Travel loyalty programs have increasingly become a global phenomenon over the years. What’s interesting is how the ways to earn elite status differ around the world. We often talk about how easy it is to earn elite status in the United States with credit cards. However, arguably it’s even easier in China, so here’s one such example…
How Fliggy sells Marriott Platinum status for $25
Post-pandemic, we’ve seen absolutely massive inflation in terms of the number of elite members staying at Marriott properties in Asia. This used to most frequently be a problem in the United States, but increasingly, it feels like there are even more elite members in destinations frequented by travelers from China. So what’s actually going on here, and how are they earning status so easily?
An OMAAT reader from China gave me the rundown of what’s going on, and it’s quite something. Long story short, just about anyone in China can get Marriott Platinum status for $25, give or take. How? Well, Fliggy is a popular online travel platform in China that’s owned by Alibaba Group.
Fliggy has membership tiers, and those who are F4 members can receive Marriott Platinum status for a period of four months, as part of a status challenge. It can then be extended for between one and two years (depending on what time in the calendar year it is) if you stay eight nights during that period.
This opportunity has been around for years, but what has changed is how easy it is to earn Fliggy F4, as higher tiers have been added above it, yet the Marriott Platinum status opportunity with F4 has remained intact. It’s now possible for virtually anyone to become a member for 188 CNY (25 USD), and that gives you access to this Marriott Platinum status challenge.
For that matter, what has also changed is how much this deal is talked about, as it’s promoted on all kinds of travel websites in China, so it’s no longer a secret exclusive to hardcore points junkies.
Virtually everyone should be able to get $25 worth of value out of Platinum status with just one stay, given that Platinum status offers breakfast, lounge access, etc., at most Marriott brands. So what’s happening is that people are participating in this challenge ahead of virtually any Marriott stay.
Now, technically the challenge is only possible once per Marriott account. That’s not stopping people, though. What many members are doing is that they’re just abandoning their accounts after a status challenge, and then opening a new Marriott account, and doing it again.
It’s worth noting that even beyond this official channel for earning the status, there seems to be a huge amount of fraud involving Fliggy, with people selling opportunities to earn Marriott Platinum status for even less through other websites.
As you’d expect, this has an impact on those earning status “the hard way.” The OMAAT reader reports that in China, breakfast is consistently busier, lounges are packed, upgrades are non-existent, and even the guaranteed late check-out benefit is hard for hotels to deliver on.
Marriott seemingly has no issues with this, oddly
What I find most interesting about the degree to which Platinum status is being given away in China is how Marriott is seemingly fine with this:
- Marriott knows that this opportunity has been available through Fliggy, as presumably it’s part of some sort of a marketing partnership (Fliggy isn’t offering this without Marriott’s knowledge or consent)
- I can’t imagine that Marriott doesn’t know the extent to which this is being abused, and the number of throwaway accounts being created
So that makes me believe that Marriott’s leadership in China is okay with this, and somehow, that this kind of behavior aligns with how they’re incentivized. I mean, if the goal is to show total membership growth and increased spending among Bonvoy members, I guess this accomplishes that, in a really questionable way. One wonders to what extent Marriott’s management in the United States is aware of this going on.
This situation also gets at the challenge in aligning incentives between individual hotels and Marriott overall, and how it leads to the long term degradation of elite benefits. Centrally, Marriott is incentivized to essentially give away elite status, to create engagement and to generate revenue.
But then it’s up to individual hotels to actually deliver on those benefits, and that poses a challenge. We’ve seen so many hotels get cheaper with elite perks, and some even outright violate Marriott’s published policies (like the St. Regis Macao discontinuing elite breakfast).
I can of course understand the frustration of hotel owners. Maybe they understand the concept of offering rewards to those who are actually loyal customers, but are angry when ranks are being swelled by people who simply spent $25 to acquire the status.
Bottom line
While there’s no denying that elite ranks have been inflated in the United States, it’s seemingly on a completely different level in China, where anyone can get a four-month Marriott Platinum challenge for around $25, and then extend it for a year or two.
It would be one thing if that were the limit of this, but then people are reportedly cycling accounts — so once their status expires, they just do the whole thing over again with a new account.
What’s so fascinating is how Marriott allows this to go on, and it probably gets at the misalignment of incentives between Marriott centrally and the individual hotels.
What do you make of this Fliggy Marriott Platinum opportunity in China?
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