Marriott Suite Night Award question

[snackyx]

Just booked a reservation for two rooms at the New Orleans Marriott. I'm Titanium and have a handful of Suite Night Award upgrade certificates, so I thought I would apply them. After booking, I looked for the "apply suite night award" option to pop up on my confirmation, but it isn't there. This reservation is for 3 weeks from now. I called Marriott Guest Services and they said that the option hadn't opened up yet. Huh? I understand they don't confirm any suite upgrade until 5 days out, but it seems the request could be made 3 weeks out. The customer service agent told me I would have to keep checking back online to see when the algorithm offers the option to request the upgrade using the Suite Night Award.

This is the first time I've use this award. Is this really how it works? I have to keep checking just to see if I can REQUEST the upgrade? What possible sense does that make?

Question #2: I booked two rooms under my name. I was under the impression you can't transfer the Suite Night Upgrade to another person, but I can apply it to other rooms I book under my name in the same reservation. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance for any help on this....

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Just booked a reservation for two rooms at the New Orleans Marriott. I'm Titanium and have a handful of Suite Night Award upgrade certificates, so I thought I would apply them. After booking, I looked for the "apply suite night award" option to pop up on my confirmation, but it isn't there. This reservation is for 3 weeks from now. I called Marriott Guest Services and they said that the option hadn't opened up yet. Huh? I understand they don't confirm any suite upgrade until 5 days out, but it seems the request could be made 3 weeks out. The customer service agent told me I would have to keep checking back online to see when the algorithm offers the option to request the upgrade using the Suite Night Award.

This is the first time I've use this award. Is this really how it works? I have to keep checking just to see if I can REQUEST the upgrade? What possible sense does that make?

Question #2: I booked two rooms under my name. I was under the impression you can't transfer the Suite Night Upgrade to another person, but I can apply it to other rooms I book under my name in the same reservation. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance for any help on this....

Suite Night Awards are given to those rooms which are not rented, so if their historical data shows it's likely to rent for cash then you're plum out of luck.... At some point (as the actual date gets closer) they will offer the upgrade (assuming the room remains vacant).



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[Fasttr]

Any Ressie I have made that was suite night award eligible, allowed me to make the suite night request right away. Then, 5 days before arrival, if my requested suite size was available, I would get an email telling me my request was granted....at which point the actual reservation room type changes in Marriott.com. Have never run into one where they decide, later on, if they are even going to allow you to make the request. May try a different hotel in New Orleans and see if you get a different result. Many of these local operators do seem to like to play games.

 

[Safti]

If the suite night request doesn't pop up then it usually means that they do not offer this upgrade that the particular hotel. Best bet is to contact the hotel directly and ask if their hotel subscribes to suite night upgrades because it's not showing on the website as a pop up. They will let you know right away. Secondly, when you do speak with the hotel, I would ask the front desk manager to upgrade your room. Sometimes they will put you in a suite and sometimes they won't. It totally depends on how many suites the hotel actually has.

 

[Mroze]

Just booked a reservation for two rooms at the New Orleans Marriott. I'm Titanium and have a handful of Suite Night Award upgrade certificates, so I thought I would apply them. After booking, I looked for the "apply suite night award" option to pop up on my confirmation, but it isn't there. This reservation is for 3 weeks from now. I called Marriott Guest Services and they said that the option hadn't opened up yet. Huh? I understand they don't confirm any suite upgrade until 5 days out, but it seems the request could be made 3 weeks out. The customer service agent told me I would have to keep checking back online to see when the algorithm offers the option to request the upgrade using the Suite Night Award.

This is the first time I've use this award. Is this really how it works? I have to keep checking just to see if I can REQUEST the upgrade? What possible sense does that make?

Question #2: I booked two rooms under my name. I was under the impression you can't transfer the Suite Night Upgrade to another person, but I can apply it to other rooms I book under my name in the same reservation. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance for any help on this....

There are hotels that don't honor Suite-Night-Awards [e.g. St. Regis Maldives, Al Maha, Dubai] if they are either all suites or don't have upgrade eligible suites. There are blackout dates whereby certain windows will cause it to not show. I have 2 reservations [5-Nights each] at a St. Regis and I can request Suite-Night-Awards for Dec 16th - Dec 21st but don't see the option for another reservation [same hotel] for Dec 30th - Jan 4th.

You are right as in SNA's cannot be transferred.

We are Titanium too and have usually had good luck with SNA upgrades.
Have been upgraded 5-Nights prior to arrival at least 80% of the time. E.g. St. Regis Bahia Beach, PR, Price De Galles, Paris into larger rooms that list for $1500/Night.

You also need the right number of SNA's.
E.g. if you have a 5-Night reservation you can't apply SNA's if you only have 3xSNA's.
In this case you would need to split into 2 reservations 3 + 2 nights to use the 3xSNA's.

Multi-Room: I made a 2-Room reservation 2 x 5-Nights concurrent and can't apply the 5xSNA's for 1-room.
I would need to make 2 independent reservations to apply the 5 x SNA's to one of the 2 rooms.

 

[WalnutBaron]

I'm also a lifetime Titanium Elite and have used the Suite Nights awards in recent years. If the option did not pop up when you made the reservation, chances are the suites are already booked. I have also seen the suite Nights option show up on the email I get from Marriott once a reservation is made. You can check that email to see if the Suite Night option is offered.

 

[Saintsfanfl]

Even if it allows you to make the request it is up to the actual location to accept the upgrade later. As each property is owned by a separate entity, the success consistency varies wildly. I do not know if they have changed the wording but it used to say "if available". That statement is completely incorrect. It is "if available, and at the whim of the property manager (not Marriott!)".

 

[Dean]

Just booked a reservation for two rooms at the New Orleans Marriott. I'm Titanium and have a handful of Suite Night Award upgrade certificates, so I thought I would apply them. After booking, I looked for the "apply suite night award" option to pop up on my confirmation, but it isn't there. This reservation is for 3 weeks from now. I called Marriott Guest Services and they said that the option hadn't opened up yet. Huh? I understand they don't confirm any suite upgrade until 5 days out, but it seems the request could be made 3 weeks out. The customer service agent told me I would have to keep checking back online to see when the algorithm offers the option to request the upgrade using the Suite Night Award.

This is the first time I've use this award. Is this really how it works? I have to keep checking just to see if I can REQUEST the upgrade? What possible sense does that make?

Question #2: I booked two rooms under my name. I was under the impression you can't transfer the Suite Night Upgrade to another person, but I can apply it to other rooms I book under my name in the same reservation. Is this correct?

Thanks in advance for any help on this....

I think they'll only upgrade one if they do at all for the situation you described. I'd call the resort first, I suspect you'll find you don't have the option to use the SNA but you still might get upgraded by status. If you have enough points to hold 2 rooms for 2 different hotels, you might look at the JW across the street or even the Marriott Convention center, Westin or Sheraton depending on your goals.

 

[snackyx]

Thanks for all the great info. The only reason I booked at the NO Marriott and not the JW was that I saw they have 1300+ rooms and 44 suites. I have a hard time believing that all those suites are sold out late in August in New Orleans in this COVID environment. I will check with the hotel directly to see if they offer Suite Night Awards. I just can't think of any other reason why they wouldn't at least allow you to make the request to use the award 3 weeks out--they don't actually have to commit to anything until 5 nights out anyway.

 

[Davey54321]

We put in a suite night request 3 months ahead for a 5 night stay late December 2019 into January 2020 (not blacked out!) at the New Orleans Marriott. There were suites available up to 2 or 3 nights before our stay but 1 day out we were told they were no longer available and our request was denied...(The hotel was fully booked as there was a college bowl game happening in town at the time.) If we had checked back with front desk a few days in, we probably could have been upgraded/moved but we had already unpacked and were settled in. We very much enjoyed our stay at the New Orleans Marriott and really liked the Concierge lounge there; breakfasts (wonderful made to order omelets and fresh beignets!) and happy hour appetizers etc. were exceptional. We are Titanium elite and will try again for an upgrade request, but suspect off peak times may yield better results. Not really sure if late August / early September is considered peak or off peak in New Orleans, but regardless good luck with your request!

 

[frank808]

Have had no luck with SNA this year. Was at Residence Inn Burbank and booked 5 night, 5 night and 1 night. This was for late June into July.

Hotel was at most 25% occupancy because of Covid. My SNA were denied even though 1br and 2br units could be booked using app.

Asked the front desk agent if I could get an upgrade as Titanium member. Agent told me all the bigger rooms were not available for an upgrade. I was flabbergasted.

Called the MRP line and asked the operator about property not doing upgrades or SNA. Was basically told it was up to the individual property to approve SNA and elite upgrades. He checked and saw that rooms were available to be booked for my stay. Said that I was SOL as Marriott cannot force properties to provide an upgrade. I told him what is the use of the perk if there are rooms available to book with cash but do not need to be used as an upgrade. And there were rooms available for my whole stay. Too many shenanigans are being played by the individual properties.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Have had no luck with SNA this year. Was at Residence Inn Burbank and booked 5 night, 5 night and 1 night. This was for late June into July.

Hotel was at most 25% occupancy because of Covid. My SNA were denied even though 1br and 2br units could be booked using app.

Asked the front desk agent if I could get an upgrade as Titanium member. Agent told me all the bigger rooms were not available for an upgrade. I was flabbergasted.

Called the MRP line and asked the operator about property not doing upgrades or SNA. Was basically told it was up to the individual property to approve SNA and elite upgrades. He checked and saw that rooms were available to be booked for my stay. Said that I was SOL as Marriott cannot force properties to provide an upgrade. I told him what is the use of the perk if there are rooms available to book with cash but do not need to be used as an upgrade. And there were rooms available for my whole stay. Too many shenanigans are being played by the individual properties.

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I think the issue was they weren't interested in having to clean a larger sized units due to the Covid situation.....

Like yourself, I would not have been happy at all when there is inventory available.



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[snackyx]

Just got the problem resolved: I had booked TWO rooms on the saem reservation, which is why the SNA option did not pop up. Booked two rooms individually and the SNA option was present--just cancelled the original reservation. Now will wait until 5 days out to see if anything materializes!

 

[Mroze]

Just got the problem resolved: I had booked TWO rooms on the saem reservation, which is why the SNA option did not pop up. Booked two rooms individually and the SNA option was present--just cancelled the original reservation. Now will wait until 5 days out to see if anything materializes!

Thanks for confirming what fixed the problem.

 

[rthib]

A good idea is to check the inventory to see if the rooms you requested to upgrade to are available to pay for. If they are not showing up in reservation system to book then they definitely won't be there for free.

 

[Safti]

Did you check the App? Sometimes the suite upgrade will show up on the App and not the website. Only thing left to do is call the hotel.

 

[WalnutBaron]

I recently booked 4 nights at the St. Regis Punta Mita near Puerto Vallarta for October and have already had my SNA request confirmed. Sounds to me like their occupancy rate must be quite to low to get a confirmation this early.

 

[snackyx]

I recently booked 4 nights at the St. Regis Punta Mita near Puerto Vallarta for October and have already had my SNA request confirmed. Sounds to me like their occupancy rate must be quite to low to get a confirmation this early.

Did they confirm that the SNA has been received, or did they actually confirm that the reservation was upgraded to a suite? Also, I thought that St Regis hotels were not part of the SNA program?

 

[Mroze]

Did they confirm that the SNA has been received, or did they actually confirm that the reservation was upgraded to a suite? Also, I thought that St Regis hotels were not part of the SNA program?

St. Regis has always honored SNA's.

Some of my nicest upgrades [Large-Room, Ocean-Front] have been with St. Regis.
They usually have the Suite Room-Types that are eligible and almost 90% of the time honor them.
Ritz Carlton does not participate in the Suite-Upgrade program.

The second most success I have had is with the Luxury-Collection.

 

[taxare]

I really don't mean to be negative but since they extended the expiration of 2020 SNAs to 12/31/21 do you want to use them at the NO Marriott? Similar to MICROZE I have had some great SNA upgrades at ST Regis including five nights in NY on points. I stayed at the NO Marriott for several nights last year and it was fine. The location was excellent for touring and walking to many favorite restaurants. The staff were very friendly, but even with a non SNA upgrade the rooms are adequate but unless you really, really want the extra space I wouldn't use an SNA there but save it for a special place. I would also guess the M Club lounge is not open. You may want to call and see what titanium benefits they are providing if any. JMHO

 

[jonmaiman]

A different perspective. People's property preferences vary a lot. Some folks may not like St. Regis/Ritz Carlton type service and atmosphere and so have no desire to stay at them. Others love that type of property. For SNA's, whatever type of property you prefer, that's where you should try to use them. If you're willing to pay for a suite upgrade if the SNA doesn't clear, then save them for the most expensive property you're planning at staying at. If you're not willing to pay for a suite upgrade and the SNA is a nice bonus if it clears, just use them at whatever stay will have the most personal value for you. For me it is for leisure stays. There are times where getting a 2 bedroom at an RI or TPS is worth quite a bit more to me than a suite at a MR, JW, Renn, or AC. Yes I am one of the folks who doesn't tend to frequent St. Regis/Ritz Carlton properties. Nothing wrong with them, they are just not my cup of tea.

Distilling it down just like MR award point redemptions is a personal decision on value, the same applies to SNA's. The one extra constraint on SNA's is they are valid for a relatively short period of time. Since SNA's may not clear, best to use them early enough in the year that you have another chance to use them if they don't clear the first time.

--Jon

 

[Saintsfanfl]

Have had no luck with SNA this year. Was at Residence Inn Burbank and booked 5 night, 5 night and 1 night. This was for late June into July.

Hotel was at most 25% occupancy because of Covid. My SNA were denied even though 1br and 2br units could be booked using app.

Asked the front desk agent if I could get an upgrade as Titanium member. Agent told me all the bigger rooms were not available for an upgrade. I was flabbergasted.

Called the MRP line and asked the operator about property not doing upgrades or SNA. Was basically told it was up to the individual property to approve SNA and elite upgrades. He checked and saw that rooms were available to be booked for my stay. Said that I was SOL as Marriott cannot force properties to provide an upgrade. I told him what is the use of the perk if there are rooms available to book with cash but do not need to be used as an upgrade. And there were rooms available for my whole stay. Too many shenanigans are being played by the individual properties.

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This is exactly right. The request is initiated from Marriott's centralized system. An employee at the individual property has to accept the upgrade from their own access. Nobody at Marriott has the ability to process the upgrade. It really is a horrible system. The information on the Marriott website still says "Upgraded Room/Suite will depend on the Hotel’s availability"(Lie!), "We(Lie!) will check every Day until 2:00 p.m., local Hotel time, One Day prior to Arrival", "If Room Upgrade is not available(Lie!), your Suite Night Award(s) will return to your Account.

These statement are true in some cases. I have successfully used suite night upgrades at a few properties. The problem is that they are not true more often than they are.