Did you make a Points Advance reservation with the intention of applying a credit card certificate to it? Well, guess what? You can’t! Marriott told me certificates are not valid on Points Advance reservations.
Yeah, you read that right. Marriott says you can’t use your credit card certificates on a Points Advance reservation if the property you’re booking increased a category. How do I know this? I made a Points Advance reservation well ahead of the category change earlier this month with the intention of applying a credit card certificate to it once it posted to my account. But, as has been the case with many others, the points required for the reservation changed after March 5. Even though Marriott said this wouldn’t be the case.
Reaching Out to Marriott
As a result of the change, I began an inquiry via Marriott Bonvoy’s Twitter account. That was on March 5; they got back to me on March 20. And as is already obvious, the response was that certificates cannot be applied to Points Advance reservations in which the hotel changed a category on March 5. They’re also unable to readjust the points requirement for the stay. So, this leads me to believe that either 1) Marriott lied to its members, or 2) their IT system wasn’t set up properly and they can’t do anything about it. But this wasn’t a problem in the past, so…
Because of the above problems, Marriott’s solution is to issue me points amounting to the difference between the original award redemption amount and the new one. That’s a pretty dumb way to handle this if you ask me. After all, what’s to say I won’t cancel or reduce the length of the reservation and keep the points? But, hey, that’s they’re problem, not mine.
Certificates are Not Valid on Points Advance, Final Thoughts
I’d like to say the above issues surprise me, but they don’t. Marriott has been a hot mess since the program integration last August with no improvements in sight. I mean, they still haven’t gotten back to me regarding the missing lifetime qualify years in my account, and I submitted an inquiry about a month ago.
But this Points Advance issue, something Marriott promised wouldn’t happen, ended up being even worse than I initially feared. So we’ll see how things evolve over the coming months. I’m not holding my breath, though. Marriott doesn’t seem to think fixing Bonvoy is a priority. They can’t even ensure that their properties are playing by the rules.
The current strong economy allows the loyalty programs of the airlines and hotels to disregard satisfying customers for the long term. The airlines and hotels are filling seats and rooms almost effortlessly. The next economic downturn may open their eyes providing quality service. Also, we have seen way to many mergers in the travel industry and needless to say, the consumer gets the shaft.
Right? I would’ve preferred to have Starwood acquired by someone else or merged with a smaller chain. This whole thing has been a nightmare despite the positive looking start. And, Arne Sorenson is proving more and more to be out of touch with his guests… I can’t believe Mr. Marriott is letting all this happen.
You wern’t Bonvoyed… you booked a reservation with points-advance which they would have still honored if you’d left it alone. You tried to change your form of ‘payment’ from points to certs and it didn’t work. –
That’s the thing, it was a Points Advance reservation. I didn’t change or try to change anything yet. But the points required for the reservation did change, which is why I reached out. And regardless if I were going to try to pay with a certificate or keep it with points, Marriott says there’s nothing they can do about it. So either way, I have been Bonvoyed. As has so many others.
First, thank you for this article. I booked a stay on February 2nd using two reward certificates in Nashville in May. I have the receipt showing that I had the two certs equalling 35,000 each night and I had to pay 5.00. Well after reading this I went to my Marriott account it states that I need 100000 points for the reservation. I will be calling because this is unacceptable and I had not idea on 2/2 that the points would be changing at this hotel. I will keep you updated.
Thank you for reading, Christine! Man, so you applied reward certificates to the reservation at the time of booking and they still changed it on you? That is wildly unacceptable. I wish you luck in dealing with them and look forward to hear back about your experience!
It wouldn’t be the first time that Marriott lied to members recently by a long shot. It’s this crazy mentality they’ve developed of the loyal customer as an antagonist that needs to be Bonvoyed.
Yup, but I doubt things will change. Mr. Sorenson has made clear that he doesn’t care.