This week I had something rather interesting, a Marriott Hotel (W Taipei) which offered me additional points for not utilizing the late check-out benefit as a Bonvoy Titanium Elite member.
The W Taipei is a very busy hotel, and especially during the holiday period, there is a significant demand to turn guest rooms around, hence their motivation to offer an incentive to Elite guests to get out of their rooms.
The concept is definitely interesting; as for the property, it has a clear revenue basis since management can simply decide what it is worth to them to have rooms ready earlier and then offer points for which they have to pay Marriott Bonvoy.
Let’s not forget that the W Taipei is a rather expensive hotel that usually runs ~ US$300/night and during peak dated as high as $2000/night. Offering guests 3000 points for which they probably pay ~ US$40 to get them out of the rooms makes a lot of sense.
After all, the problem is that, especially during peak dates, guests arrive fashionably early (very few late arrivals that would usually alleviate a hotel’s demand for check-ins during the afternoon).
Someone who pays $2000 for a hotel room doesn’t arrive late at night. And such a guest is definitely not happy when he’s told the room isn’t ready at 4 pm.
This is how the W explained the benefits to me upon check-in:
The upgrade I received was simply one category, from a Wonderful to a Fantastic room but I didn’t expect much during peak dates. It was a miracle that I got a room on points to begin with; availability popped up in the middle of the night ~ 3 months ago.
Contrary to the check-out offer I got a similar offer from the Le Meridien Chiang Mai before, offering 2500 points because they couldn’t upgrade the room to a suite.
The other benefits, such as breakfast and complimentary drinks are still available. The key issue for hotels is usually upgrade and late check-outs.
I decided not to utilize this offer as my flight was booked in the early evening hours. Late Check-out was worth more to me than 3,000 Bonvoy points.
Conclusion
The W Taipei offered me 3,000 points not to use my Elite Check-Out benefit at 4 pm and instead check out at 12:00 pm. It wasn’t a hard sell, just a polite offer and I didn’t go for it due to my schedule.
I think these loyalty benefits have become somewhat of a drag for properties. There are A LOT of elite members, and all are expecting these benefits as advertised after working hard to accumulate expensive nights. But is this sustainable?
We’re apparently at the point where it’s cheaper for the hotels to throw money (compensation) at the problem to circumvent these elite benefits elegantly. Throw a few points at guests who want to accept the offer, and you have fewer problems running tight on rooms in the afternoon. Having housekeeping staff on site late to clean all these rooms where elites check out at 4 pm isn’t cheap either.
