Marriott parachute helps those who fail to renew status again this year
In technical jargon it is called "soft landing," and it is the practice that many loyalty programs have for [...]
Marriott
In technical jargon it is called "soft landing," and it is the practice that many loyalty programs have to cushion the fall of users who, for various reasons, have failed to renew status in the current year.
In this article:
The covid period with office renewals and promotions to gain status with little effort are a thing of the past, now the problem is the opposite i.e. emptying the lounges and having fewer users to give an in-suite upgrade to.
The soft landing in Marriott
Marriott's controlled descent was reinstated at the beginning of 2023, and is valid for all members who have failed to renew their owned membership as of 12/31.
A "soft landing" is when a loyalty program demotes the user by one level only if he or she fails to maintain status.
"Members who have not reached existing Elite status again in 2023 will be offered a level below their current status until February 2025. These members will see their new status starting in March 2024 and will be able to enjoy their existing status until February 2024."
Who takes advantage of the parachute?
This initiative is designed for those who, for whatever reason, have traveled much less in the current year, We are not talking about help intervening for those who are missing a couple of qualifying nights, but also for those who have not even made a single stay all year and find themselves missing a single step and not completely grounded.
Basically what will happen is that:
- If you are Ambassador and miss the renewal, This year the spending limit was raised to 23k $, you will pass Titanium
- If you are Titanium and have failed to renew status you will be downgraded to Platinum, regardless of the number of stays made this year
- If you are Platinum you will climb to Gold
- If you arei Gold you will drop to Silver, unless you are a holder of a American Express Platinum that grants everyone gold status
In conclusion
There are airline loyalty programs that have controlled degrowth, such as. British Airways executive club or the Flying Club of Air France and KLM, but Marriott is the first hotel chain to implement this practice of supporting elite users, now that the measure has become structural we are waiting for the other hotel chains as well.
