Marriott solves SNA Suite availability problem

[ljmiii]

Hey, Insiders!
Exciting changes are coming to Suite Night Awards — beginning with a new name, Nightly Upgrade Awards! Soon it will be easier to access these exclusive awards and enjoy premium rooms or suites at the brands you love.
Starting early 2024, you can use your awards at five additional hotel brands — including The Ritz-Carlton, EDITION, Aloft, Element, and Protea Hotels. Plus, you’ll have nearly 20% more premium rooms and suites available for upgrades across all participating brands, with features like oceanfront views, balconies, and extra space.
With Nightly Upgrade Awards, you’ll have more opportunities to secure an upgrade for your stays in early 2024 and beyond.
You can continue to earn these awards through our Annual Choice Benefit and/or Brilliant Earned Choice Award programs, and any upgrade requests will be confirmed closer to check-in, starting three days prior to arrival.
To learn more, please visit: https://help.marriott.com/s/article/Article-35372

 

[dioxide45]

"Exciting" is certainly objective...

 

[vacationtime1]

"Exciting" is scary . . . .

I read this as an announcement that Marriott will no longer upgrade to a suite; they will now merely upgrade to a room category higher than what was reserved. Which we are supposed to get from having Titanium/Platinum status without using a certificate and without asking.

 

[dioxide45]

"Exciting" is scary . . . .

I read this as an announcement that Marriott will no longer upgrade to a suite; they will now merely upgrade to a room category higher than what was reserved. Which we are supposed to get from having Titanium/Platinum status without using a certificate and without asking.

When using the SNAs, it asks you what types of rooms you would like to potentially upgrade to. Will they be removing suites from the options to select?

 

[rthib]

"Exciting" is scary . . . .

I read this as an announcement that Marriott will no longer upgrade to a suite; they will now merely upgrade to a room category higher than what was reserved. Which we are supposed to get from having Titanium/Platinum status without using a certificate and without asking.

Not sure why?
here is from faq -

What types of rooms will be available through the Nightly Upgrade Award benefit?​

Nightly Upgrade Awards will include a larger variety of upgraded room types, including Premium Rooms and Suites with features like oceanfront views, balconies, patios and extra space.

 

[ljmiii]

When using the SNAs, it asks you what types of rooms you would like to potentially upgrade to. Will they be removing suites from the options to select?

Not as of yet. I just booked a phantom reservation at a location and date at which I was reasonably confident of seeing SNA Suite availability and it was there among my options.

 

[dioxide45]

Not as of yet. I just booked a phantom reservation at a location and date at which I was reasonably confident of seeing SNA Suite availability and it was there among my options.

It seems like the PP read something that was wrong as mentioned per the FAQ, suites will still be included.

 

[jwalk03]

Suites are not being removed. They are trying to increase the inventory of available options not decrease them. The only thing that is decreasing is the number of days out they will approve requests. They will not start until 3 days prior to check-in instead of 5-days.

 

[vacationtime1]

A lot of Marriott apologists here.

The current protocol is that Bonvoy members with Marriott status are supposed to be upgraded to a better room or suite when available, no "nightly upgrade certificate" necessary. The new protocol will require the use of one of these certificates.

The current protocol is that a "suite night award" gets you a suite if available. The new protocol is that a "nightly upgrade certificate" gets you a better room if available.

How is that an improvement?

 

[dioxide45]

A lot of Marriott apologists here.

The current protocol is that Bonvoy members with Marriott status are supposed to be upgraded to a better room or suite when available, no "nightly upgrade certificate" necessary. The new protocol will require the use of one of these certificates.

The current protocol is that a "suite night award" gets you a suite if available. The new protocol is that a "nightly upgrade certificate" gets you a better room if available.

How is that an improvement?

I don't know that this is a replacement for the existing upgrades available to Platinum and Titanium elite. I suspect these NUAs are meant to prioritize certain upgrades. NUAs likely get an upgrade before just a Plat or Titanium would get an upgrade. NUAs also let you pick the room types you want to upgrade to. Even in the past, non suites were able to be selected when using an SNA.

 

[jwalk03]

A lot of Marriott apologists here.

The current protocol is that Bonvoy members with Marriott status are supposed to be upgraded to a better room or suite when available, no "nightly upgrade certificate" necessary. The new protocol will require the use of one of these certificates.

The current protocol is that a "suite night award" gets you a suite if available. The new protocol is that a "nightly upgrade certificate" gets you a better room if available.

How is that an improvement?

SNAs allow you to get a confirmed upgrade in advance to specific room types you select. That is different from the platinum/titanium upgrade. Nothing is changing with the elite upgrade process. Whether this new version of the SNAs is better or worse remains to be seen.

SNAs have worked great for me when i wanted to confirm ahead of time a 2-bedroom suite instead of having to book 2 separate rooms when traveling with extra people for example. Not something i could bank on just showing up at a property and hoping to be upgraded.

 

[vacationtime1]

I don't know that this is a replacement for the existing upgrades available to Platinum and Titanium elite. I suspect these NUAs are meant to prioritize certain upgrades. NUAs likely get an upgrade before just a Plat or Titanium would get an upgrade. NUAs also let you pick the room types you want to upgrade to. Even in the past, non suites were able to be selected when using an SNA.

It's true; we don't know how this will play out. But there is nfw it is an improvement. And Marriott isn't making this change to lose money.

 

[vacationtime1]

SNAs allow you to get a confirmed upgrade in advance to specific room types you select. That is different from the platinum/titanium upgrade. Nothing is changing with the elite upgrade process. Whether this new version of the SNAs is better or worse remains to be seen.

SNAs have worked great for me when i wanted to confirm ahead of time a 2-bedroom suite instead of having to book 2 separate rooms when traveling with extra people for example. Not something i could bank on just showing up at a property and hoping to be upgraded.

For starters, you won't know whether you are upgraded until three days before check-in rather than five days. Meaning Marriott is giving itself two additional days to rent out the suite at a profit.

Compare this to Hyatt -- where a suite upgrade can be confirmed when the reservation is made.

 

[jwalk03]

For starters, you won't know whether you are upgraded until three days before check-in rather than five days. Meaning Marriott is giving itself two additional days to rent out the suite at a profit.

Compare this to Hyatt -- where a suite upgrade can be confirmed when the reservation is made.

Right but 3 days still gives me time to cancel the second room; waiting to check in and hoping for an elite upgrade doesn't.

 

[jme]

Right but 3 days still gives me time to cancel the second room; waiting to check in and hoping for an elite upgrade doesn't.

Good point.

With the new changes noted, I do not think it will be a downgrade of benefits (pun intended) such that real suites will be eliminated and/or less available,
but instead, I think that in fact it will be a completely different change, unrelated to the old award---a true upgrade of benefits because
there will more available options at more brands.
That is significant because up until now, the Suite Night Award upgrade was quite iffy.......My interpretation from listening to experiences was that they
had good results only 25-50% of the time, which was disappointing. So I see this change as a welcomed modification/addition. Trying a different brand
and getting a nice upgrade might turn out to be a good thing if someone was always shooting for the stars at a more luxurious brand with a much lower possibility
of getting their fantastic suite.

In our personal experience using Suite Night Awards exclusively as our annual "gifts" (we always elect the SNAs for both the 50-night and the 75-night gift every year),
we have had wonderful results (I'd say 90% of requests), and only on rare occasion been denied.
(That one denial was at a brand that had only one type of upgrade, and it was a very minor upgrade that didn't make a significant difference,
but I needed to request "something" because my last 2-3 upgrade nights were expiring very soon.)
But the ones we did get were great, including one time in Rome, Italy where we made a request at The Palazzo Naiadi Roma Hotel back in 2018 when the
luxurious hotel was still a Marriott! Unfortunately it's not a Marriott now. That suite night award upgrade that we did get was the real deal,
and we not only got one upgraded room, but two rooms.....They were truly amazing.

Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome Hotel

Anantara Palazzo Naiadi Rome Hotel

www.anantara.com

I tend to agree with the advertising hype of the change being "exciting news", as it does seem like we will be seeing enhanced availability of not only some very nice suites,
but also of the marginal-to-significant "other" levels of rooms. That cannot be a bad thing as long as nothing else is being eliminated.

 

[echino]

They remove the word "SUITE" from the name of the instrument. This is not by accident.

 

[ljmiii]

The current protocol is that Bonvoy members with Marriott status are supposed to be upgraded to a better room or suite when available, no "nightly upgrade certificate" necessary. The new protocol will require the use of one of these certificates....

Room Upgrades and Suite Night Awards are detailed in two different sections of the T&Cs and are handled differently.

4.3.c. Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite Membership Benefits, ii. Complimentary Enhanced Room Upgrade for Platinum Elite Members...

...are given (or not) at the sole discretion of the hotel, subject to availability upon arrival, for the entire length of stay. Many hotels choose not to participate or to limit their participation and there is really nothing the guest nor Marriott can do about it. Showing the desk clerk and/or manager that there *is* availabity to book the rooms has had little effect - "yes, but there is no upgrade availability" is a response all too well documented in other forums.

4.3.c. Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite Membership Benefits, vi. 50-Night Annual Choice Benefit, A. Suite Night Awards...

...are given (or not) at Marriott's sole discretion (though the hotel can control which rooms are made available for SNAs). These awards used to be given between five and one night(s) before check-in. Though hotels have tried to rescind the new reservations granted through SNAs, Marriott takes a very dim view of this and such a recession is subject to the 4.3.c.vii. Guaranteed Room Type Compensation benefit.

Which is not to say that I am in favor of the change. We're getting an unverifiable "nearly 20% more premium rooms and suites" the distribution of which is unknowable in exchange for only 3 nights notice instead of 5.

I can understand Marriott's desire to get more rooms into the SNA program and the necessity of giving the hotel owners the change from 5 to 3 days to sweeten the deal. But I don't have to like it. Particularly since it is likely to hasten the spread of 72 hour cancellation deadlines.

 

[ljmiii]

Right but 3 days still gives me time to cancel the second room; waiting to check in and hoping for an elite upgrade doesn't.

Depends on the hotel. I've noticed a number of hotels that had 24 hour cancellation policies extending it to 48 or 72 hours over the past two years (well...really midnight of the local time 2 or 3 days before).

 

[ljmiii]

It's true; we don't know how this will play out. But there is nfw it is an improvement. And Marriott isn't making this change to lose money.

But they could be making this change in an attempt to wrangle in their wayward hotel owners while making their guests happier. Marriott and their hotel owners basically went to war during 2020-2022 with hotels dropping all pretense of maintaining brand standards and conforming to the T&Cs for their properties. And they dared Marriott to do anything about it.

It is only in 2023 that we've seen any pushback from Marriott at all - the new St Regis in Chicago being a memorable example.

 

[Dean]

"Exciting" is scary . . . .

I read this as an announcement that Marriott will no longer upgrade to a suite; they will now merely upgrade to a room category higher than what was reserved. Which we are supposed to get from having Titanium/Platinum status without using a certificate and without asking.

There is no guarantee one will be upgraded based on status even if available, often this does not happen.

 

[vacationtime1]

They remove the word "SUITE" from the name of the instrument. This is not by accident.

Succinctly stated.

 

[Gemini Chica]

They remove the word "SUITE" from the name of the instrument. This is not by accident.

I concur, rarely is anything really for our benefit no matter how they wrap it up!!

 

[Bill4728]

We recently returned from a trip to Europe. I requested a suite upgrade at 3 different hotels over 7 different nights. The bad news was I never was given a suite upgrade via the bonvoy suite upgrade program. The GOOD NEWS was at all three hotels I received a room upgrade because of my titanium status. This included a upgrade to a three night stay in a 1 bd suite.

 

[Superchief]

I've had SNA requests denied a few times but received my titanium suite upgrades when I arrived at the hotel. One front desk manager told me that the SNA had more complicated redemption requirements so the hotels didn't like dealing with them. I hope this change doesn't result in fewer suite upgrades using titanium status.

 

[Big Matt]

I travel a lot both for business and vacations and have been a Marriott junkie for 25 years or so. My experience since the merger (and inclusion of the SNA benefit) is that I get upgraded every time at a large hotel regardless of brand just from being Titanium. It ranges from a better view to a suite. At Residence Inns I always get a 1BR or 2BR instead of a studio. The way that I've used my SNAs has been in hotels like the Autograph Collection properties. In those you may have a lot of different room configurations. I usually hold out with my "pie in the sky" requests until 5 days out and if nothing hits, I'll add more. I've only been denied one time, but I got upgraded anyway to a really good room. This experience has been the same whether paying cash or using points. I like that they added Ritz Carlton. I'm going to try out whether I can book with points and then get upgraded with SNA. Fingers crossed.