When Marriott changed the name of its loyalty program from Matriott Rewards to Marriott Bonvoy, it didn’t take long for people to start questioning the name. Marriott tried to explain it was a shortened form of Bon Voyage but people weren’t sold.
In an interview with Skift, Marriott’s Global Marketing Officer they explained how Marriott was willing to wait for Bonvoy to happen.
It takes time to build a brand, whether in hospitality or any sector,” said Timpone. “There are many brand names we use in regular vernacular today where people were thinking, ‘What does that actually mean?’
She ended up being correct but for all the wrong reasons. Instead of Bonvoy becoming a term representing all experiences, the masses made it a verb. Using the past tense, Bonvoyed has become a catchphrase for any negative experience with a Marriott hotel or the loyalty program.
It’s even made it onto a T-shirt.
I’ve written about how we’ve been Bonvoyed.
- BONVOYED! OUR HOTEL DOESN’T ACCEPT SUITE NIGHT AWARD UPGRADES
- BONVOYED: MARRIOTT SELECTS VALUE OF THE FREE NIGHT CERTIFICATE YOU’LL USE
But I’d never gotten Bonvoyed by email before, until now.
I was scanning my inbox when a subject caught my eye:
Your Earned Choice Award Awaits
To me, this meant we earned an award that we needed to claim. Similar to when we met the requirement for Platinum and needed to pick our annual choice benefit.
Nope.
This email from American Express reminded me that I could select one of three benefits after spending $75,000 on our Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant AMEX.
The awards are:
- An additional 85,000 point free night certificate
- 5 additional Suite Night Awards
- $1,000 off a Marriott brand bed
I have news for American Express and Marriott. That earned choice award will be “awaiting” for a long time because there’s no way I’m spending 75K on a Marriott co-brand card to get 1 free night or 5 suite night awards which get me a balcony at the Residence Inn.
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2 comments
Bonvoyed is about even with Comcastic in pejorative terms. That says volumes considering that Comcast is so widely hated that they changed the business name to Xfinity. Maybe Marriott could consider spending a little money to deliver a quality product as opposed to having their marketing department try to come up with cutesy terms that have nothing to do with the increasingly poor quality product that they offer.
I found it interesting to look back at what Marriott thought would happen in comparison to what actually happened.