Originally Posted by Boraxo

My # starts with 078 and dates back to the 80s I think.

Although I have had no trouble using my points, I question the value as well. Yes, I appreciate the bonus points and free wifi (though the latter is of limited value as I would generally bill it back to my employer). I also appreciate the noticeably better service that I receive at the front desk and on the phone.

That being said, MR gets a big fail on the upgrade front, at least by comparison to what I read in the SPG and Hyatt forums. I mostly stay at FS Marriotts and haven't seen any suites - or even a nice view.

Hyatts generally have much better lounge food and usually weekend hours.

Should I start taking a DYKWIA attitude at the front desk when the initial room assignment is not a suite? That's not really my style, but the lack of upgrades is definitely not incentivizing me to choose Marriott.

Agreed. It is hard to see the value of Plat v. Gold.

Like you I keep points in every program and will choose properties depending on the options and prevailing rates. I recently choose a Courtyard @ $180/nt because I could use a Cat 1-5 visa cert for 1 night, rather than going with the HIX @ 25k Priority Club points, because I'd prefer to getter value when I use points. But I also used 40k HH points for 1 night at HGI Napa because I absolutely refuse to pay $300-400 per night for a room.

Next to SPG, I find Marriott points are generally the easiest to use, so 'nice to have a supply.

Originally Posted by GoPhils

Not really, only one person who said they joined in the 80's didn't have a zero in the front. And no one claimed that after Marriott stopped giving out zeros in the front that they went in numerical order.

BTW, yes I'm a newbie but I had heard about this even before I joined FT. One of my co-workers has 4 zero's in the front.