Marriott absorbed the SPG program in August of 2018. It is now early 2020, and there are still issues getting something a simple as a stay to post to my account. This has been a problem for several years now, at least for me, and I’ve already discussed it here and here. I thought things had improved in 2019, but so far in 2020, I’ve had 4 stays, and a total of zero have posted to my account without manual intervention. Marriott IT issues continue…
Very annoying, just like the name of the loyalty program. So in interest of laughing, I say:
My current hotel strategy
Since I have Marriott Lifetime Platinum status, I have more flexibility with regard to my hotel stays. I certainly don’t worry too much about getting more Marriott stays. Since the chain is so large, it is difficult to avoid. For me, post-merger, there were a lot of bumps, so I mostly just stayed elsewhere when possible. In 2019, I had minimal issues, so I thought most of the problems had been fixed, but in late 2019 and thus far in 2020, there continue to be IT problems, and support continues to be slow and frankly poor.
Hyatt remains my preferred hotel chain, and my go to whenever possible. So far this year my business travel has been pretty slow, and several meetings where I didn’t have a choice in hotels. A room block at a Marriott means that I can utilize my status, even if it is not my first choice of properties. Unfortunately, getting my stays to post is difficult.
Marriott IT Issues continue: Waiting 10 (business) days for stay to post
For most of my recent Marriott stays since late 2019, for whatever reason, my account is not credited automatically. I have to fill out a form and request credit 10 days after check out. Marriott has no issues charging my credit card in much less time, but somehow crediting my account requires more work by me, including attaching a hotel bill.
A recent trip had several colleagues staying at the same property. It seems some have posted after 2 days, others, including mine are still waiting. Not a big problem, but why the long delay?
Final thoughts
This is a very minor thing, but just more annoyance with Marriott. They seem to still be struggling years past the merger with SPG. The promised synergies might work well on the corporate side, but as a frequent traveler, I am disappointed in most changes. They are too big, and don’t need to be better than the competition. I can’t totally avoid Marriott, but it will remain a secondary choice for my hotel preferences.
