time of checking in.
Cash Versus Bonus Points
Once a hotel agrees to pay the guarantee, they will likely suggest just taking the amount off the folio. Don’t accept this. It won’t work for those whose employer reimburses for the stay and you will also earn less points.
You can most of the time negotiate a bonus points deposit in your account in lieu of the cash. Based on my personal experiences, hotels have trouble handing out $100 bills but are happier to post points.
Marriott affiliated hotels pay $60 for every 10,000 points issued as a compensation. I tend to request 10K to 20K points for the $50 guarantee or 20K to 30K points for the $100 one (depending on the mood).
Qualifying stay & rate:
i. A “Stay” is a stay of one or more consecutive nights at the same Participating Property by a Member who: (A) provides his/her Membership Number at the time of reservation or at check-in; (B) pays a Qualifying Rate or redeems a Points redemption Award or a promotional Award for the stay; and (C) stays in one of the reserved guest rooms. If a Member checks out of a guest room and then checks back in to a guest room at the same Participating Property within 24 hours, it will count as a single stay for purposes of calculating Stays and issuing Member benefits. A Member may only earn Points for up to three (3) guest rooms during any Stay if he/she stays in one of the reserved guest rooms and pays a Qualifying Rate or redeems a Points redemption Award or a promotional Award for all of the guest rooms.
2.1.e. Qualifying Rates. A “Qualifying Rate” is the rate a Member pays for a Stay in a guest room at a Participating Property which qualifies to earn Points or Miles. Qualifying Rates include most business and leisure rates, such as rates found on Marriott.com without an application of a discount code, Standard and Premium Retail rates, Advanced Purchase rates, Corporate negotiated rates, and national/regional/local Government rates. Unless otherwise specifically stated, Members will receive their membership tier benefits during stays on Qualifying Rates.
Elite benefits guarantees such as the Elite Welcome Gift are only valid on qualifying stays where a member uses a qualifying rate such as corporate or an award.
Note that reservations booked on third party OTAs such as Expedia or Booking.com are not qualifying and elite benefits including this guarantee do not apply.
Here’s the relevant part of the Marriott Bonvoy terms:
4.1.c. Benefits of Elite membership apply to stays on Qualifying Rates (as described in Section 2.1.e.) and are reserved for Members only and apply solely to the one guest room in which the Elite Member stays. Only one Member per guest room can earn Points/Miles and Elite Night Credit, as well as receive benefits as described in Section 2.1.d.(iv). Elite Members receive one set of benefits according to their membership tier on Stays of one or more consecutive nights as described in 2.1.d, even if they check in and check out of the same Participating Property within 24 hours. In order for an Elite Member to be eligible to receive Elite benefits during his/her stay, the Elite Member must provide his/her Loyalty Program Membership Number when making a reservation.
Elite Members will receive Elite membership benefits including, without limitation: bonus Points, priority late checkout and room upgrades. Benefits vary by Elite membership tier. More information can be found in section 4.3.
i. The awarding of Loyalty Program Elite membership benefits is void where prohibited by law and may vary outside the United States and Canada.
ii. Local policy may prevail over Loyalty Program standards at Participating Properties, and some Elite membership benefits may not be available at some locations.
4.1.d. Members with Elite Status (“Elite Member”) will receive guaranteed compensation for select Elite benefits in the event those benefits are not available during an Elite Member’s stay (“Elite Benefits Guarantee”).
i. The Elite Benefits Guarantee is the maximum compensation paid to an Elite Member during a stay that is booked at least one (1) day prior to arrival. The Elite Benefits Guarantee in the United States is $200 U.S. dollars, even if more than one guaranteed benefit is not delivered to the Elite Member. The maximum Elite Benefits Guarantee compensation paid to an Elite Member during a stay outside the United States will be the equivalent of $200 U.S. dollars paid in local currency, even if more than one guaranteed benefit is not delivered to the Elite Member.
ii. If an Elite Member believes that compensation is due with respect to any aspect of the Elite Benefits Guarantee, he/she must request payment of the compensation while still a guest at the Participating Property, prior to checking out. Failure to request such payment prior to check out will result in a complete waiver of any right to receive such compensation.
Iii. In order to qualify for the Elite Benefits Guarantee, the Elite Member’s Membership Number, Elite membership status, and bed type preferences must be included with the reservation. Reservations made through meeting planners, travel agents, wholesalers or other approved third-party sources must include this information in order to be eligible for the Elite Benefits Guarantee.
iv. Guests accompanying Elite Members to a Participating Property are not eligible for the Elite Benefits Guarantee.
v. The Elite Benefits Guarantee applies to all Qualifying Stays, including Free Night Award stays.
Here are some Compensation Clinic-series Marriott-case on this topic:
Compensation Clinic: JW Marriott Cusco ($100 + 10,000 Marriott Rewards Points)
Compensation Clinic: Platinum Arrival Gift Guarantee Woes At AC Hotel Palau De Bellavista
Compensation Clinic: Marriott Platinum Arrival Gift Woe$
Compensation Clinic: Courtyard Bali Seminyak
Compensation Clinic: Toronto Marriott Bloor Yorkville Hotel
Conclusion
Some members believe that nobody should exercise this guarantee. Why would Marriott Bonvoy have it in place if not to ensure that hotels follow the gift-standards? Surely hotels and front desk agents quickly learn how to do it properly, once they pay the guarantee a few times.
What I have learned based on my experiences is that hotels that are disorganized (haven’t done their room allocations or paperwork in advance) are more likely to “forget” this one as well.
We may have (yet another) a Compensation Clinic-special coming up on this specific topic in a couple weeks time. I have three hotels where I had to utilize this guarantee recently. One had a Marriott Bonvoy video playing behind front desk agent who was 100% oblivious of any elite benefits.
What have been your experiences with Elite Welcome Gift-guarantee?
So in your Marriott account settings you can pre-select your welcome reward. Do you think it is better to leave that blank?
I would leave it blank. They should, however, always ask at the time of checking in for stays at the eligible brands UNLESS you have checked in using the app.
I had an odd one on check-in last night at a Fairfield, where I was given a welcome bag with water and snacks, without being asked whether I wanted the snack or points.
What would you do if they had automatically given both? I suppose I have no way of actually knowing if that happened.
BTW, when they do actually ask, I usually reply with my choice and then say “or you could always do both”. A lot of the time they have no problem giving both a snack and points, or whatever the case may be for that particular brand.
Can you tell me where this is? I don’t see it in my profile anywhere.
My bad, I think I was confusing with the Hilton profile where you can choose them in advance.
Marriott just has room preferences.
Well, there’s 5 minutes of my life I’ll never get back spent looking for it LOL. Thanks, at least it’s not me.
Seriously? Haha, no chance John! As lifetime titanium with Marriott this gets missed / forgotten more often than not. This program is and continues to be an absolute mess compared to the SPG lifetime program.. 1000+ nights wasted in terms of “loyalty” for sure
John, what if the hotel does offer a welcome gift but the choice is incorrect? For example, in a Sheraton i was once offered points or local amenity, but no restaurant breakfast. Does compensation apply in this case? I wasn’t able to get it, not even once, even after “fighting” with Bonvoy support.
If that’s what you asked for, yea the compensation applies.
But yea you generally have to fight with the property manager, not marriott. There’s not a lot they can do to enforce they follow the rules during your stay, that stuff all takes a long time. They just make a ticket against the property, and eventually the property will get investigated, especially if a lot of people file tickets. They will get fined if they have a lot of tickets against them. So it can help on the overall situation if they do it to everyone, but not so much in individual cases.
What I would do if the highest level manager you can get tells you no, and calling marriott to give him a call also doesn’t work is pay for breakfast anyways. Then dispute it as being overcharged since it should of been free for you, preferably with a good credit card issuer that has your back. Few hotels will fight back against that, especially if you provide evidence.
I would LOVE for this to happen to me. I’ll try to distract them with questions and stories at check-in and see if they forget! HAHAHAHAHA
How do you get the property to actually honor the guarantees?! At my last and final stay at the westin galleria in dallas my reservation was confirmed for the presidential suite. Upon arrival I was placed in a double queen as they gave my room to someone else. The agent apologized and promised to correct my ressrvation for the next 5 days of my stay. The following day, i called the front desk afrer not hearing from then to inquire about my room change. I was informed once again i had been placed back into a double queen and my room had been sold to someone else. Luckily i record all my phone calls with banks and hotels and showed my original reservation confirmation to the gm and replayed several calls before he would admit his property screwed up. The. Following day i was finally moved to the pres suite and the heater goes out. It’s the middle of winter and engineers are inin my room past. 1am. The hotel was overbooked and the agent on duty didn’t know how to honor the reservation guarantee and calling bonvoy the agent hung up on me stating there was nothing she could do and the hotel didn’t have to do anything. By 5am, exhausted andand freezing i gave up asked for more blankets and tried to sleep in the freezing room. I missed my conference later that day as i was up all night dealing with the hotel. The hotel failed to provide any sort of compensation and Marriott consumer affairs after 2 months of not returning phone calls or emails closed the case staying resolution agreed to. I’ve yet to be contacted once regarding the stay or compensation. To say it was a horrible stay is an understatement!
I should add my bonvoy rewards status is titanium and has been for 5+ years.
Has anyone every successfully done this? I’ve had my welcome gift forgotten three times this year and neither the hotel nor customer relations has heard of getting money or bonus points. Each time they’ve just added the missing points eg 500.
Has anyone ever had any success with this? I have had the welcome amenity forgotten at least three times this year and each time nobosy had heard of any such guarantee (and neither had customer relations). I got the missing points added, eventually, that’s all.
I’ve had success with this in San Francisco.
Seemed basically none of the hotels i tried there had any training or cared about the marriot program, so after the first one I went ahead and tried for this in a couple ways:
Palace hotel – luxury collection. Since it’s from the SPG days, they have to offer all 3 gifts. Not only did i get offered none, was lie to about the upgrades – I asked if any suites were available, he straight up said no they are all booked. When in fact it was a very dead hotel that day, tons of rooms available, plus I was even asking for a free upgrade, he didn’t care or look if I had status so i might of been asking to pay..
Anyways I asked if I could get a free drink, he handed me a voucher. Got a drink at the bar, went back to the front desk and talked to the other guy there, asked him if any suites are available (I doubled checked on the app, all room type were avail). He said yes, apologized for the other guys behavior and upgraded me.
The next day, I brought up the fact I was not offered the welcome gift (and lied to by the first check in agent) with the front desk. They asked what I would like, I said what’s the local amenity? They had none. So I said, well instead ill get the $100 compensation. They had no idea about that either of course. Got a manager and he printed out my folio with $100 credit applied. (Per the post I should of asked for cash or points but oh well, at least I got that)
Plus technically they could of said th welcome drink was the amenity – but they didn’t thus the compensation applies.
Next hotel after that, the aloft SFO just to sleep before my flight out: Nothing offered. I wasn’t in the mood to argue too much, so I just specifically asked for a welcome amenity – figuring they wouldn’t know about it either. She didn’t. Said there is none. I went up to the room – was terrible, not very clean and AC was semi broken.
Brought both up with the manager. He was cool but he himself – the front office manager, had no idea about the welcome amenity. He claimed it was due to the transition, they were still used to the SPG terms – which he said they provided welcome drinks for (every other aloft i’ve been to actually still does that), but with marriott thats not included anymore. I explained they still have to offer some amenity, he was like uhh yeah I dunno, and picked up peanuts nearby .. I was like c’mon man, the other choice is around $5 in points, a $1 pack of peanuts is not fair, it should be something comparable to what it was before at least – the drink at the bar. I mentioned the $50 compensation I could force him to pay me, but he was friendly and understanding so I said well what else can you do. He offered to buy me 2 drinks at the bar – no limit. So yea I got some expensive scotch worth more then $50 anyways heh. (And switched my room personally to one he confirmed was all in good order)
I learned after from another guy who stays there a fair bit they actually have suites and upgrade him sometimes too. So thats cool (Aloft per the terms oddly doesn’t have to upgrade you, for the majority of the ones in the US, that’s fine, all the rooms are the same, but many in asia, europe, and some old american ones like this and others converted from other hotels, still have suites. Didn’t mind I didn’t get offered that since technically not in the terms and I was there only to sleep.
Please, Protea (South African Hotels) is not possible choise the amenity gift? The manager by one Protea told I only had two Choices (breakfast or points). Is it correctly?
I have not had to exercise this option yet, as a Titanium member they have always acknowledged my status. But my question is I am going to a J W Marriott resort in a week where they have no lounge. If they forget to offer the welcome gift is it better to take breakfast for each morning (this would be way more than $100) or should I try and get the points? We are staying 5 nights so I would want at least 20,000 points.
Lifetime titanium member stayed in sheraton hotel, i was not asked if i want points or 10 usd voucher as welcome gift
Sheraton Agoura Hills, CA refused to honor the request 100 usd since welcome gift choice was not asked from me time of check in?
manager told me we issued 1000 welcome points and that they do not need ask what welcome gift i want when i check in
Called Marriott Customer service i was told that front desk does Not need to ask anymore which gift you want and stated
You will get 1000 points as chosen your profile i did not do mobile check in this supervisor marriott customer service got really upset
She stated that when you have check out and if you would not see 1000 Welcome points on your account then you could apply the 100 usd this is my understanding against the rules I was trying to reason with her that by rules i need to request this before i check out
She said rules have changed and got really upset with me
So have anyone else notice change of rules that welcome gift quarantee is not honored anymore or is this only property that does this?
Marriott should have this benefits if they do not honor them is just make guest and property
Manager upset!