I should have stayed at a Hilton Hotel

[dougp26364]

This past January we stayed for a week at Crystal Shores on Marco Island. Our stay just happened to depart when the country was hit with a severe winter weather storm. As a result, our morning departure turned into an afternoon departure which eventually became an early evening departure. In the end we had to spend a night in Washington DC and catch an early morning flight to complete our trip to Fort Myers. Since we won’t spend a night in an airport terminal, we booked a night at Regan Crystal City Marriott.
When we got home we discovered our nights at Crystal Shores wasn’t credited to our account, so I notified Marriott customer service. Their response was we were credited with the one night at Crystal City, and since that one night overlapped our Crustal Shores stay, we must not have been physically present at Crystal Shores, so no nightly credit for those 7 nights, or the 6 we were actually at the resort, because they apparently think that one night in Washington ment we weren’t ever on Marco Island. Huh?

If I wasn’t there, who was and why was there a room charge in the middle of the stay at Pozza Cuccina? This makes no sense.

I’ll keep trying to get them to understand a delay isn’t the same as a cancellation. I’ll also make sure when it happens again, and it will eventually happen again, that I book a Hilton hotel rather than Marriott to keep them from getting confused again.

 

[Dean]

This past January we stayed for a week at Crystal Shores on Marco Island. Our stay just happened to depart when the country was hit with a severe winter weather storm. As a result, our morning departure turned into an afternoon departure which eventually became an early evening departure. In the end we had to spend a night in Washington DC and catch an early morning flight to complete our trip to Fort Myers. Since we won’t spend a night in an airport terminal, we booked a night at Regan Crystal City Marriott.
When we got home we discovered our nights at Crystal Shores wasn’t credited to our account, so I notified Marriott customer service. Their response was we were credited with the one night at Crystal City, and since that one night overlapped our Crustal Shores stay, we must not have been physically present at Crystal Shores, so no nightly credit for those 7 nights, or the 6 we were actually at the resort, because they apparently think that one night in Washington ment we weren’t ever on Marco Island. Huh?

If I wasn’t there, who was and why was there a room charge in the middle of the stay at Pozza Cuccina? This makes no sense.

I’ll keep trying to get them to understand a delay isn’t the same as a cancellation. I’ll also make sure when it happens again, and it will eventually happen again, that I book a Hilton hotel rather than Marriott to keep them from getting confused again.

Just had this as well. What I as able to do was to get them to remove the one night and credit the 7 nights but I had to talk to someone who had a brain and they had to send it to a higher group.

 

[dougp26364]

Just had this as well. What I as able to do was to get them to remove the one night and credit the 7 nights but I had to talk to someone who had a brain and they had to send it to a higher group.

Honestly, the nights really don’t matter that much as we’ll be Titanium as long as MVC gives that benefit for Chairman’s level, it’s really more the principle of the matter.

Even needing to have the conversation let alone argue the point will cause me to never book a Marriott hotel in conjunction with a timeshare stay. In fact, I’ll be cancelling a Marriott reservation tonight. I booked a hotel room because I want to be close to Salt Lake City airport for an early morning flight and I don’t want to have to get up at 1 AM to drive down from Park City.

 

[dioxide45]

Honestly, the nights really don’t matter that much as we’ll be Titanium as long as MVC gives that benefit for Chairman’s level, it’s really more the principle of the matter.

Even needing to have the conversation let alone argue the point will cause me to never book a Marriott hotel in conjunction with a timeshare stay. In fact, I’ll be cancelling a Marriott reservation tonight. I booked a hotel room because I want to be close to Salt Lake City airport for an early morning flight and I don’t want to have to get up at 1 AM to drive down from Park City.

Be careful with that reservation tonight. Most Marriott hotels require cancellation two days prior now. No longer day of arrival.

Even though you already get Titanium, there is still a reason to target 75 nights. That is so you can select the Free Night Award as part of the Choice Benefit. You don't get it simply by being Titanium, you gotta get those ENCs.

 

[Dean]

Honestly, the nights really don’t matter that much as we’ll be Titanium as long as MVC gives that benefit for Chairman’s level, it’s really more the principle of the matter.

Even needing to have the conversation let alone argue the point will cause me to never book a Marriott hotel in conjunction with a timeshare stay. In fact, I’ll be cancelling a Marriott reservation tonight. I booked a hotel room because I want to be close to Salt Lake City airport for an early morning flight and I don’t want to have to get up at 1 AM to drive down from Park City.

It's relatively important to us partly because Kim will barely make 50 nights as well as she's trying to get to Lifetime Platinum.

 

[dioxide45]

I wonder if the reason you didn't get the ENCs for Crystal Shores is simply because Crystal Shores sucks at getting them posted. It is one of the resorts where they didn't automatically post for us a couple years ago and I had to submit a missing stay request. I've also seen reports from others that had the issue where nights didn't post.

I suspect you were given the excuse of the overlapping reservation because the untrained reps really have no clue and make up any excuse to not give credit when you open a missing stay request. In practice, you really should have received nights for both Crystal Shores and the hotel stay because I've noticed the system isn't really smart enough to identify overlapping stays at different properties and I've received credit for both in the past.

That said, the policy should be that you get 7 ENCs. Six for Crystal Shores and one for the hotel. One reservation doesn't completely negate the other. I suspect they are just telling you that because they don't know why Crystal Shores didn't automatically post and they are trying to deny ENCs.

 

[dougp26364]

That’s what I originally thought, but it was the overlap with Washington Crystal City. They say the program doesn’t allow for overlapping stays.

The solution for me is to not book a Marriott hotel in conjunction with a timeshare stay. I just cancelled the hotel reservation we had in Salt Lake City. We have a 7 night stay but a very early flight. It’s easier to check into an airport hotel the night before and get up around 3:30 AM rather than 1:00AM and drive down from Park City.

Personally, my feelings are I paid for the nights, I should get credit for them so long as someone else isn’t staying in my place (renters), but it’s their rules and their game. Still, it just chased a few nights each year away from their hotel side.

I wonder how many people give up and lose the extra night? On what planet would it make sense to credit the shorter stay?

Now would I prefer to stay at a Marriott hotel? Sure I would, but not at the risk of losing so many nights I could miss getting an upgrade certificate or two.

 

[dioxide45]

That’s what I originally thought, but it was the overlap with Washington Crystal City. They say the program doesn’t allow for overlapping stays.

I get the impression they just say something that sounds like it makes sense to get you off the phone so they can move on to the next person. That is my general experience with customer service overall. I've not had issues with overlapping stays in the past. Unless something has changed, and we know Marriott International hasn't changed their reservation system in 40 years, then I just don't buy their reason. I still think the reason is just that Crystal Shores has shown in the past that they often fail to report stays. Though I could certainly be wrong.

I wonder how many people give up and lose the extra night? On what planet would it make sense to credit the shorter stay?

I've done that for missing timeshare stays, but only after realizing I would have enough nights to get to 75 anyway. Had I not gotten to 75, I might have continued the pursuit.

 

[andre10056]

This past January we stayed for a week at Crystal Shores on Marco Island. Our stay just happened to depart when the country was hit with a severe winter weather storm. As a result, our morning departure turned into an afternoon departure which eventually became an early evening departure. In the end we had to spend a night in Washington DC and catch an early morning flight to complete our trip to Fort Myers. Since we won’t spend a night in an airport terminal, we booked a night at Regan Crystal City Marriott.
When we got home we discovered our nights at Crystal Shores wasn’t credited to our account, so I notified Marriott customer service. Their response was we were credited with the one night at Crystal City, and since that one night overlapped our Crustal Shores stay, we must not have been physically present at Crystal Shores, so no nightly credit for those 7 nights, or the 6 we were actually at the resort, because they apparently think that one night in Washington ment we weren’t ever on Marco Island. Huh?

If I wasn’t there, who was and why was there a room charge in the middle of the stay at Pozza Cuccina? This makes no sense.

I’ll keep trying to get them to understand a delay isn’t the same as a cancellation. I’ll also make sure when it happens again, and it will eventually happen again, that I book a Hilton hotel rather than Marriott to keep them from getting confused again.

It's amazing how often people get confused in such a way that they benefit and you're harmed. Why couldn't they get confused such that you benefit and they're harmed? In all my life, the latter scenario has never happened. If a mistake is made, it's always beneficial to "them". 100% of the time. How strange! What are the odds?

The only thing I wanted to add to this discussion is the scenario in which the airline causes an overnight delay due to something that was in their control. That's not a scenario in which weather causes the delay.

But, if it were a delay due to something that they could have and should have controlled, you wouldn't have to worry about any Marriott overlap. Because the Department of Transportation has relatively recently obtained commitments from airlines that the airline needs to (1) transport you to a hotel and (2) pay for that hotel. It used to be you were on your own, even if the delay was caused by airline malfeasance.

Scroll down and see the appropriate "controllable" cancellation chart:

Airline Customer Service Dashboard | US Department of Transportation

Secretary Buttigieg has called upon airlines to improve their customer service commitments to passengers, which all have done to varying degrees.

www.transportation.gov

So, under these circumstances, Marriott would never have appeared as the overlap hotel as you'd have gotten it courtesy of the airline's payment.

How did and does this chart benefit me? I always hesitated to use Allegiant to go from Pittsburgh (a city I often visit) to Key West. They were notorious for not having any plane on whatever day they might schedule a Pittsburgh to Key West or vice versa flight. But now I take that flight, sometimes as little as $150 round trip, with complete confidence. Cancel that Key West to Pittsburgh flight and put me up in Key West hotels until your next flight two days later!

 

[Hindsite]

The solution for me is to not book a Marriott hotel in conjunction with a timeshare stay. I just cancelled the hotel reservation we had in Salt Lake City. We have a 7 night stay but a very early flight. It’s easier to check into an airport hotel the night before and get up around 3:30 AM rather than 1:00AM and drive down from Park City.

If you are travelling with others, you could have the hotel stay in the name of one of the other people

Personally, my feelings are I paid for the nights, I should get credit for them so long as someone else isn’t staying in my place (renters), but it’s their rules and their game. Still, it just chased a few nights each year away from their hotel side.

There are so many people trying to play the system to get benefits that paying for a stay and not being there is one of the easiest ways to get to a level if you are short of a night or two. Its simpler, for them, to have a very straightforward rule that if you aren't in the room you don't get the credit. The "accidental" fraud of people who rent out timeshare stays getting ENCs went on for a very long time before they closed that loophole so they're not going to open up another one.

That does not excuse the sloppiness from Crystal shores in not processing your ENC, which they should do. Its overlapping nights that are the issue not overlapping stays.

All of this is very unique to the MVC, Sheraton and Westin ownership, where you do get nights credit for stays with the linked hotel rewards system, none of the other branded systems have this.

 

[dougp26364]

I get the impression they just say something that sounds like it makes sense to get you off the phone so they can move on to the next person. That is my general experience with customer service overall. I've not had issues with overlapping stays in the past. Unless something has changed, and we know Marriott International hasn't changed their reservation system in 40 years, then I just don't buy their reason. I still think the reason is just that Crystal Shores has shown in the past that they often fail to report stays. Though I could certainly be wrong.

I've done that for missing timeshare stays, but only after realizing I would have enough nights to get to 75 anyway. Had I not gotten to 75, I might have continued the pursuit.

Judging by my e-mail interactions with CS, they obviously don’t initially read with any comprehension.

In the past we haven’t had an issue with overlapping stays, so it’s probable that you’re correct. Whichever way it is, policy or incompetence, it’s likely to cost them some business. I did think of one other way around this issue, and that’s to book the hotel stays under my wife’s name. However, I have enough fun sharing e-mails with CS reps who don’t actually read them (or with an AI chat bot spitting out a canned response) that I’m not as likely to book a Marriott brand hotel when it’s avoidable. It seems the only way to affect change with companies is to vote with your wallet. Even then, many companies go bankrupt because upper management is tone deaf to the circumstances around them.

 

[dougp26364]

If you are travelling with others, you could have the hotel stay in the name of one of the other people



There are so many people trying to play the system to get benefits that paying for a stay and not being there is one of the easiest ways to get to a level if you are short of a night or two. Its simpler, for them, to have a very straightforward rule that if you aren't in the room you don't get the credit. The "accidental" fraud of people who rent out timeshare stays getting ENCs went on for a very long time before they closed that loophole so they're not going to open up another one.

That does not excuse the sloppiness from Crystal shores in not processing your ENC, which they should do. Its overlapping nights that are the issue not overlapping stays.

All of this is very unique to the MVC, Sheraton and Westin ownership, where you do get nights credit for stays with the linked hotel rewards system, none of the other branded systems have this.

Because there hadn’t been an issue before, I really didn’t think about it.

That particular day our flights were cancelled and rebooked at least 6 times, with me having to go in and manually change each booking because their automated system kept downgrading us from first class to the last room of economy class, right next to the toilets. They kept trying to get our arrival time as close to our original arrival time as possible without regard to booking class. I suppose the vast majority of flyers prefer it that way, but we aren’t as picky about the arrival time as we are about booking class when I’ve paid for first class seats. I’ve done the dance with airlines trying to get a refund when involuntarily downgraded. All I can say is thank goodness for online booking. It makes it so much easier than calling and being put on hold for an hour or two, then having to repeat the process when the re-booked route is also cancelled.

There will be times when I book under my wife’s account from this point forward. But I can hold a grudge when I feel I’ve been treated poorly. I have no issues booking with Hilton rather than Marriott. I’m sure Marriott isn’t going to miss my hotel nights anyway. I’m just a very small drop in a very big ocean, but it makes me feel better.

 

[Hindsite]

There will be times when I book under my wife’s account from this point forward. But I can hold a grudge when I feel I’ve been treated poorly. I have no issues booking with Hilton rather than Marriott. I’m sure Marriott isn’t going to miss my hotel nights anyway. I’m just a very small drop in a very big ocean, but it makes me feel better.

Do what works, sometimes a Marriott brand really isn't the most convenient. I hate to have multiple hotel, travel portal or airline rewards accounts but that is just what works best for our travel and I'm over adjusting our plans to suit a corporate entity.

 

[wuv pooh]

Program terms are very clear. You can't get credit for 2 different properties on the same night. You can choose which night you get credit for, but not both. Have run into this before when I booked a room for my kids the same night or for a corporate event. It is nothing unusual or personal. It can be a pain when your $100 stay gets credited and your $4,000 stay does not, but they will fix it. As you determined, the solution is to book the second room on your spouse's account or to book another brand.

 

[dougp26364]

True, and I’m not even trying to get 8 nights credit for overlapping stays. I am, however, trying to get the full 7 nights between both stays. Marriott decided I only deserve the one night. IOW, they automatically choose the lessor amount when I clearly have stayed a full 7 noghts between 2 properties.

But they haven’t fixed it and initially told me they wouldn’t fix it. It had to be bumped up to a manager. As of this moment, it still has not been fixed.

 

[WaikikiFirst]

Your loyalty is appreciated

 

[rthib]

That is the T&C for Nights. You only get credit for the first stay if nights overlap. So if you have a two night stay and the second night overlaps with a 14 night stay you get two nights. Common question/complaint of the Marriott hotel boards.

 

[dioxide45]

That is the T&C for Nights. You only get credit for the first stay if nights overlap. So if you have a two night stay and the second night overlaps with a 14 night stay you get two nights. Common question/complaint of the Marriott hotel boards.

But that isn't what Doug is saying happened. He had a 7-night stay with a single night at a different property on the 7th night. He didn't get credit for the 7 nights. Only the 1 at the end.

 

[Fasttr]

But that isn't what Doug is saying happened. He had a 7-night stay with a single night at a different property on the 7th night. He didn't get credit for the 7 nights. Only the 1 at the end.

I read it the other way around. He missed the first night at CS.

 

[dioxide45]

I read it the other way around. He missed the first night at CS.

Ahh, you're right. Somehow I thought "In the end " meant at the end. I didn't read it correctly. I am still not seeing anywhere in the terms and conditions that indicates an overlapping stay like this disqualifies the longer stay.

 

[dougp26364]

They have finally corrected m nights, but it took several e-mails that never should have been necessary and the intervention of a manager.

If it was Crystal Shores not reporting the nights and that’s been a consistent issue, they need to fix the problem. If it’s a tech issue, they need to fix the problem. Whatever the problem was, when a guest stays 7 nights but automatically is credited with 1 for the overlapping stays, you have a CS issue that will drive business away.

 

[dioxide45]

They have finally corrected m nights, but it took several e-mails that never should have been necessary and the intervention of a manager.

If it was Crystal Shores not reporting the nights and that’s been a consistent issue, they need to fix the problem. If it’s a tech issue, they need to fix the problem. Whatever the problem was, when a guest stays 7 nights but automatically is credited with 1 for the overlapping stays, you have a CS issue that will drive business away.

I agree, one reservation shouldn't completely wipe out the other and I suspect the Crystal Shores reservation predated the one at the hotel. So what logic did they use to determine which stay would qualify for the nights. In the past we've received concurrent nights at different properties. I think it was a stay at Ocean Pointe followed by a stay at Grande Vista with one of the nights overlapping in the middle. We got credit for 14 nights. Either they've changed something or it is the issue of Crystal Shores not properly reporting. Glad you were able to get the credit you were entitled to.

 

[jwalk03]

People complain about this is the Titanium Facebook group all the time. I have seen reports of people staying like 30 days at a hotel for business and then one or 2 nights one weekend in the middle and only getting credit for the 2-night weekend stay and being denied credit for the month long stay. Its absurd. Its like they incentivize the CSRs not giving out ENCs even when you are clearly entitled to them.

I do agree their IT does not always catch overlaps though. My wife and I were staying in hotels in 2 different states on the same night and I was given ENCs for both stays before. And in December we had a weeklong stay at Newport Coast that we left a day early to spend 2 nights at the Marriott in Ventura Beach- I was credited with the 7-nights at Newport Coast and the 2 nights at Ventura Beach even though 1 night overlapped.

 

[dougp26364]

I agree, one reservation shouldn't completely wipe out the other and I suspect the Crystal Shores reservation predated the one at the hotel. So what logic did they use to determine which stay would qualify for the nights. In the past we've received concurrent nights at different properties. I think it was a stay at Ocean Pointe followed by a stay at Grande Vista with one of the nights overlapping in the middle. We got credit for 14 nights. Either they've changed something or it is the issue of Crystal Shores not properly reporting. Glad you were able to get the credit you were entitled to.

I have an overlapping reservation next month. Mostly because I wanted a late check out before driving to the next resort. It will be interesting to see if we’re credited 7 or 8 nights.

 

[dougp26364]

People complain about this is the Titanium Facebook group all the time. I have seen reports of people staying like 30 days at a hotel for business and then one or 2 nights one weekend in the middle and only getting credit for the 2-night weekend stay and being denied credit for the month long stay. Its absurd. Its like they incentivize the CSRs not giving out ENCs even when you are clearly entitled to them.

I do agree their IT does not always catch overlaps though. My wife and I were staying in hotels in 2 different states on the same night and I was given ENCs for both stays before. And in December we had a weeklong stay at Newport Coast that we left a day early to spend 2 nights at the Marriott in Ventura Beach- I was credited with the 7-nights at Newport Coast and the 2 nights at Ventura Beach even though 1 night overlapped.

They’re are essentially dis-incentivizing using their own hotel brands by doing this. If you only want to give me credit for the nights I’m physically at the hotel, then 1 night at Washington’s Crystal City and 6 at Crystal Shores for the 7 nights I was physically in rooms would have made sense. Marriott decided to give just the 1 night.

If they’re doing this on a regular basis to their super users, then there’s likely to be a mass exodus from the program. As a timeshare owner I’ll always be a member. Others who do t own timeshare will have the freedom to leave.

I’m not overly thrilled with Hilton hotels, but I’d rather stay at a Hilton brand than risk having to fight for the correct number of nights to be credited to my account