knab

I needed a visa with a chip for international travel and got the Ritz card. I am trying to decide if I should switch my regular spending to it from Amex to get platinum elite status. The only reason I'd care for PE is the guaranteed room feature. Does this always work? Can i get a room at Christmas in Bachelor Gulch? Scottsdale during the weekend of the Super Bowl and the Phoenix Open? Their website says "48 Hour Guaranteed Availability may not be available on certain limited dates (e.g., special events)." Just curious about others' experiences of when it works and when it doesn't.

Also, does it work for Marriott properties? Formula 1 in Austin is always a mess... could I get a guaranteed room at the Marriott?

Thanks all... love this forum and have read it for years.

joshua362

Since the benefit should mirror Marriott, read these and make up your own mind. I find it useful for normal sold out instances although haven't tried to use it in "special occasions". Christmas should be yes, Super Bowl a no.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...-override.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...e-useless.html

Good luck. I saw that PLT is given for a $75,000 / year spend, did not know that.

knab

Appreciate the links to those threads... hadn't seen the second one. Seems like people just have different experiences. Some have used it 10+ times without issue, some have 90% success and some have had poor luck. "It just depends" might be as good of an answer as I'm going to get, although I suspect it won't work for getting rooms for big events, which was specifically what I'd have wanted it for.

joshua362

One final thought, just my conjecture, would be that RC rooms at these events times would be that much more pricey the jacked up rates at "lesser" brands and therefore likely to fill last and first to be available at the last minute for the "money is no object" crowd. But I've never stayed at a RC or attended an event bigger than an Outdoor NHL game in 2011.