Master Thread of Discussion on Marriott / SPG Merger

[zagguru]

Anyone able to get the 100k upgrade offer, when they already have the card? (i.e have the Bonvoy Brilliant card and the regular Bonvoy card, but want to upgrade the Bonvoy card too).

[chff]

Was this moved to Lucky's thread?

https://onemileatatime.com/marriott-bonvoy-influencer-trip/

Either way here are some tweets not related to Lucky

https://twitter.com/WandrMe/status/1103728130286604288

https://twitter.com/garyleff/status/1103854517743947782

[chff]

So 2 CC certificates were taken from my account and Marriott has no clues about it other then which hotel used it. They dont have the dates or res number

[KSMH]

https://www.bonvoyed.com

[KSMH]

Crazy how wide spread the term Bonvoyed has become.

[as2]

Crazy how wide spread the term Bonvoyed has become.

And there ain't no reason for it to stop, until they get their act together

[jrfigo]

My 1-5 category free night that I earned before the merger changed to a 25,000 certificate, which only allows to have a 1-4 category hotel. Is there anything I can do to fix that?

[KSMH]

My 1-5 category free night that I earned before the merger changed to a 25,000 certificate, which only allows to have a 1-4 category hotel. Is there anything I can do to fix that?

That's the way its supposed to be. The category's shifted, so your change correlates with the category changes.

[jrfigo]

That's the way its supposed to be. The category's shifted, so your change correlates with the category changes.

If that's the case, are you saying that I had 1-5 category free night that became a 1-4 category free night, so people who had 1-4 category free nights, it became 1-3 category free night for them?

[Denverite]

Not sure if this question goes into the "Israel Hotels Master Thread" but it seems like a merger/IT issue so I'm posting here first, the Elma Arts Hotel comes up on Marriott and Design Hotels websites but always show no availability.

On the direct hotel website they show rooms and you can book them.  But that website doesn't reference Marriott at all or let me login to link it to my rewards number.
https://www.elma-hotel.com/

I'd prefer to use points for a room but I'd even be willing to possibly book a paid room if I at least earned points, status, etc.  Has anybody encountered this kind of thing either here or at other hotels post merger?  I was worried they were leaving the chain but I haven't seen any announcements.  If others have had this issue at other hotels, please let me know.

[MeirS]

I'm sure this has been mentioned somewhere but I can't find it on Tapatalk.

How long does a Marriott-BA transfer take?

Thanks

[Yehudaa]

LoyaltyLobby posted the following unverified text message that someone forwarded to him, supposedly from a Marriott employee:

I worked for Marriott for a little over 3 years. Marriott had a motto “Take care of the associates and they will take care of the guests.” In April of 2018 Marriott rolled out their new “Service Delivery Module.” At the same time, they stopped taking care of the associates.

Before SDM, there were several departments to contact. Sales, customer care, rewards, etc. Now, no matter who you call, you are getting a sales rep. If you need to get sent to “loyalty” you are getting a sales rep that 3 hours more of copy and paste training. If you get sent to “elite” they had 2 more hours of the same training. And just to add, it was SPG employees leading the training.

An entire new reservation system was forced on us that barely works because Marriott didn’t want to pay Oracle to use the system they had been using before. To add to this, the agents were able to call supervisors that would help them fix things. The supervisors are now ordered not to help. Everything has to be “make a case.” Cases are “supposed” to be resolved in 3 to 5 days. When I left, there were cases that were 4 months old untouched. The cases started in April. I’ve been told that since then, they have reached 110 million cases.

When the changes started in April, agents that had worked there for 20 years were walking out in the middle of their shifts. The company scrambled to hire a bunch of people with less than normal training. There are a lot of agents that are just terrible. There are still a lot that want to help but can’t. Even the former SPG agents are new to all of the system changes.

Marriott tried to change 50 things at once with them all working at 25 percent. It needed to change one thing at a time. Waiting until it was running well. Then make the next change. My former coworkers say there is a new change that is about to take away their last resort system away next week. Good luck.

So it is not IT like everyone says. Or usually lack of agents trying. It is the company not wanting to pay for a third party software anymore. And SPG training Marriott employees on a system that barely works. And neither company has used before.

I almost left out the best part. The CEO visited a call center for the first time ever two weeks ago. Best of luck travelers. Don’t blame the person on the phone. They are trying.

[chff]

LoyaltyLobby posted the following unverified text message that someone forwarded to him, supposedly from a Marriott employee:

I worked for Marriott for a little over 3 years. Marriott had a motto “Take care of the associates and they will take care of the guests.” In April of 2018 Marriott rolled out their new “Service Delivery Module.” At the same time, they stopped taking care of the associates.

Before SDM, there were several departments to contact. Sales, customer care, rewards, etc. Now, no matter who you call, you are getting a sales rep. If you need to get sent to “loyalty” you are getting a sales rep that 3 hours more of copy and paste training. If you get sent to “elite” they had 2 more hours of the same training. And just to add, it was SPG employees leading the training.

An entire new reservation system was forced on us that barely works because Marriott didn’t want to pay Oracle to use the system they had been using before. To add to this, the agents were able to call supervisors that would help them fix things. The supervisors are now ordered not to help. Everything has to be “make a case.” Cases are “supposed” to be resolved in 3 to 5 days. When I left, there were cases that were 4 months old untouched. The cases started in April. I’ve been told that since then, they have reached 110 million cases.

When the changes started in April, agents that had worked there for 20 years were walking out in the middle of their shifts. The company scrambled to hire a bunch of people with less than normal training. There are a lot of agents that are just terrible. There are still a lot that want to help but can’t. Even the former SPG agents are new to all of the system changes.

Marriott tried to change 50 things at once with them all working at 25 percent. It needed to change one thing at a time. Waiting until it was running well. Then make the next change. My former coworkers say there is a new change that is about to take away their last resort system away next week. Good luck.

So it is not IT like everyone says. Or usually lack of agents trying. It is the company not wanting to pay for a third party software anymore. And SPG training Marriott employees on a system that barely works. And neither company has used before.

I almost left out the best part. The CEO visited a call center for the first time ever two weeks ago. Best of luck travelers. Don’t blame the person on the phone. They are trying.

https://twitter.com/AwrdTravel101/status/1106361889267675136

[KSMH]

https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-marriott-rewards-points-starwood-bonvoy-20190404-story.html

[Dave.brown0112]

Question for everyone: I made a Domes of Elounda reservation before the Merger when it was 45k/night. Applied my Travel certificate to it. I would rather have used my points 45k to pay for the reservation and keep my Cat 6. When i called in twice to have that done they are saying that they wont do it.

Does that make sense? I'mnot changing the date or anything. I should be allowed to have the original rate honored. Am i correct? Any experience this?

[mochjas]

Question for everyone: I made a Domes of Elounda reservation before the Merger when it was 45k/night. Applied my Travel certificate to it. I would rather have used my points 45k to pay for the reservation and keep my Cat 6. When i called in twice to have that done they are saying that they wont do it.

Does that make sense? I'mnot changing the date or anything. I should be allowed to have the original rate honored. Am i  correct? Any experience this?

Nothing about Marriott makes sense these days.... Technically they should be able to detach the certificate and use points instead but you will most likely need a very competent rep so I would try HUCA but honestly Im not surprised that they are saying it cant be done

[Thingywingy]

Are there any options for extending Marriot points without a hotel redemption and earning from CC spending?
Does purchasing points at US$12.50 per 1,000 Points qualify as activity?

[ludmila]

Are there any options for extending Marriot points without a hotel redemption and earning from CC spending?
Does purchasing points at US$12.50 per 1,000 Points qualify as activity?

Yes .

Stay at a Marriott hotel. Earning or redeeming points at a Marriott hotel is by far the easiest method. ...
Donate points. ...
Buy points. ...
Earn points with a reward partner. ...
Transfer your points to another account.

[Thingywingy]

Yes .

Stay at a Marriott hotel. Earning or redeeming points at a Marriott hotel is by far the easiest method. ...
Donate points. ...
Buy points. ...
Earn points with a reward partner. ...
Transfer your points to another account.

DDMS: All About Mileage Expiration And Transfer Options For 57 Loyalty Programs: Keep Points From Expiring And Bring Them Back To Life!
"Note that transferring points and social media points do not count as activity."

[ludmila]

DDMS: All About Mileage Expiration And Transfer Options For 57 Loyalty Programs: Keep Points From Expiring And Bring Them Back To Life!
"Note that transferring points and social media points do not count as activity."

Not sure, but buying points works, I do have the credit cards, but I know first hand that buying points worked for family members.