ELLIOTT: No Status for Hotel Stay

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No Status for Hotel Stay
The Travel Troubleshooter · February 12, 2002

Q: I'm a frequent traveler who is on the road more than 200 nights a year. I've been a Hilton HHonors Diamond member for a few years, mainly staying at Hampton and Hilton Garden Inns.

Last fall I started staying at Fairfields and Courtyards to take advantage of Marriott's Visa promotion, which offers double points and double credits for all stays.

But I was shocked to find out that Marriott doesn't offer benefits for achieving gold or platinum status when staying at any hotels in its program outside of full-service Marriotts.

No bonus points. No room upgrades. Nothing.

The only benefits they give are free local phone calls. This "benefit" is something that most other chains give as a matter of course to anybody. Am I missing something?

-- Peter Altick

A: Yes, you are. I asked Kim Manthei, a Marriott representative, to explain your benefits.

They are:

Free phone calls and faxes at select service brands.
Gold and platinum elite members who are guests of Courtyard and Fairfield Inn also receive guaranteed reservations and room upgrades.
Frequent guests get access to exclusive offers like buy-one-get-one free nights and half-off weekend rates at various Marriott hotel brands, including Courtyard and Fairfield Inn.
If you reach platinum status, you can take advantage of what Marriott considers to be its program's biggest selling point - a guarantee that you'll always find a room when calling within just 48 hours for stays at Marriott Hotels, Resorts, and Suites; Renaissance Hotels, Resorts, and Suites; and Marriott Conference Centers. (Make that 72 hours for stays at Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, and SpringHill Suites.)

On the face, the Marriott program would seem comparable to Hilton's. Okay, so you don't ratchet up bonus points with Marriott at the same rate. Diamond members earn a 50 percent bonus on all base points credited while they are at that level. At Marriott, gold members accrue bonus points at 25 percent, and platinum members at just 30 percent.

The real issue, I think, is whether these benefits are available to you. These offers are full of exceptions, clauses, and mystifying fine print. Consider phrases such as "at participating properties" or "subject to availability" that are buried in the terms. This language allows your hotel chain to squirm out of just about anything that it promised you as an elite member. Fortunately, it happens a lot less that you would think by reading my columns, but that's not because the Trouble Troubleshooter is keeping your hotel honest.

Big hotel chains covet frequent guests' business and are wary of upsetting them. It's one thing to tell a tourist to go take a hike, but when a business traveler drops an entire hotel chain from his itinerary and migrates to a new one, the hotel stands to lose tens of thousands of dollars. (That's why I recommend that even occasional visitors enroll in a mileage program, since having that number sets you apart from the crowd.)

My advice is to send a polite letter to Marriott expressing your dismay at your lack of benefits. After all, it isn't what your benefits are, but how you can use them, that count. The address is:

Marriott Rewards
Guest Services
310 Bearcat Drive
Salt Lake City, UT 84115-2544

Be sure to mention that you are also a Hilton HHonors Diamond member and that you are considering returning to the Hilton fold. Don't threaten - nice. I'm sure Marriott will try to make it up to you, somehow.

Christopher Elliott is a travel commentator based in Key Largo, Fla. All e-mailed questions may be edited, condensed or republished at the site's discretion. ChrisCrossings appears weekly on this site.