r/MarriottBONVoY

I have not had an opportunity to use my 35000 certificate that was expiring today. Took the day off and chose a really nice hotel that was 45 minutes from my house because really only going to sit in the pool and read my book. Arrived to the hotel and was told the pool is closed. Went back to my car and called Marriott to move the reservation down the street to a hotel that I called and confirmed the pool was open. Phone rep told me that I did not use the certificate because it was expired and I had used points. I told him multiple times that I did indeed use the certificate. He told me I thought I did but I had actually used points. I would need to have the hotel cancel the reservation and him rebook using points. Told him already used the certificate and was not using points on top of that. Drove back home and messaged Marriott. They agreed that no points were used and offered 15000 points for the inconvenience. I feel cheated, wasted my day off and it would have been all good if rep had just moved the reservation. Am I wrong?

Accidentally find this online community. I am a newly graduate student who have been staying in all kinds of Marriott hotels for the past 3 yrs (me and my gf love travelling), and I have been constantly checking the latest hotels opening since 2025. I feel like hotels nowadays are getting more and more identical, even including the Ritz-Carlton hotels and St.Regis hotels. Like the renovation and decoration of all the different hotels I have been to are all standardized, without any local element or special designing feature. What's worse, I find the distinctions within different hotel brands, say a courtyard compared to a JW, are becoming more and more blurry, especially those hotels newly opened these past 3 yrs. I can't tell is it just me feeling that way or it's a universal phenomenon now. Hotels in different countries are doing plastic surgeries to look exactly the same.

I've been staying with Marriott for over 22 years, and the company today is very different from the one I remember.

The biggest change isn't the employees. It's the corporate culture.

Everything feels more focused on cutting costs, standardizing operations, and maximizing revenue. Hotels have less flexibility, employees have less authority, and many of the little touches that made Marriott stand out have disappeared.

What frustrates me most is seeing guests constantly take it out on front desk associates and other hotel staff.

Stop blaming employees for decisions made by Marriott headquarters or by hotel ownership and general managers. The person checking you in didn't create the Bonvoy program. They didn't write the elite benefit rules. They didn't decide breakfast policies, staffing levels, parking fees, renovation budgets, or whether a hotel has enough housekeeping staff. In many cases, they aren't even allowed to make exceptions because their hands are tied by company policies or management directives.

I've seen people leave one-star reviews because they didn't get a suite upgrade, because breakfast wasn't what they expected, or because they couldn't have a late checkout when the hotel was full. Those reviews often hurt the employees and the individual property, even when the issue is completely outside their control.

There are certainly hotels with poor management, and some general managers absolutely deserve criticism when they fail to support their teams or maintain their properties. Likewise, Marriott corporate deserves criticism for policies that leave both guests and employees frustrated. But directing that frustration at the front desk associate making $18–$22 an hour isn't accomplishing anything.

The reality is that the employees are what make these hotels work. They deal with upset guests, long lines, staffing shortages, maintenance issues, overbookings, and system outages every day. Most of them genuinely want to help, but they can only provide what they're authorized to provide.

Something else that seems to get overlooked is this: staying at Marriott is a choice. We choose where to spend our money. If you genuinely believe Marriott no longer provides the value or experience you're looking for, there are plenty of other hotel companies to try. Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Choice, Wyndham, and countless independent hotels are all competing for your business.

Constructive criticism is important, and Marriott should absolutely hear when something isn't right. But repeatedly bashing front-line employees or giving an otherwise good franchise a terrible rating over policies they can't control doesn't help anyone. It hurts the people who are working the hardest with the least amount of control.

Marriott still has incredible associates and excellent hotels. They also have properties that need improvement and corporate policies that deserve to be questioned. But if we're going to criticize the company, let's criticize the people making the decisions, not the employees who are simply trying to do their jobs.

I'd be interested to hear from both long-time Bonvoy members and current Marriott associates. Have you noticed the same shift over the years, or do you see it differently?

I'll be staying at the Courtyard city center in Budapest on points for 5 nights in July. I have titanium status and am wondering if I get breakfast as past of my status. TIA

I booked a king room executive floor for 5 nights at JW in Mexico City.
Just got email asking if I want to upgrade.

I'm lifetime titanium elite.
What's the best play? Do I wait for a free upgrade at check-in or pony up?
Currently, they have suites available. I check-in this this Saturday (July 4)
Thanks

Did I miss this event or had to subscribe to it? Feels like it might not go this year? Any insights?

Looking for some advice because I’m in a pretty frustrating situation.

About 10 years ago, my brother created my Marriott Bonvoy account while we were working together. He handled all the travel bookings back then and accidentally set the account up under his name and email instead of mine. At the time it wasn’t a big deal, so we never thought much of it.

Fast forward to today, and I’ve earned around 1.5 million Bonvoy points on that account. I’m Gold Elite now and will likely hit Platinum by the end of the year.

The thing is, I’ve earned every single point. Every hotel has been booked and paid for with my credit card for my work. My brother hasn’t paid for a single stay. We just happen to have the same last name. A few years ago I called Marriott to see if they could simply change the name on the account to mine, since I’m the actual owner and user, but I was told there was nothing they could do.

I can prove every reservation was paid for by me if that helps. At this point I don’t want to lose the points or my status, but I also don’t want to spend the next 10 years checking into hotels under my brother’s name and having to explain the situation every time, or have him call to add me to reservations.

Has anyone dealt with something like this? Is there a department or someone higher up at Marriott that can actually help, or am I just out of luck?

TIA!

I’m looking at the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless ahead of some travel. The TL;DR is: Can I use the 125k points to reimburse my travel like I did with my Venture card miles or do those points have to be used for future booking?

Between the weddings we’re flying to within the States and the 10-night French honeymoon coming up in September, we’ll hit the $3k threshold easy. We don’t travel too much in a normal year, so having a boatload of points just for booking isn’t the most appealing. I would rather do what I did with our France tickets with my Venture Card, and use the points to reimburse ourselves for the booking. So my thought is to book our remaining flights and rooms now, hit the $3k pretty much immediately, and then cover these purchases with the bonus. Is this possible?

I’ve had Bonvoy Bold credit card for close to 3 years now. I’m thinking of upgrading to Boundless. When is the good time to do so?