"The blogs are being told policies before Marriott reservation agents even know whats going on and certainly before front desk agents. No one knows what’s going on.”

The Marriott and Starwood merger has been anything but smooth and leadership of the combined portfolio continues to display tone deaf responses to loyal customers. This week Richard and Ed Pizza discuss the continuing struggles of the new Marriott Bonvoy program, how it got to where it is, the current state of trying to be a Marriott Bonvoy loyalist and what Marriott can do to right the ship.

Show Timestamps

• 1:12 — Happy Travel Day
• 2:21 — Bonvoy Merger Disaster
• 3:51 — Problems attaching award certificate for an award night? Points advance bookings and more
• 5:19 — Marriott is broken master thread
• 6:55 — New Bonvoy Co-branded card discussion
• 7:34 — Marriott's tone deaf responses
• 10:33 — Has anyone never needed a passport to make a hotel reservation? Probably not
• 18:07 — What could Bonvoy and Lolo Jones have in common?
• 20:18 — “Bonvoyed”
• 24:00 — Is there hope? What Marriott needs to do to improve

Today's Guest

Ed Pizza founded the Pizza In Motion blog on the Boarding Area network. He's considered one of the preeminent voices in the loyalty program space and is a successful entrepreneur.

Resources

• Marriott Is Broken #MasterThread in Award Travel 101
• Bonvoyed.com
• Contact Marriott 

Where to Find Us

1. The Award Travel 101 Facebook Community.
2. To book time with our team, check out Award Travel 1-on-1.
3. You can also email us at [email protected]
4. Buy your Award Travel 101 Merch here
5. Reserve tickets to our Spring 2026 Meetup in Phoenix now. award.travel/phx2026

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