Marriott made travel industry news last week by announcing that starting in January, all members of their Marriott Rewards program, not just the elites, will receive free WiFi for their stays.
Marriott already offered free WiFi at some of its brands, like Residence Inn, Courtyard and Vacation Club. But, until this latest announcement, the Internet charges have been significant at their flagship brand.
So this death of Internet fees for rewards program members should be a good thing, right?
However, there is a very big “But.” To get the free WiFi, reservations must be booked directly on the Marriott.com site, not through a travel agent reservation system or any third-party system at all. Not through tour operators, either. Meaning, for example, clients booking a Hawaii package with air and a car would still end up paying WiFi fees, even when they are Marriott Rewards members. Ditto, anyone who books through an agency with a special preferred arrangement at a Marriott hotel for breakfast or other goodies.
There are work-arounds. I’ll admit, an agency can register and go to Marriott.com and book reservations. But that’s not only time consuming, it’s very difficult to track and impractical for dealing with business travelers who may have frequent changes. Plus, that option doesn’t work at all for tour and vacation package operators.
In addition, many travelers have become addicted to various discount hotel booking sites. They find rates are sometimes considerably cheaper, and sometimes no better than anything available through agencies and hotel websites themselves.
Opaque sites like Priceline generally note, at least in the fine print, that a traveler is buying a room and bedding, that’s all. View and other amenities cannot be guaranteed. Now, with the new Marriott system, it won’t matter. Even if someone books a luxury property at a high rate, if it’s through anything but Marriott.com, they won’t get the free WiFi — even if they are Marriott Rewards members.
To be clear, I have no problem with requiring consumers to sign up for a frequent stay program like Marriott Rewards. Fairmont has given free WiFi for years to members of their President’s Club. Evidently, they figure it’s a tradeoff. The hotel chain has your information for marketing purposes and they give you perks. It is not that different from a CVS or supermarket rewards program.
In this case, it’s not just cutting out the middle man. The Marriott Internet policy may also effectively keep consumers from seeing other options. While some travelers are absolute loyalists to one hotel brand, many belong to at least two frequent guest programs. And these days, with yield management, hotel rates for very similar properties can vary hugely, especially if one property is hosting a group or meeting.
Even for Marriott Rewards members, if, for example, the Marriott Marquis in Times Square has a rate that is $200 more than the nearby Westin, many travelers would switch to the lower priced competitor.
However, if Marriott can get travelers to head to their site first, there’s a good chance shoppers won’t even see a competitor’s lower rate. Of course, this is part of the plan; that and keeping the maximum revenue in house.
Airlines have been playing this game for years with bonus miles and occasional discounts for online bookings, so presumably Marriott is hoping to follow their example. No doubt other hotels will watch and see. Marriott could always still adjust the policy, especially if they decide the complaints from travelers outweigh the revenue boost the hotel chain gets from the website bookings.
Consumers can always hope, anyway. In the meantime, Marriott is cloaking an anti-consumer booking rule that thwarts comparison shopping as a win for consumers because they will be getting free WiFi. Let’s hope consumers don’t fall for this deception.
