Amex FHR VS. SPG platinum
Apr 27, 2017, 11:18 am
#31
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 6
Hotels make a contract with AMEX for those programs so they will give those benefits to those who are paying for the stay.
For the question of 30 suites and 90 platinum guests - that is where the Master Arrivals List comes in handy. Each hotel generates their List daily from the StarGuest portal. It literally ranks arriving guests in order of "importance" from an algorithm of status (SPG and other VIP), spend, and some other things. If I had nothing else to go by, I'd re-block rooms first thing in the AM via that list. But, to add something to your question - are all 90 plats here for one night or varying nights? That adds a huge item to the mix. And, how many of those suites are purchased by guests who want a suite? How many of those suites are pre-allocated to Centu or other contract programs who guarantee the upgrade at booking (NOT at arrival)? How many of those 30 suites are the hotel-designated "standard" suites for the purposes of SPG upgrading? Remember, not every suite in a hotel is necessarily part of the SPG upgrade pool. Now, you start your room blocking: you have to plug everyone into a room that they booked. Then, you start your playtime: what rooms are left for how many days to upgrade? Do you take a suite out of a possible pay situation for 7 nights with no revenue or for 2 nights and keep the rest open for a possible paying guest? You'll see quickly why we call it "tape chart tetris"!! A Plat Ambassador may be #1 on the MAL, but we may not have a suite open for her length of stay, so no upgrade. Some Plat may have booked a room with 2 queen beds - those are my nightmare. I've upgraded to a suite only to get yelled at because there were not two beds and I've been yelled at because I didn't upgrade and they would have made do with one bed...
Anyone who thinks it is a no-brainer to assign rooms and give out those suite upgrades, please volunteer to do it for a day at a hotel. Even now, at my nice non-chain hotel, I can't just automatically and quickly do a room re-assignment at the Front Desk. Give me an hour and I might be able to re-arrange enough people out of their rooms, looking that I don't break up connecting rooms, B2B reservations, special requests, upsells (yes, sometimes people will PAY MONEY to get a higher category room) to accommodate you. But, don't call me lazy or a liar because I can't do it for you right then and there at the Desk...
For the question of 30 suites and 90 platinum guests - that is where the Master Arrivals List comes in handy. Each hotel generates their List daily from the StarGuest portal. It literally ranks arriving guests in order of "importance" from an algorithm of status (SPG and other VIP), spend, and some other things. If I had nothing else to go by, I'd re-block rooms first thing in the AM via that list. But, to add something to your question - are all 90 plats here for one night or varying nights? That adds a huge item to the mix. And, how many of those suites are purchased by guests who want a suite? How many of those suites are pre-allocated to Centu or other contract programs who guarantee the upgrade at booking (NOT at arrival)? How many of those 30 suites are the hotel-designated "standard" suites for the purposes of SPG upgrading? Remember, not every suite in a hotel is necessarily part of the SPG upgrade pool. Now, you start your room blocking: you have to plug everyone into a room that they booked. Then, you start your playtime: what rooms are left for how many days to upgrade? Do you take a suite out of a possible pay situation for 7 nights with no revenue or for 2 nights and keep the rest open for a possible paying guest? You'll see quickly why we call it "tape chart tetris"!! A Plat Ambassador may be #1 on the MAL, but we may not have a suite open for her length of stay, so no upgrade. Some Plat may have booked a room with 2 queen beds - those are my nightmare. I've upgraded to a suite only to get yelled at because there were not two beds and I've been yelled at because I didn't upgrade and they would have made do with one bed...
Anyone who thinks it is a no-brainer to assign rooms and give out those suite upgrades, please volunteer to do it for a day at a hotel. Even now, at my nice non-chain hotel, I can't just automatically and quickly do a room re-assignment at the Front Desk. Give me an hour and I might be able to re-arrange enough people out of their rooms, looking that I don't break up connecting rooms, B2B reservations, special requests, upsells (yes, sometimes people will PAY MONEY to get a higher category room) to accommodate you. But, don't call me lazy or a liar because I can't do it for you right then and there at the Desk...
Apr 27, 2017, 12:10 pm
#32
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 794
Anyone who thinks it is a no-brainer to assign rooms and give out those suite upgrades, please volunteer to do it for a day at a hotel. Even now, at my nice non-chain hotel, I can't just automatically and quickly do a room re-assignment at the Front Desk. Give me an hour and I might be able to re-arrange enough people out of their rooms, looking that I don't break up connecting rooms, B2B reservations, special requests, upsells (yes, sometimes people will PAY MONEY to get a higher category room) to accommodate you. But, don't call me lazy or a liar because I can't do it for you right then and there at the Desk...
If you have 2 suites available for upgrade at check in, those two should go to the first 2 platinum guests checking in. 10 seconds to relocate the room. The back end system should have flagged any connecting room, B2B, double beds issues where you tell the customers upfront that upgrading will forgo so and so.
Really, it's a very basic problem that hotel chains leave to front desk people. If they don't have any other directive .i.e. squeeze out more money, it should be very simple.
If your intention is to squeeze out more money, then yes, you are lying to them regarding upgrade availability.
Apr 27, 2017, 12:49 pm
#33
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SLC/HEL/Anywhere with a Beach
Programs: Marriott Ambassador; AA EXP 3MM; AS MVP, Hilton Gold, CH-47/UH-60/C-23/C-130 VET
Posts: 5,234
Are you making it more complicated than it actually is? Front desk reps are customer service people, not scientists whose focus is on queue theory.
If you have 2 suites available for upgrade at check in, those two should go to the first 2 platinum guests checking in. 10 seconds to relocate the room. The back end system should have flagged any connecting room, B2B, double beds issues where you tell the customers upfront that upgrading will forgo so and so.
If you have 2 suites available for upgrade at check in, those two should go to the first 2 platinum guests checking in. 10 seconds to relocate the room. The back end system should have flagged any connecting room, B2B, double beds issues where you tell the customers upfront that upgrading will forgo so and so.
As for the front desk manager away suites to the first two plat guests, that's a sign of disengagement that doesn't take into account guest rankings or the potential for upsell. You'll notice that disengagement in other parts of the hotel.
That being said, there are certainly some empowered front desk reps who do some great jobs recognizing guests.
Apr 27, 2017, 1:09 pm
#34
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Exactly where I want to be
Programs: IHG Gold,SPG Gold, HH Gold, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Delta Kettle, AMEX Plat, DL AMEX Plat
Posts: 1,434
Are you making it more complicated than it actually is? Front desk reps are customer service people, not scientists whose focus is on queue theory.
If you have 2 suites available for upgrade at check in, those two should go to the first 2 platinum guests checking in. 10 seconds to relocate the room. The back end system should have flagged any connecting room, B2B, double beds issues where you tell the customers upfront that upgrading will forgo so and so.
Really, it's a very basic problem that hotel chains leave to front desk people. If they don't have any other directive .i.e. squeeze out more money, it should be very simple.
If your intention is to squeeze out more money, then yes, you are lying to them regarding upgrade availability.
If you have 2 suites available for upgrade at check in, those two should go to the first 2 platinum guests checking in. 10 seconds to relocate the room. The back end system should have flagged any connecting room, B2B, double beds issues where you tell the customers upfront that upgrading will forgo so and so.
Really, it's a very basic problem that hotel chains leave to front desk people. If they don't have any other directive .i.e. squeeze out more money, it should be very simple.
If your intention is to squeeze out more money, then yes, you are lying to them regarding upgrade availability.
Thank you for saying I and my co-workers lie to get more money. Please, if you believe blocking rooms and upgrading is 1st grade stuff, please volunteer to do rooms coordination at a St. Regis or JW Marriott... Rooms management is not the easy-peay task some of you seem to think it is. The higher category the hotel, the more involved the task. I'll have to tell my co-workers tonight about the "10 seconds" to change a room - it'll bring a big chuckle.
Apr 27, 2017, 2:06 pm
#35
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SLC/HEL/Anywhere with a Beach
Programs: Marriott Ambassador; AA EXP 3MM; AS MVP, Hilton Gold, CH-47/UH-60/C-23/C-130 VET
Posts: 5,234
Thank you for saying I and my co-workers lie to get more money. Please, if you believe blocking rooms and upgrading is 1st grade stuff, please volunteer to do rooms coordination at a St. Regis or JW Marriott... Rooms management is not the easy-peay task some of you seem to think it is. The higher category the hotel, the more involved the task. I'll have to tell my co-workers tonight about the "10 seconds" to change a room - it'll bring a big chuckle.
Tetris! I stayed at a particular hotel in a vacation destination for a week a month on a work project over a couple of year period. Upgrades for an entire week are hard!
When vacancy was down, the rooms manager and GM would upgrade me to a suite but it was much harder when occupancy was up. They had very empowered agents and appreciated my business (even if my negotiated rate was a good rate for me). It takes a lot of tetris in a busy season to find a room for a multi-day stay! Move this future guest from this assigned room to another to clear out two days, then move that guest to clear out two days, move someone to make space to move that guest. But they were very guest oriented so I kept coming back!
Other times, I have a one night stay, there are obviously unoccupied suites, and no body bothers to upgrade me unless I bother to ask.
Apr 27, 2017, 3:47 pm
#36
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Exactly where I want to be
Programs: IHG Gold,SPG Gold, HH Gold, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Delta Kettle, AMEX Plat, DL AMEX Plat
Posts: 1,434
How do you tell a guest who has booked that room with 2 queen beds because she needs 2 queen beds vs some cheap plat who booked it because it was the cheapest room available and is expecting to be upgraded into a suite for just himself? Well, look at the # of people on the reservation. Wait. Some people never change that data. Seen cases where dad is so used to booking for 1 for himself on business. Dad books for the family of 4, forgets to change the number of guests from his usual 1 to 4. Happens a lot. Someone forgets to change the number of guests from 2 to 1 and books the cheap queen room. expecting to get upgraded to a suite for himself. Happens a lot. Both of these show the damned if you do, damned if you don't on an upgrade.
It's all moot, because every hotel is going to block upgrades for contract programs and Golds and Plats differently because it is allowed. Never saw a reason for a Plat to book FHR unless they are wiling to pay much more for the same room on the chance that having both Plat and FHR on the reservation guarantees them an upgrade over anyone else. You're getting breakfast either way, you're getting comp internet either way. You can ask for a noon checkin, but isn't guaranteed for either program. The $100 credit - well, if you paid $500 for a FHR reservation and the SPG rate is $300, not a very good deal for a possible spa credit that you can't use. Maybe you really, really want that 4pm checkout and paying the extra money is worth it.
Allow me to propose another experiment for those who believe blocking and upgrading should be an easy exercise for any Front Desk Agent: ask your favorite hotel that has multiple classes of rooms and suites to do no advance blocking and only assign rooms as guest show up, and make changes on the fly when a room change must happen. Put up the video
It's all moot, because every hotel is going to block upgrades for contract programs and Golds and Plats differently because it is allowed. Never saw a reason for a Plat to book FHR unless they are wiling to pay much more for the same room on the chance that having both Plat and FHR on the reservation guarantees them an upgrade over anyone else. You're getting breakfast either way, you're getting comp internet either way. You can ask for a noon checkin, but isn't guaranteed for either program. The $100 credit - well, if you paid $500 for a FHR reservation and the SPG rate is $300, not a very good deal for a possible spa credit that you can't use. Maybe you really, really want that 4pm checkout and paying the extra money is worth it.
Allow me to propose another experiment for those who believe blocking and upgrading should be an easy exercise for any Front Desk Agent: ask your favorite hotel that has multiple classes of rooms and suites to do no advance blocking and only assign rooms as guest show up, and make changes on the fly when a room change must happen. Put up the video
Apr 27, 2017, 4:49 pm
#37
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 794
I'm not making it more difficult. The tape chart just shows rooms, not reservations. The back end system does not flag connecting rooms, B2B, double beds, guests who have paid extra for that specific configuration, family packs that want all their rooms to be on the same floor, that the rooms you are trying to move have the exact same amenities (sometimes a Deluxe Room has a full balcony, sometimes a Juliette and you have to look at the room info to find that). You have to investigate that yourself. You have to physically move rooms and guests around on the chart, it's not automatic.
The way I see it, it should be a very very straightforward supply control. Hotel currently has 3 clean deluxe room ready, 5 clean super deluxe room ready, 2 suites ready. There's no guarantee of "full balcony" unless you booked into that category. If you do, then it should be a different class of room type.
You DO realize most hotels pre-block anytime from 5 days out to that morning and are not truly at checkin time. That would be chaos. Oh, and don't forget the vacancy status of a room is a separate status than the housekeeping status - just because a room is vacant does not mean it is clean, inspected and ready for occupancy. That is why you probably are told it could be a few hours to have another room ready for you. Not every room in a hotel is clean all the time; HK departments receive the daily reports also and will ensure that all arrival rooms get cleaned and also some more rooms.
You are contradicting yourself here. If hotels truly pre-block the rooms, and then deal with housekeeping status, that is just extreme stupidity. Imagine guest A get pre-blocked into super deluxe room 205. When guest A arrives, room 205 is not ready, but room 305 is ready, are you saying that they will tell guest A to wait a couple of hours. What dumb hotel do this so I can avoid at all cost.
What common sense should tell you is
the night before, run a report on room availability
pre-block all paying non-status customers into their booked rooms. if they paid for a room with a view, or balcony or whatever, that's when they get assigned to these room types.
pre-block status guests, FHR guests into the new room categories.
if they are already in the new categories, when they show up, check them into any clean room in that category.
Take all the thinking out of these front desk and let the computer do the room assignment.
How do you tell a guest who has booked that room with 2 queen beds because she needs 2 queen beds vs some cheap plat who booked it because it was the cheapest room available and is expecting to be upgraded into a suite for just himself? Well, look at the # of people on the reservation. Wait. Some people never change that data. Seen cases where dad is so used to booking for 1 for himself on business. Dad books for the family of 4, forgets to change the number of guests from his usual 1 to 4. Happens a lot. Someone forgets to change the number of guests from 2 to 1 and books the cheap queen room. expecting to get upgraded to a suite for himself. Happens a lot. Both of these show the damned if you do, damned if you don't on an upgrade.
A cheap plat who booked 2 queen beds should be honored with 2 queen beds. And upgraded to the next level with 2 queen beds. Why do you need to decide for him if he's booking the cheapest room or if he's looking for 1 bed? You are not paid to think for him how he booked his room. You are paid to follow the program guideline.
If the dad is booking for 1 and showing up with 4, why are you damned if you do or don't? If he has status, upgrade him to the maximum allowed level, and if he doesn't like it, then he can't do much. You don't have to think what he wants. If he shows up, and wants a 2 beds, you can try to accommodate based on his status, but he can't expect a suite with 2 beds. These scenarios are non-sense to me.
Apr 27, 2017, 5:33 pm
#38
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: Marriott Lifetime Titanium, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 2,196
I wouldn't call it a cheap plat. I'd call it a smart one.
It brings up a problem w the program - one of the biggest benefits value wise is booking the absolute cheapest room and potentially getting upgraded to a standard suite.
I wish i could book a standard suite (happily pay) and potentially get upgraded to a specialty one of that were part of program. But the smartness/ frugality part of me won't book a standard because then I lose out on the potential upgrade benefit.
It brings up a problem w the program - one of the biggest benefits value wise is booking the absolute cheapest room and potentially getting upgraded to a standard suite.
I wish i could book a standard suite (happily pay) and potentially get upgraded to a specialty one of that were part of program. But the smartness/ frugality part of me won't book a standard because then I lose out on the potential upgrade benefit.
Apr 27, 2017, 6:38 pm
#39
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: WAW
Programs: A3(*G), Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 2,534
I also object to the cheap Plat description. Becoming Plat in this program is far from cheap - I know because I'm in the process of achieving it.
I would imagine that pretty much everyone on the upper tier of a program that promises an upgrade to the best available room books a standard room and then waits for the upgrade to clear to see what they get. What would be the point of investing so much in attaining status if you were going to pony up so much extra cash to get a suite regardless?
I would imagine that pretty much everyone on the upper tier of a program that promises an upgrade to the best available room books a standard room and then waits for the upgrade to clear to see what they get. What would be the point of investing so much in attaining status if you were going to pony up so much extra cash to get a suite regardless?
Apr 27, 2017, 6:50 pm
#40
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 156
Hotels make a contract with AMEX for those programs so they will give those benefits to those who are paying for the stay.
For the question of 30 suites and 90 platinum guests - that is where the Master Arrivals List comes in handy. Each hotel generates their List daily from the StarGuest portal. It literally ranks arriving guests in order of "importance" from an algorithm of status (SPG and other VIP), spend, and some other things. If I had nothing else to go by, I'd re-block rooms first thing in the AM via that list. But, to add something to your question - are all 90 plats here for one night or varying nights? That adds a huge item to the mix. And, how many of those suites are purchased by guests who want a suite? How many of those suites are pre-allocated to Centu or other contract programs who guarantee the upgrade at booking (NOT at arrival)? How many of those 30 suites are the hotel-designated "standard" suites for the purposes of SPG upgrading? Remember, not every suite in a hotel is necessarily part of the SPG upgrade pool. Now, you start your room blocking: you have to plug everyone into a room that they booked. Then, you start your playtime: what rooms are left for how many days to upgrade? Do you take a suite out of a possible pay situation for 7 nights with no revenue or for 2 nights and keep the rest open for a possible paying guest? You'll see quickly why we call it "tape chart tetris"!! A Plat Ambassador may be #1 on the MAL, but we may not have a suite open for her length of stay, so no upgrade. Some Plat may have booked a room with 2 queen beds - those are my nightmare. I've upgraded to a suite only to get yelled at because there were not two beds and I've been yelled at because I didn't upgrade and they would have made do with one bed...
Anyone who thinks it is a no-brainer to assign rooms and give out those suite upgrades, please volunteer to do it for a day at a hotel. Even now, at my nice non-chain hotel, I can't just automatically and quickly do a room re-assignment at the Front Desk. Give me an hour and I might be able to re-arrange enough people out of their rooms, looking that I don't break up connecting rooms, B2B reservations, special requests, upsells (yes, sometimes people will PAY MONEY to get a higher category room) to accommodate you. But, don't call me lazy or a liar because I can't do it for you right then and there at the Desk...
For the question of 30 suites and 90 platinum guests - that is where the Master Arrivals List comes in handy. Each hotel generates their List daily from the StarGuest portal. It literally ranks arriving guests in order of "importance" from an algorithm of status (SPG and other VIP), spend, and some other things. If I had nothing else to go by, I'd re-block rooms first thing in the AM via that list. But, to add something to your question - are all 90 plats here for one night or varying nights? That adds a huge item to the mix. And, how many of those suites are purchased by guests who want a suite? How many of those suites are pre-allocated to Centu or other contract programs who guarantee the upgrade at booking (NOT at arrival)? How many of those 30 suites are the hotel-designated "standard" suites for the purposes of SPG upgrading? Remember, not every suite in a hotel is necessarily part of the SPG upgrade pool. Now, you start your room blocking: you have to plug everyone into a room that they booked. Then, you start your playtime: what rooms are left for how many days to upgrade? Do you take a suite out of a possible pay situation for 7 nights with no revenue or for 2 nights and keep the rest open for a possible paying guest? You'll see quickly why we call it "tape chart tetris"!! A Plat Ambassador may be #1 on the MAL, but we may not have a suite open for her length of stay, so no upgrade. Some Plat may have booked a room with 2 queen beds - those are my nightmare. I've upgraded to a suite only to get yelled at because there were not two beds and I've been yelled at because I didn't upgrade and they would have made do with one bed...
Anyone who thinks it is a no-brainer to assign rooms and give out those suite upgrades, please volunteer to do it for a day at a hotel. Even now, at my nice non-chain hotel, I can't just automatically and quickly do a room re-assignment at the Front Desk. Give me an hour and I might be able to re-arrange enough people out of their rooms, looking that I don't break up connecting rooms, B2B reservations, special requests, upsells (yes, sometimes people will PAY MONEY to get a higher category room) to accommodate you. But, don't call me lazy or a liar because I can't do it for you right then and there at the Desk...
sidergirl, do you know if there is a hierarchy among SPG plats? does spg have higher priority for upgrades than SPG 75 than SPG 50?
Always wondered about this
Thanks!
Apr 27, 2017, 9:17 pm
#41
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Exactly where I want to be
Programs: IHG Gold,SPG Gold, HH Gold, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Delta Kettle, AMEX Plat, DL AMEX Plat
Posts: 1,434
Sometimes, we can do a straight up room swap if the guest blocked into 205 arrives ahead of 305 and 305 is ready, but only if those stays are for the same length. If they aren't, then we have to start moving even more people and it cascades down.
To the others - What you see as contradictions just shows how difficult it truly is to do rooms management. There is an automatic room assignment option within Lightspeed; however, it only pulls the next available room from the category purchased and does not take into account any status. Works fine for a hotel with very few room categories and does a lot of conference contracts with ROH. Even then, you will get guests unhappy with what they got and ask for better (worked at one hotel that used this for the majority of their rooms after doing special blocking (B2B, connecting rooms). It is a no-win situation all around.
You have no experience with Starwood's software and are wishing for something it does not do.
If you buy the cheapest room, go into it with the knowledge that you may not get the 4 level bump up to that standard suite, even if it is available, as a hotel only has to upgrade you to another level. So if you book the Standard queen, don't bully the FDA if you are upgraded to a Deluxe queen. Just saying...
Last edited by yosithezet; May 2, 2017 at 6:04 am Reason: Edited for FT Rule compliance
Apr 28, 2017, 9:23 am
#42
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 498
If you buy the cheapest room, go into it with the knowledge that you may not get the 4 level bump up to that standard suite, even if it is available, as a hotel only has to upgrade you to another level. So if you book the Standard queen, don't bully the FDA if you are upgraded to a Deluxe queen. Just saying...
If a standard suite is available for the entire length of stay at time of check-in (or any non-suite that's two or three categories higher than the cheapest room for that matter), how is a one-category upgrade from the cheapest room to a deluxe queen compliant with these T&Cs?
Apr 28, 2017, 12:55 pm
#43
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Exactly where I want to be
Programs: IHG Gold,SPG Gold, HH Gold, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Delta Kettle, AMEX Plat, DL AMEX Plat
Posts: 1,434
I sympathize with the complexity of the process and how tough it often can be to balance the needs of all guests, and 99% of your posts made sense but this is where you lost me insofar as SPG is concerned. Their T&Cs state: "Platinum members receive upgrades to the best available rooms, including Standard Suites, subject to availability for the entire length of stay at time of check-in."
If a standard suite is available for the entire length of stay at time of check-in (or any non-suite that's two or three categories higher than the cheapest room for that matter), how is a one-category upgrade from the cheapest room to a deluxe queen compliant with these T&Cs?
If a standard suite is available for the entire length of stay at time of check-in (or any non-suite that's two or three categories higher than the cheapest room for that matter), how is a one-category upgrade from the cheapest room to a deluxe queen compliant with these T&Cs?
The queen room has been the bane of my rooms coordination at every hotel I've worked at that had a loyalty program. So far, I have only had a suite with 2 queen beds once at one property I worked. And, it was only because the owners of that suite wanted 2 queen in the master. Outside of that one, I never saw a suite with 2 queen beds. So, upgrading someone who has book a room with 2 queen beds becomes dicey. Upgrade and find they really need 2 queens and they won't be happy with a rollaway?
I am so happy to be working at a property that does not have a loyalty program - I don't go home crying and wanting to drink heavily anymore
But, I get a chuckle out of the people who book the special Expedia price for a King Room and then get to the Front Desk and ask if there are any free upgrades available. Oh - reminds me: did you know that there are Expedia VIP + Premier members that, as part of their amenity, are entitled to upgrades when available? I forgot to add those people in the mix with SPG and FHR/Centu/Virtuoso/etc program guests.
Apr 28, 2017, 5:40 pm
#44
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 794
Someone booked 2 queen beds, if there isn't a suite with 2 queen beds, don't upgrade them. Nothing dicey about that. You don't have to worry about them being not happy with a roll away.
Last edited by yosithezet; May 2, 2017 at 6:04 am Reason: Edited for FT Rule compliance
Apr 28, 2017, 9:06 pm
#45
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Exactly where I want to be
Programs: IHG Gold,SPG Gold, HH Gold, Marriott Gold, Hyatt Discoverist, Delta Kettle, AMEX Plat, DL AMEX Plat
Posts: 1,434
This is another example that you are making it much more difficult than it actually is.
Someone booked 2 queen beds, if there isn't a suite with 2 queen beds, don't upgrade them. Nothing dicey about that. You don't have to worry about them being not happy with a roll away.
Someone booked 2 queen beds, if there isn't a suite with 2 queen beds, don't upgrade them. Nothing dicey about that. You don't have to worry about them being not happy with a roll away.
If it was not as complicated as I am saying, why do hotels employ full-time rooms coordinators? If it as easy as you imply, any idiot who takes a job for $9-$11 at a Front Desk should be able to do all these upgrades and moves in 10 seconds at any *wood hotel.
SPG does keep track of all this. There are monthly phone conferences between a hotel's SPG Champion and one of the corporate SPG Champions (ours was Claire from Ireland) who go over all your metrics of what you did for your SPG guests, how many new SPG members you enrolled (or why you didn't meet the quota given to you by SPG), how many of those elite preferences were honored, spend by points reservations, and more.
My current hotel does the AMEX FHR program - far easier here because they are the only people we have to try to upgrade for "free". We do have people designated as VIPs by management, so they also get special treatment. Outside of those, it's nice to not have to deal with any other "elites"...
Last edited by yosithezet; May 2, 2017 at 6:05 am Reason: Edited for FT Rule compliance