Marriott Hotels Travel Agent Rates & Benefits
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For decades travel agents have been taking the guesswork out of researching, booking, and saving time for thousands of travelers around the world.
Not only do they assist in all aspects of planning a trip – they can get you exclusive benefits as well.
While there are many reasons you should continue to use a travel agent – booking a luxury hotel through an agent still provides some of the best benefits in travel.
In addition to Marriott, most luxury brands such as Rosewood, Four Seasons, Mandarin Oriental, and more offer exclusive benefits to travel agents and their clients for making their bookings through a special loyalty program. Best of all they will never charge a higher rate than booking directly.
Why?
Travel Agencies have long standing relationships with many properties and they offer exclusive benefits to those that go through them then booking directly.
We’ll break down everything you need to know about Marriott Hotels travel agent rates and benefits.
Need a travel agent? Submit a booking request with Travel Season and we will pair you with a certified concierge
Marriott Travel Agent Programs
Marriott is one of the largest hotel groups in the world and has a very popular loyalty program known as Marriott Bonvoy. While this program has a number of benefits and status levels that travelers can use for upgrades, they also have additional programs specifically for travel agents.
Specifically for travel advisors Marriott has two programs, known as Marriott STARS and Marriott Luminous, which offer additional perks for stays at various Marriott-family properties.
Hotels that qualify for Marriott STARS include: EDITION, BVLGARI, Luxury Collection, Ritz-Carlton, Ritz-Carlton Reserve, and St. Regis. The benefits that are offered at these hotels include:
- Complimentary full or continental breakfast daily for up to two people per room
- Hotel credit valued at 100 USD once per stay
- Room upgrade, subject to availability at check-in
- Complimentary basic Wi-Fi daily
- In-person welcome
- Personalized welcome amenity and note
Hotels that qualify for Marriott Luminous include: Autograph Collection, JW Marriott, Le Meridien, Marriott, Renaissance, Tribute Portfolio, W Hotels, and Westin. The benefits that are offered at these hotels include:
- Complimentary daily breakfast for two people per room
- Complimentary basic Wi-Fi daily
- Early check-in & late check-out, subject to availability
- Complimentary room upgrade, subject to availability at check-in
- Local welcome amenity and note
- Hotel credit valued at 100 USD once per stay, but only at select hotels
You may notice many of these perks are similar to those of the Marriott Bonvoy program but it is a great way to get the benefits if you do not have status.
The program benefits will only qualify for rate that are the “Standard Rate” and do not qualify for special rates, advanced paid rates, or points rates. You will also still receive points and elite night credit when booking with a travel agent making them good benefits even if you have status.
If you are a business traveler you may be getting benefits through Marriott corporate rates but if you are looking to travel for leisure then going through a travel agent will give you the most benefits.
Marriott Travel Agent Rates
As with most travel agent benefits, the rate you pay for a room is the “Standard Rate” a hotel displays online, barring any special promotions, advanced paid rates, or points rates.
This means, if you book with a travel agent you will pay the same as if you booked with the hotel directly.
To find the travel agent rate at Marriott, you can search any property on Marriott’s website and locate the “Standard Rate” and you will see how much a night will cost you.
You can then confirm with your agent and expect to be quoted the same price.
So why would you book with the agent if you pay the same rate? As mentioned in the section above, while you pay the same rate there are a number of additional benefits a travel agent can unlock for you at Marriott hotels.
Marriott Rates Just For Travel Agents
You can imagine that if Marriott provides benefits to regular customers booking via a Travel Agent then they also offer exclusive benefits to travel agents themselves.
To access these benefits exclusively for Travel Agents, you can visit the dedicated Marriott Travel Agent Portal.
Some of these benefits include a discount on their own personal travel, commission on client bookings, and more.
In order to qualify for The Travel Agent Rate, you must be an accredited travel agents with a valid IATA, IATAN, CLIA, ARC or TIDS number.
Using A Travel Agent With Marriott Status
The benefits you get from booking a hotel either through Marriott Stars or Marriott Luminous can be in addition to what your status already provides you.
Marriott Status, especially Platinum and above, qualify for room upgrades, welcome gifts, and other specialities at certain properties.
If you are booking with a travel agent then you should still add your Marriott Bonvoy number to each reservation to still obtain the perks you have qualified for.
Obtaining Elite Nights and Points
Another major benefit to booking a Marriott with a travel agent is you will still receive Elite Night credits, points, and spend towards Ambassador Status.
This provides another reason as to why you should be using an agent, since there is no compromise for you as a traveler, even if you are chasing status.
How To Book With A Travel Agent
How to actually book is a pretty simple process and the travel agent will typically handle everything for you.
Need a travel agent? Submit a booking request with Travel Season and we will pair you with a certified concierge
Once you have located a travel agent you will simply provide them your trip date, details, budget, and anything else you may want them to know about your upcoming travels. If you already have a hotel picked out then great but a travel agent can also help guide you to one that works best for you.
Most of the communication will be done over email / call but generally we found the process to move pretty quickly.
The travel agent will also take some time to learn your preferences – do you like sweet or savory snacks? do you like booking activities or enjoy relaxing?
All of this will be covered in your profile and from there you will have a confirmed booking in no time.
Don’t have a travel agent or don’t know where to start? Let us help! You can submit a travel request via Travel Season and we will pair you with a certified travel agent.
Summary & Takeaways
Marriott Bonvoy already has one of the largest loyalty programs in the world, offering a number of benefits to frequent travelers.
Whether you have Marriott status or not, booking with a travel agent can provide additional perks you cannot receive on your own.
Whether you are looking to book properties via Marriott Stars or Marriott Luminous, both programs offer enough benefits to travelers that make the booking worth it with a certified agent.
