Follow-Up Regarding Updated Cancellation Policy

---

Franchisees | As communicated in October, Marriott changed the cancellation policy for North American hotels with a day of arrival policy (e.g., 12:00, 4:00 or 6:00 p.m.) to 11:59 p.m. local time on the day prior to arrival. The change to the cancellation policy was intended to give Revenue Management more time to manage inventory and make strategy adjustments, thereby increasing the ability to mitigate loss from short-term cancellations. Nearly all hotels elected to move to this new cancellation policy, allowing them to sell more room inventory as a result. Some hotels had a more restrictive cancellation policy and those hotels have continued with their existing policy.

Now that the new policy has been in place for some time, we’d like to address two frequently asked questions.

How can hotels capture the revenue from late cancellations?

Hotels were encouraged to continue following their existing processes for handling cancellations, however some hotels have asked for guidance or if there is an automated solution for collecting revenue from late cancellations. As there is currently no automated solution available, Marriott has developed Job Aids which will be shared with hotels via the February 16 Weekly Update.

When are Global Reservation Sales associates granting exceptions to the policy?

As part of the transition plan, Global Reservation Sales associates were able to cancel reservations for all brands past the cutoff, up to 11:59 p.m. on the day of arrival, advising guests that they would not be charged. Based on your feedback, and given that customers have now had time to adjust to the new policy, going forward these associates will only grant exceptions in the event of weather-related travel issues. The grace period will continue for our Platinum members; they will continue to receive a temporary exception for late cancellations and should not be charged.

We appreciate your continued support of this policy change.