Long awaited, Marriott just sent out an email from their CEO Arne Sorenson announcing a range of new COVID-19 guest policies including an extension of the members Bonvoy Elite levels earned in 2019 until February 2022.
Points expiration will also be paused in order to allow members irrespective of status to use their balances without any loss in this uncertain period.
Marriott received a lot of criticism by being extraordinarily slow in their response to their worldwide members, even though they were initially quite quick to offer relief and status extensions to those members and customer residing in Greater China.
The news from this email haven’t been updated on Marriott COVID-19 response website yet, I’m sure they will update the website later.
I did expect this to come sooner or later especially since the competition has already announced their own extensions for customers worldwide in the last few weeks.
You can access the email here.
Here’s the status relevant information that Marriott just sent out:
For Our Customers:
We remain committed to ensuring our customers experience flexibility during these challenging times, so we have further extended our cancellation policy and I wanted to give you an update on those changes.
For guests with existing reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates that are typically more restrictive, we will allow full changes or cancellation without a charge up to 24 hours prior to arrival, as long as the change or cancellation is made by June 30, 2020. Please note that any changes to existing reservations will be subject to availability and any rate differences.
For guests making new reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates, between March 13 and June 30, 2020, we will allow the reservation to be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival date.
For Our Marriott Bonvoy Members:
I also want to take a moment to address our Marriott Bonvoy members. Like many of you, frequent travel is a way of life for me and most of the Marriott team. It is the way we connect, get inspired and evolve our business every day. While it is the right thing to do, it’s been hard not to be able to travel. We know that when you get back in the air and on the road, your points and status will be important to you.
- Status Extension: We want you to be able to enjoy the status that you earned in 2019. With that in mind, the status you earned in 2019 will be extended to February 2022.
- Points Expiration: To provide you ample time to redeem points, the expiration of points will be paused until February 2021. At that time, your points will only expire if your account has been inactive for at least 24 months.
…
There was very little room to wiggle here for Marriott given the circumstances the hospitality industry finds itself in right now and for the next months, possibly 1-2 years to come.
The fact that this policy came out today was probably the reason why one of our readers was granted an extension just by asking for it as John wrote about earlier today.
Conclusion
This was the right thing to do and to my surprise Marriott took quite a bit of time to unveil their global policy and set the record straight. They aren’t the only company in the travel industry to lack speed though, American Airlines is so far the only one of the big U.S. legacy carriers that hasn’t announced an extension or grace period for their elite members.
As a company of this size I really wouldn’t like to just follow but instead lead the initiative to show customers their value. After we turn back to traveling (hopefully soon) these companies will need every dime they can get.
Those of us who have been around during the last financial crisis know how the industry looked like during that period and in the aftermath. This time around we gotta add a global pandemic to the mix that saw multiple properties temporarily closed and employees out of work. As such I absolutely welcome these elite extensions but let’s think about those affected by the current economic climate and those that will be in the future.
![Airfare of the Day [Business Class] FINNAIR New York to Berlin from $1,866](https://cdn1.loyaltylobby.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/xberlin-wall-g23959b7ff_1280-120x86.jpg.pagespeed.ic.TWViuvOZvR.jpg)
Well done Arne. It took a little time but you did it. Some faith has been restored in the Bonvoy program. I appreciate it
Anybody have any idea when our status will revert back? My account still shows the downgraded tier.
only accounts in China macaoo HKG Taiwan received status retention from 2018 the rest of us just get shafted!
Revert back to what, which status did you earn in 2019? This extension is about 2021 which means that *this* year you don’t need to qualify by nights.
If you didn’t reach the level in 2019 you can’t blame the virus or Marriott so you get the appropriate level for going forward. You know the finishing line and you don’t cross it you don’t get the prize
It still makes Marriott pretty stingy. We had a huge European trip planned for early in the year before status change. I would have earned my platinum essentially leaving no gap. I even contacted them and told them I missed my earn last year due to illness and chemo. Marriott just blew me off – now as I rebook for the end of the year – it is with Hilton because they extended my status. Why continue to pay $450 for an Amex card and $85 for a visa supporting a company that won’t extend platinum due to cancer and a pandemic! I have been platinum for 6 years and a lifetime gold.
It seems like everything they do now is only half as good as Hilton.
All this means is the status you received this year will be for two years instead of one year (so lasting until early 2022).
This cuts out those who were status matched from the SPG when Marriott rolled out Bonvoy, as well as those bumped up by the realignment of status grades of the old Marriott scheme, unless they met the new stay requirements in 2019.
It’s stingy really as others have extended the status that was to expire, or did expire, in 2020 to 2021 (because now is the period that COVID-19 has cut almost all travel – that will not be the case for 2021).
So whatever Bonvoy members have right now, that’s what you’ll have for the rest of this year (as normal) and the next year (the bonus period).
I have a free night voucher from my Amex that I was using on a reservation that was cancelled. It still shows that it expires next month. Any chance they’ll extend the expiration?
What about Marriott employees?? I haven’t seen or heard anything about employees
This makes a lot more sense than extending 2019 status (which wasn’t impacted by the crisis). However, the status we may have already earned this year (2020) for next year is now irrelevant.
The status you earned this year is not irrelevant because if you already earned a higher status for this year then you would still keep that status. The status you have earned in 2020 would still be a benefit to you going forward. For example if you were Gold last year 2019 and already managed to reach Platinum this year 2020 then it is the same thing, you would have Platinum status the rest of this year and all though 2021.
I only meant it’s irrelevant that I’ve already earned my Titanium status for 2021 with my stays in Q1 2020, because with this new policy I’d have Titanium regardless of whether I’d done those nights or not. All good though – not bothered.
That is what I meant is that if you already had done a lot of nights before this hit you are still fine. You definitely had a busy first quarter.
So I was recently downgraded from Ambassador to Titanium Elite. But I did not ‘earn’ Titanium Elite last year, so what will my status be going forward? Will I stay Titanium until early 2022?
So glad that they finally did the right thing. Now just waiting to see if American Airlines will jump on the bandwagon.
So I was recently downgraded from Ambassador to Titanium Elite. But I did not ‘earn’ Titanium Elite last year, so what will my status be going forward? Will I stay Titanium until early 2022?
They didn’t do a good job, they did only the minimum due… In Italian language we use the expression “minimo sindacale” (minimum wage), to indicate the lower action possible before loosing face…. Logical, correct but generous as Hilton did.
Generous good job was extending 2019 tier until the end of 2021considering the second data breach in few years, about Bonvoy member’s data, occurred from January 2020 till February 2020.