Well. This must be the whine topic of the year if not the entire decade that we have covered extensively (unfortunately) ever since Marriott has tried to (unsuccessfully) merge and stabilize its loyalty program platform from August 18th.
The screenshot above is from my attempt to sign in to my Marriott Rewards account about an hour ago that was unsuccessful. I just presented with an error message “Please try again later”.
Within the past seven days, Marriott Rewards has now twice revised the Terms & Conditions governing their guest loyalty program.
There are changes from participating properties (addition of Ritz-Carlton Residences Waikiki Beach) to Platinum member lounge access, Rewarding Events elite qualifying nights, F&B spend without stays and quite a number of other aspects that members should be aware of.
Marriott Rewards and SPG launched the 29 Ways Sweepstakes four weeks ago to celebrate the latest MegaBonus promotion (read more here) and the 29 brands that the hotel company now has.
There were some issues with the sweepstakes first that ended up delaying it by a week (read more here) and then the T&Cs were updated allowing members to participate and win a prize daily (read more here).
Marriott Rewards has now brought back the popular third, fourth and two nights free on a six night stay-offers in the Middle East and Africa (no longer available in Europe) for stays at legacy Starwood brands through December 31, 2018.
The offer offer is theoretically only valid for Mastercard holders but this has never been enforced (based on my own experienced) by the properties (just carry one in case).
Marriott International today released their third quarter results and the markets were not impressed. The stock was down 6% in after-hours trading at the time of writing this piece. It seems that hotel customers were not booking with Marriott at the level Mr. Sorenson was hoping for while the Marriott platform was being “stabilized” (read more here).
Marriott did not meet their revenue target and lowered their guidance for the fourth quarter. Profit for the quarter was up however. Basically fewer people were booking Marriott rooms in the quarter (did this come as a surprise to anyone?).
A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us an email about an issue that many Marriott Rewards & SPG members are currently facing – customer service that has basically collapsed.
Remember that you can always email us, send a message via Facebook or use Twitter and include photos too. We’ll try to cover Reader Questions & Comments here several times a week.
Marriott Rewards & SPG’s launched 29 Ways sweepstakes three weeks ago to celebrate all the brands brought together and is now on its last week.
The sweepstakes that have more than two million instant win prizes from 50 points to 4-night stay at Ritz-Carlton will end on November 8, 2018. After T&Cs change, you can win daily instead of only once.
Yesterday, I wrote a piece (access here) about weird deposits made to my Marriott Rewards account under “Emirates & China Eastern Miles” headline over the weekend.
SPG had airline partnerships with Delta, Emirates and China Eastern of which the latter two survived the Marriott takeover. A reader noted that these lines on the account statement were actually mile deposits to the airline and he was correct..
A LoyaltyLobby reader dropped us a screenshot of his Marriott Rewards/SPG account with a note that his stay and points history had been now gone for a week?
Remember that you can always email us, send a message via Facebook or use Twitter and include photos too. We’ll try to cover Reader Questions & Comments here several times a week.
Starwood Preferred Guest had airline partnerships with Delta, Emirates and China Eastern of which the latter two survived the Marriott takeover (merger officially – I know).
My SPG account was register with both Delta and Emirates (and Uber too). Over the weekend, I had some mystery points deposited to my account and I have no idea what for?
A LoyaltyLobby reader sent us a question by email about an issue with SPG Lifetime status after reaching the required 10 years of Platinum status with the program.
Remember that you can always email us, send a message via Facebook or use Twitter and include photos too. We’ll try to cover Reader Questions & Comments here several times a week.
Marriott CEO Sorenson has been on a tour in the Middle East and had opened up about losing the former Starwood flagship properties to Hilton in Dubai (read more here) and the state of program merger.
This is the same CEO that called SPG members (read more here) rabid (too fanatical about their program) and most recently asked members to stick around while they try to stabilize the platform (read more here).
Starwood Capital purchased St. Regis Princeville and nearby resort in Hawaii and the hotel employees were already telling guests early this month that they are exiting Marriott system in mid-November. Marriott has now confirmed this.
There is nothing yet on Marriott’s website indicating that the hotel is soon gone and they are happily allowing guests to book stays through November 15, 2018 the last date the hotel is under St. Regis branding.
In the last couple of days Marriott has tweaked the SPG App as well as the Marriott website when logged in under the SPG account even more and managing your reservations (especially same day ones) became pretty much impossible.
It’s now also impossible to enter any additional information during the booking process such as preferences or messages to the hotel when using the SPG App.
