The coronavirus situation has had a huge impact on travel to & from Asia, and we’ve seen all kinds of travel brands issue waivers. A few days ago World of Hyatt announced that they’d proactively extend status for those in Asia Pacific, and now Marriott Bonvoy is following in their footsteps.
In this post:
What Marriott Bonvoy is doing for members in mainland China, Hong Kong, And Taiwan
Marriott has announced that they’re closely monitoring the novel coronavirus. They’re proactively offering some help to Bonvoy members who live in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Many of these exceptions are based on where Bonvoy members resident. For what it’s worth, the location of residence is based on what you had in your member profile as of February 1, 2020.
What all can members expect?
Elite status extension
Marriott Bonvoy members who earned status in 2019 would ordinarily have status valid through February 2021. However, that status is now being extended by a year, through February 2022.
This will be reflected in members’ accounts by the end of April 2020.
Suite Night Award & Free Night Award extension
Marriott is also extending some awards that were previously supposed to expire as of December 31, 2020:
- Suite Night Awards will be valid through December 31, 2021
- Free Night Awards will be valid through December 31, 2021
This will be reflected in members’ accounts by the end of April 2020.
Points won’t expire
Marriott Bonvoy members located in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, with a points expiration date prior to February 2021, will be granted additional time to remain active in the program.
Points expiration will resume in February 2021 for members who have been inactive for the previous 24 months.
Cancelation fees waived
On February 19, 2020, Marriott announced that they are waiving cancelation fees for hotel stays through March 15, 2020. This applies for:
- Reservations at hotels in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan
- Guests from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau, traveling outbound to Marriott destinations globally
Bottom line
It’s nice to see hotel groups doing the right thing when it comes to taking care of those impacted by the coronavirus.
In the case of Marriott, they’re extending status, suite upgrade awards, free night awards, and points expiration, for members with accounts registered in Greater China. On top of that, they’re allowing hotel stays to be canceled without fees.
- British Airways Suspends All Mainland China Flights
- Hi Fly Is Flying An A380 To Wuhan
- Cathay Pacific Staff Can Now Wear Face Masks
- American Pilots File Lawsuit, Refuse To Fly To China
- Delta Cancels All Flights To China Until May
- Starluxing Through A Zombie Apocalypse
- American Airlines Cancels Mainland China Flights Until Late March
- US Adds New Coronavirus China Travel Ban
- Emirates Tells Beijing Passengers To Show Up Eight Hours Before Departure
- American Airlines Suspends Hong Kong Flights
- Air China's Unique Strategy For Maintaining US Flights
- Cathay Pacific Cuts 30% Of Flights, Puts Employees On Unpaid Leave
- Cathay Pacific Cutting New York To Vancouver Flight Early
- Flight Diverts After Man Jokes About Having Coronavirus
- American Airlines Extends China & Hong Kong Cancelations To Late April 2020
- KLM Crew Accused Of Coronavirus Racism
- KLM Executives Issue Formal Apology To Koreans
- World Of Hyatt Extending Status For Those In Asia
- Marriott Bonvoy Extending Status For Those In Greater China
I don't understand. Other Asian countries including Korea, Japan, Singapore etc,. are as badly affected as those countries you decided to give extension to. For some countries, even worse...
@tobias I thought I was the only one thinking along these lines.
I cannot understand the logic behind extending elite status for 12 months for only a few countries. I mean terrible the virus, scary also. But why extend only for some countries. First of all, in a month or 2 everything will be normal again. Second it seems unfair to extend only those few countries and it will devalue the program and cause people from other countries to think again.
So what about those living in Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, even Australia who call the greater South East Asia / Pacific region their home or people in Europe, The Middle East, North America who frequently visit countries in Asia and stay at Marriott properties. The company should do proper research on regional/global impact and travel patterns before making such decisions. All it does, it will decrease loyalty of people who are outside of these three countries,...
So what about those living in Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, even Australia who call the greater South East Asia / Pacific region their home or people in Europe, The Middle East, North America who frequently visit countries in Asia and stay at Marriott properties. The company should do proper research on regional/global impact and travel patterns before making such decisions. All it does, it will decrease loyalty of people who are outside of these three countries, but have been staying across Marriott's properties in the region for years. It costs them nothing to extend memberships by a year globally, all it does it drives loyalty. Disappointing outcome.
Such a horrible situation.
Cancelled 4 China/HKG trips or connections so far, and now focusing on meetings in other Asia destinations, rerouting via Tokyo or Australia (being oneworld)...one with a double connection on Malaysia Airlines.
Work pals in Shanghai advised it’s their 14th day of being able to work/live only from home. Hard to imagine.
@derek Trump is catching up making America Great again :)
Agree that Greater China is a poor word choice here, and thinking that “Republic of China” = China shows how uninformed some people are of Chinese history. You boomers can be so out of touch.
@derek the legit name of Taiwan regime is 'Republic of China'. dont's see any reason it's fuss worthy.
@derek oh my here again
I was thinking the same thing for some airlines. I usually have 2-3 RTs to China or Taiwan per year which usually significantly help my MQD on Delta to keep Diamond. My first 2 have been cancelled already and I won't be able to make those up.
Because Marriott obey One China policy.
Hyatt is smarter.
@derek just don’t...
Marriott already announced, its based on address of 2/1/2020.
Therefore changing your address to China at this moment will not help.
Greater China title is problematic because it appears to side with the mainland Chinese claim of Taiwan. Better to just use China, Taiwan, HK.
Any reason people couldn't just change their address to a Chinese address in their profile?
I think all the chains are going to have to offer this globally for all members sometime before the end of this year. Probably sooner than later.
Some south east asian countries and north asian countries (Singapore, Thailand, Japan, Korea, etc) are affected as badly or worse than Hong Kong and should be given extensions too.