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New Off Peak/Peak Policy Impacts Changes to Existing Reservations

Question asked by craig59 on Oct 6, 2019
Latest reply on Oct 9, 2019 by hallchr

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I have felt the first adverse effect of the new peak/off peak policy, and would be interested in others' thoughts and experiences.

I booked a three night stay in Chicago months ago for next weekend, and used an annual free night certificate for one of the three nights. Plans changed, and I called yesterday to cancel one of the paid nights.

When I checked today, I saw that the free night certificate had been returned to my account, and there was a debit for 40,000 points applied instead.

I called to inquire and was told that even though the original booking had been made and the free night certificate applied while the hotel rate was 35,000 points/night, under the new peak/off peak program the rate was now 40,000 points/night. As a result, the free night certificate (only good up to 35,000 points) could no longer be used, and I had to use points instead.

This applies to ANY change in the original reservation - even though to me dropping one of the paid nights shouldn't have really impacted the situation. According to the agent, any reservation change is basically a cancellation and a rebooking, so the system acts accordingly under the terms of the new program.

I've been hoarding my points pretty closely, and this was the perfect opportunity for me to use a free night certificate that I now may have trouble applying before it expires....

I guess I understand how it happened, but honestly I'm not too happy about it. I just returned from an overseas trip with seven paid Marriott nights, and could easily have used the free certificate for any of those nights had I known.

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placestoseeandgo Oct 8, 2019 8:11 AM

Unfortunately, I have run into that issue as well, especially when the merger was completed. Several times, I have booked travel packages for putting miles into my mileage account and getting a category 7 hotel certificate. I did not have use the certificate at the same time, and, in fact, had to extend it. When I extended it, I found that they replaced the certificate with points and the value of the points was not equal to category 7 certificate. I was unhappy about it, but it was partly my fault. As I understand it. they representatives are right Any change to a reservation is really a cancellation and a rebooking which is subject to the new rules and terms.

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pat2927 Oct 8, 2019 10:00 AM

Sorry to hear but that is standard and was noted in the messaging prior to 09/14. It's standard across the board though - Best Western which I have membership in and rarely used but only since it is the only real hotel in 2 locations, offered me a targeted special - 5,000 bonus points if I booked by July 14th... I did and then plans changed and changed the reservation dates - no bonus points. Life!

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ella31 Oct 8, 2019 2:00 PM

I just this morning experienced another irritating version of the "any cancellation is really a rebooking" phenomenon. I had reservations for two nights in a hotel in DC - Weds and Thursday next week. I decided to stay over an extra day, so I tried to modify my reservation to add Friday night. There were rooms available on Friday night, so, no problem, right? But it wouldn't allow me to modify the reservation to add Friday because there were no more rooms available on WEDS night. Even though I had already booked Weds night, and wasn't asking for another room for that night!

So I ended up making a separate reservation for Friday night. I've had situations with separate reservations strung together in the past, and it ends up being annoying because even though I explain the situation to the front desk at check-in, and make the date I am actually checking out very clear, invariably the message does not get communicated to cleaning staff, and they knock on my door repeatedly to ask me when I am checking-out.

I think it sounds like the "any cancellation is really a rebooking" policy exists because that is the way the IT system is set up, not because it was a conscious policy decision. Think about the situation OP posted about: If someone has booked for Weds, Thursday, and Friday, say, and decides to cancel Friday night well in advance of the cancellation deadline, is there any logical reason the cost for the Thursday night stay should change (up or down)? (Assuming the rate isn't duration dependent, of course.) I'd say no. Also, this is a good way to motivate savvy travelers to book reservations in chunks if there is any chance they might want to change the duration, which causes more hassle for both the guest and the hotel.

I have been involved in program implementation for many years, and part of that is making IT systems changes to support the programmatic changes. In my field we call something like this "The systems (IT) tail wagging the policy dog." In other words, policy is made to be consistent with the way the IT is already set up, or the way it is easiest to set the IT up. Assuming this is the case here, it is very bad practice for a company the size of Marriott, in my opinion.

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craig59 @ ella31 on Oct 8, 2019 5:01 PM

Ella, I too have had to string together separate reservations, with the same effect (front desk, housekeeping clueless as to my actual length of stay). There really should be a better way.

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pluto77 Oct 8, 2019 4:04 PM

Yes, while the impact isn’t anything new (Marriott comes out with a list of hotel category changes every year in the spring, so anything booked prior to the category changes is solid, unless you need to make a change to your reservation after the change goes into effect, for which then, you are subject to the new category changes), at least Marriott always posts advance notifications for the annual category changes... Whereas with peak/off-peak, the points can change (between standard, peak and off-peak) monthly, in addition to the annual category changes, but with zero notification, which can potentially cause grief to anyone who needs to change a reservation. Not good.

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pluto77 @ pluto77 on Oct 8, 2019 4:15 PM

And not only that, it’s super sneaky how they will throw in off-peak rates in such a patchy way that if you do the book 4 nights, get the 5th night free, if there’s is at least one off-peak night during the 5 days, it’s one of the off-peak nights/rates that will get thrown out. So at first you’re thinking, cool, off-peak, until you realize, oh, subtract one. They just never stop thinking of ways to insult (the intelligence) and squeeze their loyal customers.

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ella31 Oct 8, 2019 4:19 PM

If the current, potentially higher rates just affected the night that was changed, that I could live with. But to have adding or subtracting a night affect ALL the nights in the reservation is really unfair, IMHO. I am definitely going to book my reservations in chunks going forward if I have any uncertainty at all. That will inconvenience Marriott, but it's their own fault!

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hallchr Oct 9, 2019 4:25 AM

I also noticed that if you book a distant reservation without the points in your account as I just did for Singapore next Sept, the rate is not guarenteed

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8 Replies

placestoseeandgo Oct 8, 2019 8:11 AM
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Correct Answer
Unfortunately, I have run into that issue as well, especially when the merger was completed. Several times, I have booked travel packages for putting miles into my mileage account and getting a category 7 hotel certificate. I did not have use the certificate at the same time, and, in fact, had to extend it. When I extended it, I found that they replaced the certificate with points and the value of the points was not equal to category 7 certificate. I was unhappy about it, but it was partly my fault. As I understand it. they representatives are right Any change to a reservation is really a cancellation and a rebooking which is subject to the new rules and terms.
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pat2927 Oct 8, 2019 10:00 AM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Sorry to hear but that is standard and was noted in the messaging prior to 09/14. It's standard across the board though - Best Western which I have membership in and rarely used but only since it is the only real hotel in 2 locations, offered me a targeted special - 5,000 bonus points if I booked by July 14th... I did and then plans changed and changed the reservation dates - no bonus points. Life!
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
ella31 Oct 8, 2019 2:00 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
I just this morning experienced another irritating version of the "any cancellation is really a rebooking" phenomenon. I had reservations for two nights in a hotel in DC - Weds and Thursday next week. I decided to stay over an extra day, so I tried to modify my reservation to add Friday night. There were rooms available on Friday night, so, no problem, right? But it wouldn't allow me to modify the reservation to add Friday because there were no more rooms available on WEDS night. Even though I had already booked Weds night, and wasn't asking for another room for that night!

So I ended up making a separate reservation for Friday night. I've had situations with separate reservations strung together in the past, and it ends up being annoying because even though I explain the situation to the front desk at check-in, and make the date I am actually checking out very clear, invariably the message does not get communicated to cleaning staff, and they knock on my door repeatedly to ask me when I am checking-out.

I think it sounds like the "any cancellation is really a rebooking" policy exists because that is the way the IT system is set up, not because it was a conscious policy decision. Think about the situation OP posted about: If someone has booked for Weds, Thursday, and Friday, say, and decides to cancel Friday night well in advance of the cancellation deadline, is there any logical reason the cost for the Thursday night stay should change (up or down)? (Assuming the rate isn't duration dependent, of course.) I'd say no. Also, this is a good way to motivate savvy travelers to book reservations in chunks if there is any chance they might want to change the duration, which causes more hassle for both the guest and the hotel.

I have been involved in program implementation for many years, and part of that is making IT systems changes to support the programmatic changes. In my field we call something like this "The systems (IT) tail wagging the policy dog." In other words, policy is made to be consistent with the way the IT is already set up, or the way it is easiest to set the IT up. Assuming this is the case here, it is very bad practice for a company the size of Marriott, in my opinion.
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- craig59 @ ella31 on Oct 8, 2019 5:01 PM
  Mark Correct
  Correct Answer
  Ella, I too have had to string together separate reservations, with the same effect (front desk, housekeeping clueless as to my actual length of stay). There really should be a better way.
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
pluto77 Oct 8, 2019 4:04 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
Yes, while the impact isn’t anything new (Marriott comes out with a list of hotel category changes every year in the spring, so anything booked prior to the category changes is solid, unless you need to make a change to your reservation after the change goes into effect, for which then, you are subject to the new category changes), at least Marriott always posts advance notifications for the annual category changes... Whereas with peak/off-peak, the points can change (between standard, peak and off-peak) monthly, in addition to the annual category changes, but with zero notification, which can potentially cause grief to anyone who needs to change a reservation. Not good.
Like • Show 2 Likes2
Actions
- pluto77 @ pluto77 on Oct 8, 2019 4:15 PM
  Mark Correct
  Correct Answer
  And not only that, it’s super sneaky how they will throw in off-peak rates in such a patchy way that if you do the book 4 nights, get the 5th night free, if there’s is at least one off-peak night during the 5 days, it’s one of the off-peak nights/rates that will get thrown out. So at first you’re thinking, cool, off-peak, until you realize, oh, subtract one. They just never stop thinking of ways to insult (the intelligence) and squeeze their loyal customers.
  Like • Show 3 Likes3
  Actions
ella31 Oct 8, 2019 4:19 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
If the current, potentially higher rates just affected the night that was changed, that I could live with. But to have adding or subtracting a night affect ALL the nights in the reservation is really unfair, IMHO. I am definitely going to book my reservations in chunks going forward if I have any uncertainty at all. That will inconvenience Marriott, but it's their own fault!
Like • Show 0 Likes0
Actions
hallchr Oct 9, 2019 4:25 AM
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Correct Answer
I also noticed that if you book a distant reservation without the points in your account as I just did for Singapore next Sept, the rate is not guarenteed
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New Off Peak/Peak Policy Impacts Changes to Existing Reservations

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