Reserving a corporate rate at Marriott was as easy as punching in a code at checkout, until recently.Until recently, reserving a discounted corporate rate at Marriott was as simple as typing in a code at checkout. It's not the whole picture anymore. Certain negotiated rates require an additional verification step before they are locked in by some travelers and it's important to understand why so before you take another business trip.

What's Actually Changing

Recently, one user posted on Reddit's Marriott forums about their experience while trying to book an EY Global Partner Rate. Instead, they were redirected to a screen that said "Corporate Verified Rate" and that the rate was only available to eligible employees, and thus they were asked to use a work email to confirm their employment. It doesn't seem to be a glitch as other users of the same forum have since reported seeing similar prompts when booking directly through Marriott's website.

No, the rules below aren't new, but let's be clear about it. Marriott has always said that the corporate rates are for employees of the company that negotiated the rate and that these discounts are not available for spouses or family members, and guests may be checked-in with ID or other proof of eligibility. Hotels have also always had the option to move that not-ready-for-anything guest to the standard room rate if something goes awry.

The only thing that's changed is when that verification occurs. Instead of having a front desk agent flip through a business card when checking in, Marriott now seems to be performing a cross-check on the email address entered at booking with the specific company associated with that rate. One Reddit user found this out the hard way when verifying with a university email, only to find that it is the university's discount and not the unrelated corporate rate that they were looking to book.

How Common is this?

At this time, the verification process is not clear to everyone if they are being implemented on all of Marriott's corporate rates or just some accounts and partnerships. It's not something that hasn't happened before, however. A similar single-verify process is already in place for Marriott's Explore by Marriott employee rate program and rental car firm Avis began demanding a corporate email address to even look for its own corporate rates several years ago. With this history, it would be no shock if this strategy moves to more of Marriott's negotiated rate deals.

There are many reasons why this makes business sense.There are many reasons why this makes business sense.

This change makes sense from the hotel's point of view, though it may cause some travellers some confusion. By guaranteeing a specific amount of bookings, companies negotiate lower prices with Marriott, and if they allowed anyone who had an internet connection to know the discount, they would be tempted to discount it all the way to the lowest price. There's a downside for travelers here, too: If they can verify their eligibility before they arrive, rather than when they check in, they will skip the aggravation of checking in late at night to find out that their discount doesn't apply.

The System Fails and What To Do About It

The issue is that it is not always as easy to match company email addresses with the eligibility for a corporate rate as this new system thinks it is. Some frequently occurring situations can cause problems for legitimate travelers to be flagged:

• Qualifying contractors may not even have a company email address to check with to get their negotiated rate.
• Workers at a subsidiary can have a totally different email address than the parent company which negotiated the discount.
• A person's work email does not automatically qualify them for travel, as many corporate agreements will say to use only for business travel.
• When booked through a company's internal booking system, reservations can be linked to a traveler's email address that the traveler may not have direct access to.

Each of these can lead to a legitimate traveler being denied a discount or sent the regular rate, due to the software used to send the email not being recognized by the system.

Learn how to Keep Safe Before Your Next Vacation

Knowing you qualify for a corporate rate at Marriott can lead to a headache if you're not prepared. Here are some things you can do before you get to the hotel:

• Get the email verification process done well in advance of your trip, so that you can troubleshoot any problems before the big day.
• If you are a contractor or work at a subsidiary, consult your company's travel manager to be sure that you are at the negotiated rate, and to determine if you need to book the travel through the company's tool rather than directly at Marriott.
• Even if you can check an online job verification, it's better to bring it with you, as Marriott still requires a paper check-in for ID or other requirements.
• Make sure to review your company's particular rate agreement to determine if there is any specific mention of personal travel, as some corporate rate agreements are only for business trips.
• Before booking, make sure to compare the corporate rate to the base rate that Marriott Bonvoy offers to all of its members, whom anyone can join for free.

What This Means Going Forward

The change is part of a trend in the travel industry that is more stringent on access to and verification of negotiated discounts. The more hotel companies and trip organizers adopt such email verification systems, consumers who regularly book corporate deals should be used to verifying their eligibility status ahead of time and not depending on a code they are given at check-in. This is particularly true for those in non-traditional arrangements, including contractors, subsidiary staff, and travelers looking to book through a third party; these are the people who will experience the most complications with these new onboarding systems.

The Bottom Line

It's a sensible approach, and one that could save travelers from an uncomfortable situation at check-in, even if they have to have such a conversation with the front desk when they arrive, instead of Marriott verifying their corporate rate eligibility before they book. However, it's not a foolproof system, and even loopholes in the way in which it treats contractors, seconded staff, and company-managed bookings will mean that some legitimate travellers may still be caught out. The best course of action is to know ahead of time if there is a problem, and to double check your eligibility with your employer, if you use a Marriott corporate rate frequently.