Bonvoyed: Marriott elites shouldn’t expect suites

Over the weekend, View from the Wing uncovered a sneaky change in Marriott elite member benefit terms and conditions: whereas Platinum members and above used to be entitled to a complimentary upgrade to the best available room (including standard suites), the terms no longer guarantee “best available room”. In a nutshell, Marriott elites shouldn’t expect […] The post Bonvoyed: Marriott elites shouldn’t expect suites appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.

May 20, 2025 - 06:05

Bonvoyed: Marriott elites shouldn’t expect suites

Over the weekend, View from the Wing uncovered a sneaky change in Marriott elite member benefit terms and conditions: whereas Platinum members and above used to be entitled to a complimentary upgrade to the best available room (including standard suites), the terms no longer guarantee “best available room”. In a nutshell, Marriott elites shouldn’t expect suites. While it is of course disappointing to see this change, I rarely get a significant upgrade on a Marriott stay without using a Nightly Upgrade Award, so I’m not sure this will make a huge functional difference.

a hotel entrance with a street and a building

The difference in wording here appears very small on the surface. As Gary points out, the terms and conditions used to say (bold is Gary’s):

Complimentary Enhanced Room Upgrade for Platinum Elite Members. Platinum Elite Members and above receive a complimentary upgrade to the best available room, subject to availability upon arrival, for the entire length of stay. Complimentary upgrade includes suites, rooms with desirable views, rooms on high floors, corner rooms, rooms with special amenities or rooms on Executive Floors.

They now say:

Complimentary Enhanced Room Upgrade for Platinum Elite Members. Platinum Elite Members and above receive a complimentary upgrade, subject to availability upon arrival, for the entire length of stay. Complimentary upgrade includes suites, rooms with desirable views, rooms on high floors, corner rooms, rooms with special amenities or rooms on Executive Floors.

In short, Platinum, Titanium, and Ambassador members are no longer entitled to a free upgrade to the best available room but rather simply to an upgrade. To be clear, that upgrade can still include suites, but the terms no longer say that if the best available room is a suite that an elite member should get it.

Personally, I find this change to be disappointing, though I am perhaps less outraged about it than some members (Dave at Miles Talk provides an extended rant for those looking to commiserate). He and other members are not wrong to be upset at the continued degradation of Marriott elite benefits, I just can’t continue to get worked up over a program that has long made it clear that providing excellent service to hotel guests is a secondary focus.

I have occasionally had some great luck with Marriott Nightly Upgrade awards, using one for a magnificent Grand Staircase suite at the St Pancras London a couple of years ago. But on the whole, I rarely get proactively upgraded to a suite while staying at a Marriott property.

I suspect that some properties are better about treatment of loyalty program members with elite status and those that do value those repeat customers will likely continue to provide good upgrades. Most other properties will continue not upgrading guests to suites.

Perhaps the reason I am less up in arms on this one is because I know that even if Marriott put in the terms that properties must provide suite upgrades when available, it would be largely meaningless since Marriott tends to allow individual properties to opt out of elite benefits more regularly than other programs do. While I usually get the free breakfast I expect with my Marriott Platinum status (at most properties), I don’t have much faith that Marriott will do much to enforce their elite guarantees when a hotel fails to provide benefits.

I therefore find the change in wording to be relatively honest: Marriott knows that some properties aren’t going to upgrade guests to suites and Marriott knows that Marriott isn’t going to force those properties to honor suite upgrades. They simply changed the wording to match the guest experience.

None of that is to say that Marriott shouldn’t take better care of elite members. They should. Marriott has many elite members who don’t feel much motivation to be loyal. That lack of true loyalty is borne from changes like this one, which serve to codify the lack of service that repeat customers can expect. Marriott can and should do better.

However, to this point, Marriott clearly hasn’t seen a meaningful drop in occupancy as they have eroded value and benefits. To that point, I’m sure I’ll continue staying at Marriott properties when I need to do so, but I will continue to attenuate expectations when it comes to elite treatment and choose other chains when meaningful upgrades matter.

The post Bonvoyed: Marriott elites shouldn’t expect suites appeared first on Frequent Miler. Frequent Miler may receive compensation from CHASE. American Express, Capital One, or other partners.