I think we need to avoid being seen as the "Ugly Platinum." In my experience, most of the desk folks at Marriott go out of their way to be polite and take care of elites. I've probably reminded desk folks a few times over the years about the points but would find it hard to seek the guarantee when an otherwise polite desk clerk forgot to ask me. There is a human on the other side -- and they're certainly going to get in some trouble based on the guarantee issue. I'll also note that the desk folks tell me its hardly worth asking since Plat's always (well almost always) take the points.

I'm not afraid to ask for the guarantee and have received the guarantee 3-4 times over the years because of room types.