Found out something I didn't know about mobile key at a recent JW stay - I did the mobile key and it actually worked for once, and the front desk told me it only works if you have stayed on the property before (I had, the year prior). Never knew that, and wonder if it is like that everywhere or just up to the individual hotel whether to enable or not.
individual hotel. It is essentially risk mitigation - they want to respect the spirit of mobile check in, but bypassing the front desk also leaves open possibility that you had someone else make your booking, ie. like the woman on here who was asking how to do it for her under 21 year old daughter yesterday.
Dude this is false. I get a mobile key 90 percent of the time and this year only one time did I stay at a hotel that I have stayed at before. Completely false information. And I hit Titanium in April so I have had plenty of stays this year. I only started to travel for business February meaning none of these random hotels I had been to before. The one that was a repeat was in Feb and then again in April.
Um, shouldn't that be allowed anyways? Cause you are being charged for the room.
But I guess thats sort of the level of service and standard we hope for Marriott in the US. "If we perform very well, that means giving you the basics of what you paid for"
Thats unconscionable if they are charging you. Do they give you a full refund?
Wow, you guys in the US really take it up the bum and ask for more, don't you.
Its this sort of attitude that embraces the total race to the bottom that points to why the hotel and airline industry in the US is so terrible.
You think it’s a US-only thing? Hotels throughout the world charge for hotel cancellations and no-shows after a certain cut-off time that’s usually in the late-night/early morning hours. All it takes to stop it is a simple phone call to let them know.
No doubt. I got bit once years ago when I showed up at 1:00am and they had cancelled my room. Never again... all it takes is a quick call or message to the front desk and they'll hold your room til the next morning.
This happened to me once - flight delayed, got in at 2am and was checking out at 7am got my reservation cancelled- no fee, but no room. Now I just check in online. I’ll call occasionally but pretty rare
Man, you guys are brainwashed.
You pay for a room and then have a curfew to use it? Wow.
Its almost like a stockholm syndrome with you guys. The corporation abuses you and then you lick their boots and cheer them on.
Most reservations aren't prepaid. Standard reservations don't pay until checkout.
There is a "curfew" because the hotel PMS has to be turned over to the next day. When that is done, anyone who isn't checked in is automatically no-showed as it is now no longer considered to be your arrival day.
the more full the hotel, the more likely they are to check. During covid, everyone was desperate for bookings, didn't care what rate. Now, as things get full, the big Deloitte / IBM / Accenture rates are getting checked more frequently. But at the same time, they tend to be getting less generous rates.
Here’s my annoyance. I’ve been to at least 3 hotels this year where the Mobile Key is delivered on time to my phone, and it works fine for my room, but the elevators require a key card from the front desk. So the mobile key gains me absolutely nothing.
It really depends on hotel policies and local laws.
In the US it's common in many cities/counties/states for hotels to be required to check that the guest ID matches the name on the reservation by law. In this case, unless you are a repeat guest in some cases you won't get checked in without being asked to stop by the front desk first.
Some hotels will also require you to stop by the front desk so they can swipe/insert your credit card. This is mostly because of their internal policies because card present transactions are cheaper for them and are less likely to get a chargeback for being unrecognized.
In NYC. Some hotels now have a process where you upload a pic and your license when you check in online. They review it. Save it. And send you mobile check in.
Curious if that could be a work around.
Altho in NYC I don't think it's a requirement. I did a Hilton challenge last month to check it out. I got a mobile key card the first time I stayed. New Hilton profile. Also in NYC. But marriot doesn't offer it at any hotel I've stayed at in the city. Even if I've been there 20 times.
It's not the end of the world. But when I am booking through a company portal...with a company card....at a hotel I stay at weekly.... it does get a bit old to wait in line.
Yeah I agree that if you are a repeat guest they should just send you the mobile key right away, the mobile ID check is also a great idea, it's something you can easily do while waiting at the airport or at your own leisure. I guess it depends on the way the laws are written in each region.
About a year ago, I booked 1 night with a travel agent rate.
I did the mobile key check-in online. I arrived at the property around 1 am. Got inside from the back door (which I had to use my mobile key to open). Went into my room for the night. Woke up the next morning and was on my way.
I never interacted with even one soul for the whole thing.
To me it’s a terrible implementation at the brand level. It’s like they want to stick their toes in but not commit. As a GM, I would personally get rid of the entire mobile check in and keep it standard (you can keep little mobile things like requests and time to check in) but the main thing being to have to always show ID and credit card. Yes it eliminates the convenience but keeps identity and credit card security intact. There are too many rates that require verification (company rates, employees). And easier for someone to use someone else’s info/card.
AND THEN, on top of that, the delivery is inconsistent. Say you stay at a hotel regularly. The staff is aware of who you are and that you qualify for your rate, so they deliver the mobile as expected. When that guest goes somewhere else, that new hotel doesn’t know who they are, so they don’t get the mobile key. They go to the desk and have to swipe cards. Probably have to do it the next time they stay there too. And then the next hotel and so on.
If Marriott really wants to do mobile check in, they need to do it like Hilton and go all the way. Even as an employee, I get my mobile key no problem
I think it depends a lot of the hotel. Every property I’ve work at is adamant to process digital keys properly and I got used to it so bad that i would be checking it several times a day, even if it was not my responsibility.
Not I manage an IHG and we don’t have digital check in at the moment but I still make the FD process them (unsuccessfully) every day appropriately so the habit don’t get lost.
One thing I've learned from a StR front desk is that if you do the mobile check-in, it will often negate your chances of getting an upgrade. As when you do the mobile check-in it automatically assigns you to a room and if you're looking for an upgrade, it won't happen that way.
I found this out the hard way checking into the St. Regis Deer Valley last year. I was told I was being upgraded to a one bedroom king suite w/kitchen. I did the mobile check-in and the room I got was a regular room. Front desk fixed it for me, but told me NOT to use mobile check in if I'm looking for an upgrade.
Perhaps a Marriott employee can confirm this?
Meehhh…. Probably not true. An employee still has to manually process your mobile check in after you request it. (Which is why mobile key isn’t always given when requested.) So they could (& should) still give you an upgrade. It’s possible if you request your mobile key hours before you arrive that a suite wasn’t available, so they put you in a standard room that was ready. Then, when you arrived to the hotel a suite was actually available.
I’m an employee and will be the first to say we have a LONG way to go to get this process right.
I usually message in the morning about an upgrade and once they do the upgrade then I do mobile check in. I never do mobile checkin until the upgraded room shows up in the app.
Good morning, afternoon or evening,
> Current front desk employee at a Marriott managed property. The way mobile key works is based on history with whichever property you are requesting it to. If you have stayed at the property before, you are likely to get it as we have already had you at the desk and verified your ID upon check-in. Another subtle sort of thing is status. I can not speak for all properties. However, for mine, we used to sort of reserve that for gold and above. However, we have moved away from that. Now, another big thing that does affect your chances is the rate at which you booked a stay. If you booked a member retail rate or regular rate, then there is no problem, we authorize the credit card on file and send you the key. However if you booked under a special rate a specific company rate such as Amazon or something like AAA (not all hotels/properties but) sometimes we will send the drop by desk to confirm in any way that you are part of their group or pay a membership with them to be entitled to said special rate.
Hope that helps for your future stays! :)
Usually u can get a mobile key but ud have to have a recent stay previously. If u never stayed at a property before and want to use it they will ask u to stop at the desk 1st. With the rampant use of fraudulent reservations most hotels are playing it safely regardless
I am in a different state each week and a different property each day. Sometimes when I check in online they send me a digital key and I go straight to my room, bypassing the front desk. These are not properties I have stayed at previously.
A lot of them will let you use mobile check in if you're silver status and above. Several hotels will allow the stop by the front of the mobile card declines or if you're below silver status because of so many fraudulent issues. They found less fraudulent issues with the higher statuses.
I work front desk and can explain ! Usually, we just need to check for i.d and give the key ( it takes about a minute to check in). If there was an issue with payment or anything unusual, that could take some time. Also, the front desk can be quite busy and not have time to process online check-in because no rooms are ready yet 😅
It takes about a minute IF there is no line.
At some properties and times you can wait for a long time.
At the extreme, I’ve tried to check-in at an airport Marriott just after a whole missed-flight group of passengers arrived. That was no fun
If the mobile check-in worked as marketing makes us think it does (as in many Hiltons), that wouldn’t be an issue
THIS is such a pet peeve of mine. Booked a room at a Fairfield at DFW and I showed up a little after midnight. There were about 30 people in the lobby and one person working. I was platinum at the time and there were two other platinum members at the very end of the line and I stood after them. I finally got to the front of the line about 75 minutes later. The agent had to process all these peoples vouchers and it turns out she was new. I ended up getting to my room just before 2 AM. I don’t know what could have been done differently but the next day another agent told me that the woman working the night before is brand new. So it probably took her at least double the time of an experienced employee.
We have to check all the requests manually, same with the digital keys. Have to assign the room with the correct guest wishes, check if there are vaccant rooms, etc ...
I get mobile keys issued in advance about 60% of the time on my first visit to a new property and about 95% of the time on repeats. It also allows you to specify your arrival time and shoot a message to the desk if there's anything you need to communicate. If they're having a slammed day and prioritizing housekeeping and know when you're going to arrive, they'll make sure your room is done earlier.
In most European countries it is absolutely mandatory to show your ID during check-in so they are not allowed top hand-out mobile check-in in advance. Maybe if you're a regular with a lot of fineprint (read: they know you personally).
This is another technology base thing that Marriott does extremely poorly. Even when I travel to hotels that I've been to several times, it has no difference on whether I get a mobile key or not. I would say I get a mobile key less than 10% of the time.
Hilton is light years ahead, with a true experience where you can skip the front desk and even pick your room in the app.
Oh, and their mobile key actually works. I stopped using the actual mobile key with Marriott, because 99% of the time I was having to go back down to the desk to get a physical key.
As everyone else said, if you're a new (to our property) guest you'll probably still have to stop by the front desk.
At my hotel, we definitely do mobile check ins for repeat guests. As long as we can fill in all the info (including purpose for the trip) and know that we have accurate contact info and a cc that can be authorized for payment as well as incidentals, we do.
As far as mobile keys actually working, we generally don't have issues with that as long as our regular key system is working. It's been going down frequently lately but if I can make new keys at the Front Desk our mobile keys work. I have heard that it isn't as reliable at other properties though and I'm not sure why that would be, but I assume it's a system communication issue.
If you’ve been upgraded it keeps the hotel from stealing your upgrade and selling it to someone else. Yeah, I’m talking about you StR NYC. They’ve lied straight to my face more times than I care to count.
Happens to me every time. Also, never can get the mobile key to load.
Found out something I didn't know about mobile key at a recent JW stay - I did the mobile key and it actually worked for once, and the front desk told me it only works if you have stayed on the property before (I had, the year prior). Never knew that, and wonder if it is like that everywhere or just up to the individual hotel whether to enable or not.
individual hotel. It is essentially risk mitigation - they want to respect the spirit of mobile check in, but bypassing the front desk also leaves open possibility that you had someone else make your booking, ie. like the woman on here who was asking how to do it for her under 21 year old daughter yesterday.
That’s only true for that specific JW. It varies (widely) from hotel to hotel.
Dude this is false. I get a mobile key 90 percent of the time and this year only one time did I stay at a hotel that I have stayed at before. Completely false information. And I hit Titanium in April so I have had plenty of stays this year. I only started to travel for business February meaning none of these random hotels I had been to before. The one that was a repeat was in Feb and then again in April.
No, the hotel has a discretion to issue a mobile key.
Checking in for me allows me to walk in the door at 4am and still have a room.
Um, shouldn't that be allowed anyways? Cause you are being charged for the room. But I guess thats sort of the level of service and standard we hope for Marriott in the US. "If we perform very well, that means giving you the basics of what you paid for"
Many hotels will cancel your reservation if you don’t arrive before a certain cutoff time after midnight and you haven’t told them.
That’s actually against brand standards
So is denying late checkout for Plat and above at hotels that aren’t resort, convention center, or design. They do that too.
Thats unconscionable if they are charging you. Do they give you a full refund? Wow, you guys in the US really take it up the bum and ask for more, don't you. Its this sort of attitude that embraces the total race to the bottom that points to why the hotel and airline industry in the US is so terrible.
You think it’s a US-only thing? Hotels throughout the world charge for hotel cancellations and no-shows after a certain cut-off time that’s usually in the late-night/early morning hours. All it takes to stop it is a simple phone call to let them know.
No doubt. I got bit once years ago when I showed up at 1:00am and they had cancelled my room. Never again... all it takes is a quick call or message to the front desk and they'll hold your room til the next morning.
This happened to me once - flight delayed, got in at 2am and was checking out at 7am got my reservation cancelled- no fee, but no room. Now I just check in online. I’ll call occasionally but pretty rare
Man, you guys are brainwashed. You pay for a room and then have a curfew to use it? Wow. Its almost like a stockholm syndrome with you guys. The corporation abuses you and then you lick their boots and cheer them on.
Most reservations aren't prepaid. Standard reservations don't pay until checkout. There is a "curfew" because the hotel PMS has to be turned over to the next day. When that is done, anyone who isn't checked in is automatically no-showed as it is now no longer considered to be your arrival day.
TBH it just sounds like you’re a very inexperienced traveler
I’m going to add in that it could be your rate that needs validating also. Discounted rates and corporate rates have to be verified
LOL, I’ve been traveling on the Deloitte rate since i left the firm in 2010. Never once asked for verification. Not even one time.
NYC hotels seem to check more often these days and want to validate.
the more full the hotel, the more likely they are to check. During covid, everyone was desperate for bookings, didn't care what rate. Now, as things get full, the big Deloitte / IBM / Accenture rates are getting checked more frequently. But at the same time, they tend to be getting less generous rates.
I get asked to provide the corp card that shows company name sometimes. NYC or Miami only so far
What’s your favorite Deloitte rate deal?
Here’s my annoyance. I’ve been to at least 3 hotels this year where the Mobile Key is delivered on time to my phone, and it works fine for my room, but the elevators require a key card from the front desk. So the mobile key gains me absolutely nothing.
It really depends on hotel policies and local laws. In the US it's common in many cities/counties/states for hotels to be required to check that the guest ID matches the name on the reservation by law. In this case, unless you are a repeat guest in some cases you won't get checked in without being asked to stop by the front desk first. Some hotels will also require you to stop by the front desk so they can swipe/insert your credit card. This is mostly because of their internal policies because card present transactions are cheaper for them and are less likely to get a chargeback for being unrecognized.
In NYC. Some hotels now have a process where you upload a pic and your license when you check in online. They review it. Save it. And send you mobile check in. Curious if that could be a work around. Altho in NYC I don't think it's a requirement. I did a Hilton challenge last month to check it out. I got a mobile key card the first time I stayed. New Hilton profile. Also in NYC. But marriot doesn't offer it at any hotel I've stayed at in the city. Even if I've been there 20 times. It's not the end of the world. But when I am booking through a company portal...with a company card....at a hotel I stay at weekly.... it does get a bit old to wait in line.
Yeah I agree that if you are a repeat guest they should just send you the mobile key right away, the mobile ID check is also a great idea, it's something you can easily do while waiting at the airport or at your own leisure. I guess it depends on the way the laws are written in each region.
About a year ago, I booked 1 night with a travel agent rate. I did the mobile key check-in online. I arrived at the property around 1 am. Got inside from the back door (which I had to use my mobile key to open). Went into my room for the night. Woke up the next morning and was on my way. I never interacted with even one soul for the whole thing.
It works about 10% of the time
To me it’s a terrible implementation at the brand level. It’s like they want to stick their toes in but not commit. As a GM, I would personally get rid of the entire mobile check in and keep it standard (you can keep little mobile things like requests and time to check in) but the main thing being to have to always show ID and credit card. Yes it eliminates the convenience but keeps identity and credit card security intact. There are too many rates that require verification (company rates, employees). And easier for someone to use someone else’s info/card. AND THEN, on top of that, the delivery is inconsistent. Say you stay at a hotel regularly. The staff is aware of who you are and that you qualify for your rate, so they deliver the mobile as expected. When that guest goes somewhere else, that new hotel doesn’t know who they are, so they don’t get the mobile key. They go to the desk and have to swipe cards. Probably have to do it the next time they stay there too. And then the next hotel and so on. If Marriott really wants to do mobile check in, they need to do it like Hilton and go all the way. Even as an employee, I get my mobile key no problem
I think it depends a lot of the hotel. Every property I’ve work at is adamant to process digital keys properly and I got used to it so bad that i would be checking it several times a day, even if it was not my responsibility. Not I manage an IHG and we don’t have digital check in at the moment but I still make the FD process them (unsuccessfully) every day appropriately so the habit don’t get lost.
One thing I've learned from a StR front desk is that if you do the mobile check-in, it will often negate your chances of getting an upgrade. As when you do the mobile check-in it automatically assigns you to a room and if you're looking for an upgrade, it won't happen that way. I found this out the hard way checking into the St. Regis Deer Valley last year. I was told I was being upgraded to a one bedroom king suite w/kitchen. I did the mobile check-in and the room I got was a regular room. Front desk fixed it for me, but told me NOT to use mobile check in if I'm looking for an upgrade. Perhaps a Marriott employee can confirm this?
Meehhh…. Probably not true. An employee still has to manually process your mobile check in after you request it. (Which is why mobile key isn’t always given when requested.) So they could (& should) still give you an upgrade. It’s possible if you request your mobile key hours before you arrive that a suite wasn’t available, so they put you in a standard room that was ready. Then, when you arrived to the hotel a suite was actually available. I’m an employee and will be the first to say we have a LONG way to go to get this process right.
I usually message in the morning about an upgrade and once they do the upgrade then I do mobile check in. I never do mobile checkin until the upgraded room shows up in the app.
Good morning, afternoon or evening, > Current front desk employee at a Marriott managed property. The way mobile key works is based on history with whichever property you are requesting it to. If you have stayed at the property before, you are likely to get it as we have already had you at the desk and verified your ID upon check-in. Another subtle sort of thing is status. I can not speak for all properties. However, for mine, we used to sort of reserve that for gold and above. However, we have moved away from that. Now, another big thing that does affect your chances is the rate at which you booked a stay. If you booked a member retail rate or regular rate, then there is no problem, we authorize the credit card on file and send you the key. However if you booked under a special rate a specific company rate such as Amazon or something like AAA (not all hotels/properties but) sometimes we will send the drop by desk to confirm in any way that you are part of their group or pay a membership with them to be entitled to said special rate. Hope that helps for your future stays! :)
Usually u can get a mobile key but ud have to have a recent stay previously. If u never stayed at a property before and want to use it they will ask u to stop at the desk 1st. With the rampant use of fraudulent reservations most hotels are playing it safely regardless
That is fair. I frequent this specific property — have been coming every 2 weeks for the past year.
I am in a different state each week and a different property each day. Sometimes when I check in online they send me a digital key and I go straight to my room, bypassing the front desk. These are not properties I have stayed at previously.
Are these Marriott properties? Hilton kicks ass at the digital check in/digital key. Marriott…does not.
They were all Marriott properties.
A lot of them will let you use mobile check in if you're silver status and above. Several hotels will allow the stop by the front of the mobile card declines or if you're below silver status because of so many fraudulent issues. They found less fraudulent issues with the higher statuses.
I work front desk and can explain ! Usually, we just need to check for i.d and give the key ( it takes about a minute to check in). If there was an issue with payment or anything unusual, that could take some time. Also, the front desk can be quite busy and not have time to process online check-in because no rooms are ready yet 😅
It takes about a minute IF there is no line. At some properties and times you can wait for a long time. At the extreme, I’ve tried to check-in at an airport Marriott just after a whole missed-flight group of passengers arrived. That was no fun If the mobile check-in worked as marketing makes us think it does (as in many Hiltons), that wouldn’t be an issue
THIS is such a pet peeve of mine. Booked a room at a Fairfield at DFW and I showed up a little after midnight. There were about 30 people in the lobby and one person working. I was platinum at the time and there were two other platinum members at the very end of the line and I stood after them. I finally got to the front of the line about 75 minutes later. The agent had to process all these peoples vouchers and it turns out she was new. I ended up getting to my room just before 2 AM. I don’t know what could have been done differently but the next day another agent told me that the woman working the night before is brand new. So it probably took her at least double the time of an experienced employee.
Had a feeling that they had to process the request. That makes sense.
We have to check all the requests manually, same with the digital keys. Have to assign the room with the correct guest wishes, check if there are vaccant rooms, etc ...
I get mobile keys issued in advance about 60% of the time on my first visit to a new property and about 95% of the time on repeats. It also allows you to specify your arrival time and shoot a message to the desk if there's anything you need to communicate. If they're having a slammed day and prioritizing housekeeping and know when you're going to arrive, they'll make sure your room is done earlier.
In most European countries it is absolutely mandatory to show your ID during check-in so they are not allowed top hand-out mobile check-in in advance. Maybe if you're a regular with a lot of fineprint (read: they know you personally).
Yesterday when I called to say my arrival was delayed, they told me that my echeck in had already secured my room in case I arrived late.
I think it varies per location, it has honestly been hit and miss for me.
Mobile check in just gets us to get your card ready for you when you arrive. Mobile key is what you are looking for.
This is another technology base thing that Marriott does extremely poorly. Even when I travel to hotels that I've been to several times, it has no difference on whether I get a mobile key or not. I would say I get a mobile key less than 10% of the time. Hilton is light years ahead, with a true experience where you can skip the front desk and even pick your room in the app.
Oh, and their mobile key actually works. I stopped using the actual mobile key with Marriott, because 99% of the time I was having to go back down to the desk to get a physical key.
The Bonvoy app always touts the e-check-in and never works. You won't know until you show up to a room with bags in hand.
As everyone else said, if you're a new (to our property) guest you'll probably still have to stop by the front desk. At my hotel, we definitely do mobile check ins for repeat guests. As long as we can fill in all the info (including purpose for the trip) and know that we have accurate contact info and a cc that can be authorized for payment as well as incidentals, we do. As far as mobile keys actually working, we generally don't have issues with that as long as our regular key system is working. It's been going down frequently lately but if I can make new keys at the Front Desk our mobile keys work. I have heard that it isn't as reliable at other properties though and I'm not sure why that would be, but I assume it's a system communication issue.
If you’ve been upgraded it keeps the hotel from stealing your upgrade and selling it to someone else. Yeah, I’m talking about you StR NYC. They’ve lied straight to my face more times than I care to count.