This Hotel Giant Wants to Sell Rooms the Way Airlines Sell Seats — and Loyal Guests May Pay More

Marriott International is rebuilding the technology behind its reservations and loyalty program on an Amadeus platform designed to sell hotel rooms the way airlines sell airfare — pricing and packaging nearly every attribute of a stay as an add-on. CEO Anthony Capuano described the shift in a Wall Street Journal interview published in late July.

Under the new system, hotels can merchandise individual room features — floor height, view, bed type, even distance from the elevator — as paid upgrades, alongside extras like early check-in, spa treatments, golf, and dining. The goal is to pull more revenue from inventory that hotels have historically bundled into a single nightly rate.

The catch lands on loyalty members. Rooms sold as paid upgrades won't be available as complimentary elite upgrades, and some members are reportedly already being asked to bid for suites they might once have received for free. It's a real change to what hotel status is worth, and it mirrors the unbundling airlines rolled out over the past decade.

The move matters well beyond city hotels. Resort stays are where paid extras multiply fastest — cabanas, premium dining, spa, and rounds of golf are exactly the à la carte revenue this system is built to capture. It also sharpens the contrast with the all-inclusive model, where those same extras are folded into one upfront price, a pitch that looks better the more traditional hotels charge separately for everything.

Whether guests embrace airline-style pricing or resent it, Marriott is betting that granular, attribute-level selling will lift revenue. The rest of the industry will be watching how travelers react.