Personally, I agree that the execution of the amenities program is a bit cold. Being handed a card to mark at checkin shows absolutely no "welcome" to me.

I do appreciate the 500 pts to be sure. Perhaps my amenity could be chosen on my profile and then these profiles could begin to serve a purpose, as they don't seem to up 'til now.

As for the old amenity program domestically, I, too, enjoyed the "surprise". And on those frequent occasions that the amenity did not arrive, timely or ever, I never minded calling down to the desk and chatting with a supervisor or manager. I usually learned something about the property in the discussion and more than once ended up with a sandwich from room service as my amenity.