Marriott Rewards elite rollover nights permanent benefit for 2013

Marriott Rewards makes elite rollover nights a permanent feature of the loyalty program. Elite Rollover Nights has been a year-to-year promotional benefit since early 2010 arising out of the 2009 financial and travel industry meltdown.

Marriott Elite Rollover Nights

Standard Elite Qualification Requirements

• Silver Elite = 10 nights in calendar year
• Gold Elite = 50 nights in calendar year
• Platinum Elite = 75 nights in calendar year

MAIN ROLLOVER POINTS:

• Rollover nights expire after one calendar year
• Rollover nights are calculated based on the number of nights a member has earned in excess of the nights required to renew at their current level or to achieve a higher level
• Once a member has met the number of nights to retain their current level, any additional nights will be rolled over to the next year
• If the member achieves a higher status than their current level (Silver to Gold, Gold to Plat), the additional nights beyond the newly achieved threshold will be rolled over
• If a member reverts to a lower status (e.g., Plat to Gold, Gold to Silver) there would be no rollover nights
• Rollover nights benefit members who renew at their current status or achieve a higher status

MichelleL is a Marriott marketing manager for elite recognition and social media and a company voice on Marriott Rewards Insiders community forum. She made the announcement about elite rollover nights becoming a permanent program feature Monday December 17.

Marriott Rewards Insiders looks to me to have become a real insider forum for information. The site seems greatly improved over the past two years with a company voice participating in the community.

The four examples below were provided by MichelleL to explain the Marriott Rewards elite rollover calculations and I have edited the examples by eliminating abbreviations and adding year dates to clarify the text for my readers.

Elite Rollover Nights EXAMPLE #1:

• Platinum member earns 100 nights in calendar year 2012: threshold to maintain Platinum elite is met (75 nights).
• Platinum member rolls over 25 Elite nights to the upcoming calendar year 2013.

Elite Rollover Nights EXAMPLE #2:

• Poor Platinum member breaks his leg, gets grounded and only earns 60 nights.
• He reverts to Gold (50) and the ten additional nights are not eligible for rollover.

Elite Rollover Nights EXAMPLE #3:

• Gold member gets a great consulting gig and earns 100 nights in a calendar year.
• Gold member achieved Platinum (75) and the additional 25 nights will be rolled over.

Elite Rollover Nights EXAMPLE #4:

• In 2011, Platinum member earns 200 nights, retains Platinum status and rolls over 125 nights to begin 2012 calendar year.
• In 2012, Platinum member decides to stay home and become reacquainted with the family – only racks up 25 nights in 2012.
• In 2013, Platinum member retains status because of 125 rollover nights from 2011 to 2012 and 25 earned nights from 2012. Platinum member requalified for 2013 Platinum status on January 1, 2012 from the 125 rollover nights from stays in 2011.
• Platinum member begins the 2013 year with ZERO nightsin the account.
• The 125 rollover nights from 2011 expired after one calendar year (December 31, 2012).

The one feature of the Elite Rollover Nights program that I did not realize before is the elite member must reach the level of elite membership from the previous year for any nights to rollover to the next calendar year.

This means a Gold member in 2011 with 55 nights who only stayed 40 nights in 2012 finishes 2012 with 45 elite qualifying nights (5 rollover nights from 2011 and 40 elite nights from 2012).

The 2012 Gold elite drops to Silver elite for 2013. This 2012 Gold elite member will not have any rollover nights to start 2013 since the member with only 40 nights did not requalify for Gold elite status in 2012.

Up to now, I incorrectly thought this member would start 2013 as a Silver elite, but with 30 elite rollover nights after staying 40 nights in 2012.  That is not the case. The Silver elite member starts 2013 with no elite rollover nights due to dropping elite status level from insufficient 2012 nights to requalify for Gold elite.

Marriott Rewards now matches Club Carlson as the only two hotel loyalty programs offering elite rollover nights as a regular program benefit.

…

Ric Garrido, writer and owner of Loyalty Traveler, shares news and views on hotels, hotel loyalty programs and vacation destinations for frequent guests. You can follow Loyalty Traveler on Twitter and Facebook and RSS feed.