Marriott CoronaVirus Response: Cancellation Policy notified - Live from a Lounge

Mike Letterman

Mar 26, 2020, 4:50 AM
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Marriott CoronaVirus Response: Cancellation Policy notified

by Ajay

The CoronaVirus is impacting the travel plans of many a folk, and airlines are coming up with some wild policies to avoid paying customers back the full amount, instead of that trying to promote them some sales so that they can grab more cash out of them. No focus on the safety of the customers and crew at all.

However, the hospitality business, the other hand, has been a bit better with the way they are treating their customers. Earlier today, I wrote about the cancellation policy of Hilton Hotels which have been updated in the wake of the Corona Virus pandemic.

Marriott CoronaVirus Response on Cancellations.

Marriott Group has instituted a new policy as well in the wake of the CoronaVirus situation. They have a full page of measures notified of steps they are taking inside the organisation for guest and staff safety. Here is the list of cancellations being authorised by Marriott at the moment, only through March 31, 2020.

Guests travelling to or from the following locations will be authorised a refund:
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Asia Pacific: Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, French Polynesia, Maldives, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal Bangladesh, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, New Caledonia, Samoa
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Europe: Italy
For the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia:
Marriott is waiving cancellation fees for reservations from the following countries into the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Philippines, Singapore, India, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Somalia, Vietnam, UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt.
Guests who booked via online travel agents or other third party travel professionals are advised to contact their booking provider for information on their policies. This policy does not apply to travel associated with a Group booking.

Update on March 13, 2020, Follows

For all Marriott International hotels worldwide, the following policy is applicable:

For guests with existing reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates that are typically more restrictive, Marriott will allow full changes or cancellation without a charge up to 24 hours prior to arrival, as long as the change or cancellation is made by April 30, 2020. Changes to existing reservations will be subject to availability and any rate differences.
For guests making new reservations for any future arrival date, including reservations with pre-paid rates, between today and April 30, 2020, Marriott will allow the reservation to be changed or cancelled at no charge up to 24 hours before your scheduled arrival date. Changes to the reservation will be subject to availability and any rate differences.
Marriott Vacations Worldwide is included in this policy. Design Hotels are excluded from this policy.

Guests who booked via online travel agents or other third-party travel professionals are advised to contact their booking provider for information on their policies.

Bottomline

This obviously, comes at a huge cost to their business but also builds patronage for the years ahead. Obviously, they can do this because in this case, the hotel chains don't have to bear the entire burden themselves but mostly the developers/owners of the hotels suffer the pain. Other hotel chains also have made policy changes and I will get these out as soon as I can.

What do you think of the new Marriott Coronavirus response?

Marriott CoronaVirus Response: Cancellation Policy notified - Live from a Lounge

Mike Letterman