Marriott Bonvoy has changed its mind, but one which may have been good for its business. In December 2022, Marriott announced they would only soft-land their Ambassador members to the Titanium Elite Tier. Per their announcement then, it said,
We are pleased to offer Titanium Elite Status to our current Ambassador Elite Members who do not achieve the 2022 published criteria to maintain Ambassador Elite Status.As part of Marriott Bonvoy’s annual business processing, all other Elite Members with a status expiration date of February 2023 that did not achieve a higher Elite Status or renew their existing Elite Status during 2022 will be downgraded in early March 2023.
It now seems to have either decided that letting go a lot of members from their current status is a bad business decision (given they can switch to other hotel chains) or this was the plan all along to get members to work their status as much as they could by the end of the year.
Marriott decides to provide a soft landing for 2023
A Soft-Landing is where a member who fails to achieve the requirements for a particular tier is only granted a tier one down from where he was rather than being assessed on his actual business over the period in question.
After informing everyone in 2022 that Marriott will not be protecting member status in 2023, Marriott has changed its mind. On Marriott.com, now, you can read,
In January 2023, all Members will have their 2022 loyalty activity evaluated as follows:
- Members who achieved their existing Elite status again in 2022 will have their current status renewed through February 2024.
- Members who did not re-achieve their existing Elite status in 2022 will be offered one tier below their current status through February 2024. These members will see their new status starting in March 2023 and can enjoy their existing status through February 2023.
- Members who achieved a higher Elite level during 2022 already have a status expiration date of February 2024.
Essentially, if you were a Titanium Elite in 2022, you would be, at best, Platinum Elite in 2022. If you were Platinum Elite, you would be at least Gold Elite, and if you were Gold Elite, you don’t drop below Silver Elite.
This policy U-turn, of course, will not sit well with everyone. For instance, I ensured that I would hit 50 nights in 2022 and only go from Titanium to Platinum, and I confirmed lounge access and 4 pm late checkout. Had I known this earlier, I’d have made some choices differently.
But this makes sense for Marriott since they will hopefully not lose those members dropping off to another hotel chain for 2023.
Bottomline
Marriott Bonvoy, in a U-Turn on its earlier stance, has now announced that it will offer a Soft Landing to everyone who held status with Bonvoy in the past year. That will mean your status in 2023 will not go down more than one level below how it was in 2022. The new status will reflect only in March 2023.
What do you make of the new policy of Marriott Bonvoy?
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Suggest it would be prime time for a Canadian Bank to offer a Hilton card. Have a forthcoming trip to Hawaii that I will burn all of my points but will continue to hold the Amex Bonvoy card for the annual free night as it more than offsets the yearly fee….but that is the only night I expect to book with the chain until they offer a true loyalty program. Will be moving to Amex points which are more valuable and flexible going forward.
This is obviously an about face based on their stats, showing that clearly not enough Marriott Convoy members actually cared to make the effort to retain their existing tiers..
If they’ve been hitting their numbers, there would be no reason to pander and give out any freebies to existing users.
But regardless, I won’t be making any effort to retain or renew my status past 2023, the services supposedly provided to team members are garbage at the vast majority of Marriott Hotels. Most of the basic/business chains like Four Points or courtyard don’t even honor the specs they’re supposed to. I’ve been told repeatedly at multiple locations that breakfast is not included even when it absolutely is.
It’s even more insulting when they have the audacity to give a voucher only for a fixed amount, usually covering half or less of the actual meal- you know they’re trying to work around some sort of legal requirement while pretending to abide by it.
No where was it mentioned when I booked my week long stay in Costa Rica @ JW Marriott Guanacaste that I would not earn credit for the nights I stayed which would have elevated my status to Platinum. I contacted Marriott Bonvoy and was basically told “too bad”. Since I’ll be downgraded its time to go back to Hilton which I left when Marriott introduced Bonvoy a while back. Loyalty doesn’t matter anymore to Marriott/Bonvoy which is a real shame!
Obviously you didn’t read the fine print. You only get night credits for stays booked literally through Marriott reservations itself, even if you’re staying at a Marriott Hotel you don’t get credit if you booked the stay through travelocity, credit card points, or freedom flyer points anywhere else. I missed my Titanium renewal because I got zero credit for 2 weeks on the road in Europe, booked with BA Avios leftovers..
Only benefit u will get being platinum and above are lounge access and late chk out but how often do we chk into hotel with lounge and how often do we chk out late. As Marriott continue to jack up prices for lousy hotels (ex., fairfield) it will loose more value members including myself.
Looks like I will be staying at the Hilton from now on, Good Luck Marriott.
I had paid $37000 using my Bonvoy Amex card to Marriott for an event I hosted but got credited $8800. This was important for I needed to show $20000 spending and 100 stays to get elevated from Titanium to Ambassador level. I had made the 100 stay requirement, but not the $20k spending requirement due to a screwup with AMEX. I tried to argue my case with a Bonvoy representative, but unfortunately she did not help. In fact, she was really bad and rude. When I asked her that I want to speak to her manager, she told me that she was the supervisor. Marriott must be really hard up to employ such type of folk with zero people skills and rude behavior. There was nothing I could do but to accept that Marriott is on the way down employing bad folks. Hope the Bonvoy management folks properly screens folks representing the Mariott Bonvoy customer service. I hope they set up a hot line to report such type of behavior as this would prevent the Marriott brand name being associated with rudeness. I am already an elite Hilton Honors member and am going to change alliance from Marriott to Hilton going forward.
I have had nothing but bad service since Marriott went woke. I too am a Hilton and IHG customer now.
What in god’s name does woke have to do with this. Give Tucker a rest for a few days bruh.
We started with Marriott in 1993. In the last 3 years with 1000 useless Destination points and weeks that don’t trade well and Bonvoy points that are worth less each year, we are cleaning out. Sold our weeks and using up remaining Bonvoy points. Our last “free” stay at The W cost $200+. points
I am Titanium for LIFE and earned it ….. now they do not offer!
Marriott WAS a great company but I hate to say NO longer!
If I was a young person I would shop around and not be loyal to one brand!
Marriott no longer cares!
Booked a week long stay cation to keep platinum as a titanium only to get Bonvoyed
I got Bonvoyed yet again based on Marriott’s Dec communication which was a complete lie.
Same here. Sacrificed my Hilton Diamond to reach Marriott Platinum (was Titanium in 2022) since Hilton Gold provides free breakfast, the most valued perk for me.