"Alibaba's Marriott code A7A is for the Chinese e-commerce and technology giant. Alibaba employees primarily carry Chinese company-issued credentials which Western hotel front desk staff are less familiar with verifying. FlyerTalk's corporate code thread notes that Chinese tech company codes at US and European properties face a different verification challenge: staff may request proof but be unable to assess the validity of Chinese corporate ID cards. Marriott's rate desk has documented Alibaba as a monitored account given the company's rapid growth and high travel volume. High risk due to systematic verification challenges."

"As mentioned before some rates only company employees can use; others vendors/consultants can use. It's determined by what was negotiated w/ the company & Marriott. Rate rules will usually say it. BTW - some corp codes don't have id required in the rate rules. If you booked a legit corp rate & it didn't have that, I'd say you have a good case to the front desk to say it wasn't required. I would also print out the appropriate rate rules & staple them to the confirmation page. Of course if it does say id required, behooves you to have it."

"I have seen many of my corporate rates with 6:00 same day cancellation. If someone were ineligible for that rate and asked for ID at checkin, I guess they could say I have some business cards in the car and then go and cancel the reservation before the agent changes the details."