In today's world nothing really improves the chance your room is ready early other than when there is lower occupancy the night before and there are clean rooms that are ready in you booking category.Tomorrow’s our arrival day! Just got prompted by the Bonvoy app to do online checkin; is there an advantage to using this versus in-person? Wondering if it increases the chance of our room being ready early (our flight lands at 9AM). But, also thinking in-person checkin could be more advantageous for a possible upgrade (celebrating our 15th anniversary)...I did fill out the concierge room request form in advance, but the website says that service is “temporarily unavailable”, so who knows if it was even received. Thanks for any input!
On the Marriott site did you select early check-in? You can still do it today.
You can also check your current assigned room type by using the Bonvoy app to see if changed from your initial booking choice based on your concierge request. Normally you would have received an email response to your concierge request. However in today's pandemic world and since the form still has the disclaimer about being temporally unavailable it is more of a dice roll.
Even with online check-in you will still have to stop at the front desk, show ID, swipe your credit card and collect your room key(s). Since you will be checking in around check-out time at 11 AM the front desk may be quiet or busy depending how many guests chose express checkout.
Bottom line if you want a specific room location, view, or something like a balcony if you only booked a "Traditional" room it is best to talk to the front desk. While you might get a free upgrade, you might also be offered a nice upgrade for a daily fee of $50. It never hurts to ask since the worst question is the one that is never asked.
Note: the Bonvoy app will also notify you when your room is ready if it is not ready when you check-in.
Dave