It’s the age-old question. When you’re promised the possibility of an upgrade but it never comes, does the Marriott elite member make a sound?

A new Marriott app feature might be coming

There are now reports that Marriott is testing a new feature in their app that will make the process feel more like the airline industry. And yes, that’s supposed to make things better than it is now.

Say you’re an elite member checking in at a hotel and you’re hoping to check into a room. Will you get an upgrade? It sure seems like the answer these days is sometimes yes, sometimes no, and sometimes the front desk doesn’t mention it at all. You have no insight into where you might be on the list but sometimes the hotel might let you know how many other elites there are that day checking in too.

The new feature in test will show your position in the upgrade line, with a potential notification of whether the upgrade clears. The intent is to provide more clarity in the process so you know coming in whether you’re going to get that upgrade or not.

What exactly is an upgrade?

You can see from the image above that the language of the upgrade list is very simple:

• Estimated Upgrades Available
• Your Current Position in Line

What exactly is an ‘upgrade’ when it comes to this list? Are they suites? Does a higher floor count as an upgrade? Is it anything that comes with a higher room rate even if it’s a better view?

If the intent is to increase transparency, it’s not clear what you’re getting if the app shows an upgrade is available. Part of knowing of increasing transparency is to increase predictability. And it’s unclear based on this test what is the definition of an upgrade is and if that can vary by property.

The airline industry works differently than the hotel industry

It sure seems that the intent is to add transparency to the process much in the way that the airline industry shows upgrade lists and people come to accept that as fact. But it’s important to remember that the airline industry is different.

Airlines have a product that spoils once it departs. Everyone on the flight is going to the same destination airport and will leave the plane at the same time. Once the boarding doors are closed, no new passengers can show up. This is important because airlines might oversell seats or continue to sell them up until the flight closes. But usually once the upgrade list clears, the airline knows no one else should be boarding the flight unexpectedly.

Hotels are a different industry.

• Customers might stay one night or they might stay a week or more.
• While check in time might standardly be about 4PM, customers can still show up past midnight.
• Not every room is available for sale every night. Aside from guests already staying in the room from a prior night, sometimes hotels just don’t make them available.
• Housekeeping might not get around to cleaning rooms until past check-in time.

Thus, full transparency doesn’t make sense here. Knowing how many other elite members are checking in that night doesn’t help if everyone else is checking in for a 3-night stay and you’re only here for a 1-night stay. And just knowing where you are on the upgrade list doesn’t help you if you’re checking in later at night, especially if the member gave advanced notice of a late arrival or a flight delay. Will you see that you’re #1 on the list and upgrades available, creating a baseline expectation the hotel holds it for you?

With transparency, there needs to be more accountability so you can rely on what’s shown or it becomes a meaningless statistic.

Front line employees should benefit from this change

Right now, front line employees at the check-in desk have the unenviable position of being the bearer of bad news. They are generally the ones to let customers know there are no upgrades available. The loyalty chain spends a lot of effort trying to entice people to pick up elite status for the upgrades. But the fact of the matter is the chain relies on each individual hotel to hold up their end of the bargain.

Adding predictability should reduce the number of confrontations regarding these upgrades.

But that still won’t stop some from looking at what rooms are still for sale and asking why one of those can’t be made available now. That argument is harder to make if the elite member is further down the upgrade list. Thus, front line employees should benefit from having to explain their hotel’s policy less often. They can just point to the upgrade list and say you’re not going to clear it anyways.

The underlying problem is that there are too many elites fighting for the same hotels

The hotel industry in general has a problem with elite members. Loyalty programs want to get everyone to be an elite member because it should lead to more loyalty from customers who want to benefit from their status. And it can mean more money from customers as they purchase directly, thereby reducing commissions.

Hotel programs make it easy to be an elite these days. Just holding the right credit card can give you a shortcut to Marriott Platinum status, and that comes with upgrades and a host of other benefits. That works for benefits that aren’t scarce like free breakfast but not for upgrades. When everyone is an elite member, no one is.

But the problem is that people don’t need their elite status for that stay in Duluth. They want it for their stay in Hawaii or Orlando or some other attractive city. And so some hotels simply have more elite members than others. Any promise of elevated benefits becomes hard to fulfill with so many elite members. The chain doesn’t have an elite problem in Duluth but it does in resorts. That’s why late checkout isn’t honored at resorts.

At this point, I never expect an upgrade when I check into a hotel and I might only get a higher floor or a better view when I do get one. Adding transparency can help with the process, but Marriott needs to be committed to honoring or it becomes meaningless.

Are you looking forward to this test expanding to other Marriott hotels?