If you are reviewing your cheap travel options, including cheap airplane tickets, discount hotel rooms, and cheap vacation packages, verylikely you will come across a number of Marriott options given that this hotelchain is now the worlds largest and has 30 different brands and more than onemillion rooms.
Marriott has tremendous clout in the marketplace that hasbeen only made greater by the purchase of Starwood. The downside of consolidated companiesoutsize marketplace power is the diminished power of consumers. Reduced competition often translates intoless pressure to do right by guests.
Beginning on June 15 there was an unpublicized change tothe companys cancellation policy. Guests booking stays at Marriott brands in the Americas must canceltheir reservations by midnight 48 hours prior to arrival to avoid having to paya fee. Although rules varied by brandand individual property before the change, most hotels only required 24 hoursadvance notice for no fee cancellations.
The new policy is a major downgrade for Marriott guests:less convenience, more fees. Marriottclaims that it revised its cancellation policy to make rooms available toguests that would have otherwise gone unoccupied due to last minutecancellations. The revised policy willenable Marriott to sell more rooms, as well as make more fees from last minutecancellations. It is undeniably a goodmove for Marriotts bottom line.
Unfortunately, this move has been made at the expense ofMarriott guests. This is a short-termblow and a concern for the longer term. Marriott has not consolidated its Rewards program with StarwoodsPreferred Guest program.
Millions of members of both programs are waiting andwatching, hoping that the new program will be, if not the best of bothprograms, at least not a significant downgrade. Such a positive new program would require Marriott to act in the bestinterests of its customers. Regrettably,Marriotts latest cancellation change strongly suggests that the company is likelyto place its own interests above those of its guests.
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