Hotel Checkout Times

[DonRocks]

Has there been an industry-wide move towards earlier checkout times? I've noticed recently (in the past year or so) that hotels seem to have become more-and-more aggressive in enforcing 11 AM checkouts.

Example: I just called the front desk at a Marriott, and asked what time checkout was (11 AM), and when I requested a late checkout, I was advised that anything after 12:30 PM would result in an additional charge (and I'm a Bonvoy member).

It also seems that Housekeeping is charged with being the first-line of enforcement, rapping on your door at 11:30 AM regardless of whether or not there's a "Do Not Disturb" sign.

[Ferris Bueller]

Possibly, however with a few CC benefits you can circumvent some of the new standard hassles. Having just come off a few weeks of travels both US and BC - using your Amex card for hotel booking at participating resorts (Hotel Collection & FH&R) or properties, gets you early check-in (12 PM), room upgrade, late checkout (4 PM) and often times resort credit (towards spa or something) and bfast for 2.  We lucked out and got $100 spa credit and $200 resort credit which we used towards a fantastic steakhouse restaurant on property.  Obviously a lot depends on where you stay, but it was nice not having to race out the door by 11 AM if we were sightseeing or whatever on our checkout day. There are other credit cards with benefits, but Amex as pretty easy and true to what was advertised.  Top it off with Lounge access at numerous airports and you can have a decent airport experience as well and not be rushed to your flight or sitting at the gate for an hour+ once you have cleared TSA.  Amex & Citi pay for your Global Entry or TSA Pre every 5 years too.

[Keithstg]

7 hours ago, DonRocks said:

I just called the front desk at a Marriott, and asked what time checkout was (11 AM), and when I requested a late checkout, I was advised that anything after 12:30 PM would result in an additional charge (and I'm a Bonvoy member).

Sorry, but I lol’ed - this is sad, and probably happens all the time. Bonvoy Gold can request late check out (best to do so at check in) and Bonvoy Platinums are guaranteed late check out. Otherwise you can be SOL depending on the property.

[Ericandblueboy]

It seems like these are perks that credit cards and travel agencies dole out for their "premier" members - to justify membership price or customer loyalty.

[Ferris Bueller]

8 hours ago, Ericandblueboy said:

It seems like these are perks that credit cards and travel agencies dole out for their "premier" members - to justify membership price or customer loyalty.

I agree - we are also Bonvoy members but not Platinum level - requesting the late checkout at check-in certainly appears to help.

[DonRocks]

21 hours ago, Ferris Bueller said:

Possibly, however with a few CC benefits you can circumvent some of the new standard hassles. 

Does anyone know if having a Chase Sapphire Reserve can alleviate this situation, and how?

I have a ridiculous amount of points on my card, but does that even matter?

[Keithstg]

26 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

Does anyone know if having a Chase Sapphire Reserve can alleviate this situation, and how?

I have a ridiculous amount of points on my card, but does that even matter?

Doesn’t matter at all. Hotel chains don’t care about points - chains care about nights at their brand. If you travel frequently, stick to one hotel chain. 

[Keithstg]

4 hours ago, Ferris Bueller said:

I agree - we are also Bonvoy members but not Platinum level - requesting the late checkout at check-in certainly appears to help.

This whole “bonvoy member” thing is misplaced - joining a free program doesn’t get you much, and shouldn’t. IIRC,  More than 50% of Marriott’s earnings are driven by the top  3% of customers - that’s who they cater to. SPG was marginally better, but regardless the deck is stacked toward those who spend many nights at affiliated properties.

[Ericandblueboy]

23 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Does anyone know if having a Chase Sapphire Reserve can alleviate this situation, and how?

I have a ridiculous amount of points on my card, but does that even matter?

I don't think your points matter. Chase Sapphire Reserve has Luxury Resort & Hotel program with benefits below.  I'll be spending a night in Dublin next month - their hotels cost $400+ per night.  I can book a luxury hotel on my own for much less on Expedia.  

Quote

The Luxury Hotel & Resort Collection

Enjoy special benefits at a variety of hand-selected top hotels and resorts worldwide, such as:

Complimentary room upgrades

Complimentary meals for you and a guest

Early check-in and late check-out

Special discounts and credits

Extra amenities, gifts and more.

Expedia Gold Members get benefits at their "VIP Access" hotels - basically luxury hotels but you can book them at competitive rates.

Quote

Special amenities and services at select hotels, for example:

free parking
spa credits
complimentary food and drink
upgraded in-room entertainment
priority check-in
Gold members may get free room upgrades that include:

larger room or a suite in a preferred location
special view
special in-room amenities

 

[zgast]

12 hours ago, DonRocks said:

Does anyone know if having a Chase Sapphire Reserve can alleviate this situation, and how?

I have a ridiculous amount of points on my card, but does that even matter?

Agree that this doesn't really matter.  You can use the points for stuff, but they don't have any value to Hilton or Marriott or whomever until you transfer the points to their particular program.  Even then, they care about your status (which transfers don't help with) as that indicates ongoing spend with them.

Do ask about a day room rate though.

[treznor]

On 8/19/2019 at 9:46 PM, Keithstg said:

This whole “bonvoy member” thing is misplaced - joining a free program doesn’t get you much, and shouldn’t. IIRC,  More than 50% of Marriott’s earnings are driven by the top  3% of customers - that’s who they cater to. SPG was marginally better, but regardless the deck is stacked toward those who spend many nights at affiliated properties.

I wonder how far down the totem pole 3% gets to. I'm lifetime titanium, not that that really means anything for a specific year, but I've also qualified for titanium separately from lifetime status last year and on target to do so this year (as well as Globalist at Hyatt). Not sure if I'd be in the top 3% or not as I don't end up being part of the Ambassador program as I don't quite stay enough for that I believe.

On 8/18/2019 at 10:39 PM, DonRocks said:

Has there been an industry-wide move towards earlier checkout times? I've noticed recently (in the past year or so) that hotels seem to have become more-and-more aggressive in enforcing 11 AM checkouts.

Example: I just called the front desk at a Marriott, and asked what time checkout was (11 AM), and when I requested a late checkout, I was advised that anything after 12:30 PM would result in an additional charge (and I'm a Bonvoy member).

It also seems that Housekeeping is charged with being the first-line of enforcement, rapping on your door at 11:30 AM regardless of whether or not there's a "Do Not Disturb" sign.

I'd say that yes, I've seen the same. It doesn't particularly affect me all that much as I'm almost always checking out by 9am anyway and the handful of times a year I travel for leisure as opposed to business I usually want to leave by 11 or 12 anyway and can request a late checkout most places I'd stay. However, I do tend to notice what time official checkout is and pretty sure I've noticed it being 11 instead of 12 more and more in the last couple years.

[Keithstg]

8 hours ago, treznor said:

I wonder how far down the totem pole 3% gets to. I'm lifetime titanium, not that that really means anything for a specific year, but I've also qualified for titanium separately from lifetime status last year and on target to do so this year (as well as Globalist at Hyatt). Not sure if I'd be in the top 3% or not as I don't end up being part of the Ambassador program as I don't quite stay enough for that I believe.

The 3% covered/ created the Ambassador program back in the SPG days, which existed for at least three years prior to being published with stay criteria. There are a slew of 100-200 night customers, but the ones in NY, SF, LA, etc really drive revenue. A back of the envelope calc on my highest travel year in those days put me at around $90k in room revenue, pre taxes. I was in the second Ambassador invite wave when unpublished and continued until the merger. Are you still Lifetime Titanium, or back to lifetime platinum? I grandfathered into Lifetime Titanium but seems as though it's now just lifetime plat.

Doesn't matter either way since I don't generally use Starriott anymore. That said, I'm in Portland Maine right now and the Press Hotel is lovely. Will stay at the Francis next time though.

[treznor]

1 hour ago, Keithstg said:

The 3% covered/ created the Ambassador program back in the SPG days, which existed for at least three years prior to being published with stay criteria. There are a slew of 100-200 night customers, but the ones in NY, SF, LA, etc really drive revenue. A back of the envelope calc on my highest travel year in those days put me at around $90k in room revenue, pre taxes. I was in the second Ambassador invite wave when unpublished and continued until the merger. Are you still Lifetime Titanium, or back to lifetime platinum? I grandfathered into Lifetime Titanium but seems as though it's now just liftetime plat.

Doesn't matter either way since I don't generally use Starriott anymore. That said, I'm in Portland Maine right now and the Press Hotel is lovely. Will stay at the Francis next time though.

I was in the Ambassador program a couple years at Starwood before the merger. Based on talking with others it seemed pretty hit-and-miss about whether it was useful or not. I never really got any use from my Ambassador that I saw. I'm way too particular about my hotels to have someone else book for me though. My biggest year was probably back in 2010 when I traveled 240 nights. Not all of that was Marriott, but it was also to an expensive location (London), so it was probably a pretty hefty tab.

I'm still lifetime titanium. 21 years at Platinum (out of 19... a couple years I was top status at both Starwood and Marriott) and 1450 lifetime nights. Occasionally I only get recognized as Platinum at some hotels because of the system that hotel uses, but the on-property perks are basically the same so that isn't a huge deal really. Don't know that I'll ever make it back to Ambassador now that I'm mostly travelling domestic.

I still stay at Marriott frequently. I switch between them and Hyatt in locations where Hyatt's are options (which they are in Miami). I'm at 80 nights or so with Marriott and 50 with Hyatt this year, though that includes credit card nights as well (without CC nights I'm at 68 and 38 I believe).

[Keithstg]

4 minutes ago, treznor said:

I was in the Ambassador program a couple years at Starwood before the merger. Based on talking with others it seemed pretty hit-and-miss about whether it was useful or not. I never really got any use from my Ambassador that I saw. I'm way too particular about my hotels to have someone else book for me though. My biggest year was probably back in 2010 when I traveled 240 nights. Not all of that was Marriott, but it was also to an expensive location (London), so it was probably a pretty hefty tab.

Wow - that's a lot of travel! I peaked at 210 nights in 2016, which I do not hope to repeat. Had several 100 night + years as well, but the initial invitation was based on revenue.

I hear you re: Ambassador - I got use out of the Ambassador with two things - issues with billing, stays and point credit, and for family travel - primarily pre-booking connecting rooms/ suites. Of the two, I found delegating the follow-up items most useful.

Since I switched to Four Seasons I have found that they have a similar program with enough nights/ revenue..

[treznor]

2 hours ago, Keithstg said:

Wow - that's a lot of travel! I peaked at 210 nights in 2016, which I do not hope to repeat. Had several 100 night + years as well, but the initial invitation was based on revenue.

I hear you re: Ambassador - I got use out of the Ambassador with two things - issues with billing, stays and point credit, and for family travel - primarily pre-booking connecting rooms/ suites. Of the two, I found delegating the follow-up items most useful.

Since I switched to Four Seasons I have found that they have a similar program with enough nights/ revenue..

1838 nights since I started tracking my travel in Jan 2009... I started travelling Jan 2001 so have another 8 years before that, I just didn't bother tracking it. Really, I didn't start tracking until I showed up at the wrong hotel a couple times  I don't really -need- to track anymore with the advent of services like TripIt, but I like it for analytics purposes and to make sure stays show up on my account (I usually have 1-2 a year that don't show up).

 

I wouldn't mind trying out some other chains, but my work has rates setup with the big business chains, Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, and Intercontinental. Tough to get comparable rates without a corporate rate at somewhere like a Four Seasons.

[zgast]

26 minutes ago, treznor said:

1838 nights since I started tracking my travel in Jan 2009... I started travelling Jan 2001 so have another 8 years before that, I just didn't bother tracking it. Really, I didn't start tracking until I showed up at the wrong hotel a couple times  I don't really -need- to track anymore with the advent of services like TripIt, but I like it for analytics purposes and to make sure stays show up on my account (I usually have 1-2 a year that don't show up).

 

I wouldn't mind trying out some other chains, but my work has rates setup with the big business chains, Marriott, Hyatt, Hilton, and Intercontinental. Tough to get comparable rates without a corporate rate at somewhere like a Four Seasons.

I use to think I traveled a lot for work until I saw this exchange....

[DanielK]

On 8/23/2019 at 1:01 PM, zgast said:

I use to think I traveled a lot for work until I saw this exchange....

Ditto. My best (worst?) year was just under 150 nights, but that was 20+ years ago. I'm Marriott Lifetime Platinum now, but I haven't traveled significantly in a long time.