Same here, my surmane is a bit of a tricky one to say in English, never mind a native speaker of a.n. other language getting it, and rather than spelling it as I invariably have to do, the name is there on the card, and yes, it is s conversation opener, and I agree fully, there is nothing wrong at all with being nice to people, it always comes back around.
Checked in this week into the KL hilton, and a lovely upgrade, a fantastic fruit plate witht a note from the general manager, and when I got in from work on the second day a nice bottle of red, c/w 2 glasses, and a note from the front office manager.
Civility costs nothing, irrespective of level in the programme.