Originally Posted by jerseyfinn
MN,
You feel that because you are a frequent business traveler ( and you are indeed on the road a great deal ) that Marriott should be ready to accomodate you without question. Yet curiously, you also say that you prefer Hilton.
It's just my own opinion, but I think that the Platinum program is Marriott's attempt to do someting for the frequent travel client, while Marriott Rewards is a program that serves many different types of travel folk, and it is as flexible as it gets.
Sorry, MN, but I just don't see your point.
Barry;
Just to redirect, as I am afraid you missed the point.
Simply stated is that Marriott rewards does NOT differentiate levels of travlers. If you are a silver or a platinum you have essetially the same reward opportunities (excepts for % bonus of points).
That is indeed not bad at all if you are at the silver level. However, frequent travelers (I suspect you are not one of those, but I may be wrong) expect deserve just a little bit more.
If I am on an airline, you may think being upgraded to 1st class is a big deal if you never have. Trust me, the level of service (I have found) is just about the same as in coach and the food is still airplane food.
What it does do is remove a bit of hassel from the travel rountine. I am sitting now in a hotel on a Sunday and have not seen my family in 3 weeks.
I am not crying about that as it is part of my job, but a hotel is still a hotel.
What counts to me is when I am with my family and ready to cash in on some of the priviliges of the shared pain (theirs and mine) of travel.
That is when I count on my friends (Marriott, Hilton, airlines, etc) to come through and be loyal to me. Isn't that what loyality programs are about? going both ways? Or am I missing something?