Marriott Meetings No Longer Earn Elite Nights
Ryan recently wrote a piece about how to book Marriott meetings for 10 nights of elite night credit. He even made it a huge part of his plan to earn Marriott Platinum status next year. It appears that is all for naught since Marriott meetings no longer earn elite nights.
The Details
A photo from an internal Marriott memo is circulating around the groups and chat rooms that shows that Marriott meetings no longer earn elite nights starting January 1st.
This was a way to earn 10 nights for around $100 each year and it is another nail in the coffin of the Marriott Bonvoy program. This made manufacturing elite status that much harder.
Final Thoughts
I know Bonvoy is a made up word but the definition should be sucking out every drop of value from a loyalty program because that is what Marriott continues to do since launching it.
Since Marriott meetings no longer earn elite night credits I think some people may reconsider earning status with them in 2020. Adding 10 more nights to your quest can be costly. Let us know if this changes your plans in the comments.
Hat Tip Reader Patrick
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[…] Marriott will not be extending this feature into next year. Miles to Memories reported yesterday morning that a reader got a glimpse of new instructions from HQ. Meeting rooms […]
[…] Marriott’s Meeting Program Axed: If there’s one thing that people in this hobby are good at, it’s finding loopholes. Many used to book meetings at Marriott properties to earn 10 elite nights a year. This would give you a huge boost towards earning status. Well, no more! […]
Let’s turn this around for a minute. Say that you’re Marriott (or Arne). You view the customer as the enemy. That enemy is doing something that is causing you problems, by gaining elite status that you have to provide some kind of benefits for. Sure, you can shift the benefits again, go back on your word yet another time, OR you can make the enemy unhappy by making your decreasingly prized elite status even harder to earn. That’ll show those whiny freeloading SOB’s! So that’s what you do. If they don’t like it, they can go pound sand.
Hey Mark, unrelated question.
I tried applying for the aspire card, I’ve never had a card in the Amex Hilton family but I’ve had Amex cards since 2012, but when I did the pop up came up saying I was ineligible for the bonus. Do you know why that might be or if there’s any way to get around it? I was planning a trip to the Seychelles and really needed those points and free night.
So if Marriott flagged priorities continue to ignore benefits earned from status, why good is status any way?
That is why I never really valued their status.
Frankly, this was always a BS loophole – it should have been closed years ago. Elite nights should be awarded for legitimate conferences and meetings
But even those won’t earn them any more which stinks. Should have added a min spend limit or something.
If you actually have a conference or wedding or wherever where guests stay at the hotel, you still earn elite nights.
Basically, Marriott is saying you need to actually stay at hotels to earn status. If you hold a credit card, it is 35 nights a year for platinum, which most business travelers should be able to hit. Which I think is reasonable and fine.
Fair point
But you’ll earn 1 night for 20 guest rooms at you’re waiting. That’s a high requirement to earn just 1 night.
I was already going to make next year my last year of status w/ Marriott so this makes that choice even clearer.
Can’t blame you Doug