"Southwest Airlines's Marriott code SW8 is an airline employee code. Airline employee IDs are physical company-issued badges — well-recognized by hotel staff at airport corridor Marriott properties. Properties near Southwest's Dallas Love Field HQ, Phoenix, Baltimore, Denver, and Las Vegas hubs are most likely to verify. FlyerTalk's general airline employee code thread: "Airline codes are more likely to be checked than random corporate codes because the front desk knows what an airline badge looks like." No SW8-specific denial documented."

"I have a close friend who is a GM at a Marriott property in a fairly large US city (top 25 metro population). Their opinion is basically, "Hey, it's business. I'm not turning away a paying guest if they don't have the right ID." In this person's younger days as a front desk agent, they enjoyed catching people trying to use a corporate rate that the guest was not entitled to. As they became higher up and saw the books, occupancy rates, etc... Corp ID's became far less important than filling rooms."

"I am very rarely asked to prove my eligibility for a rate...but they have every right to ask and if you can't produce it, you will be re-rated to the current rate, which is often even higher and there is no guarantee points rooms will be available. Doing online check in rarely helps this as most properties don't actually do online anyway - especially to people who are not returning guests to the property or elite. You are taking a gamble. One that is likely to be fine. But understand you are intentionally breaking the terms of the bonvoy program and if someone really cared, there can be consequences."