Originally Posted by MichelinMan

I know Iīm an agent, so my take will come across as defensive and biased, but Fan of MO sounds like a complete joke.

Most people I know donīt use an agent solely as a means to an end - ie, they donīt look at the agent solely as a vehicle for amenities. (Thatīs actually the complete opposite of why most clients go searching for an agent, to be honest, and the better way to look at an agent - in my mind - isnīt all about amenities, but having an advocate and leveraging relationships to the clientīs benefit.)

MO will find every and any way possible to get around honoring these īamenitiesī...not available, sold out, this one doesnīt apply to that hotel...front desk clerks will either not know what it is or downright ignore the ībetter onesī. Upgrades via this method will be hard to come by, if not impossible. To a hotel, early check-in/late check-out are throwaway amenities, too.

MO is often stingy with benefits and needs pushing around from an agent. Booking via īFan of MOī will be the new basic online booking. Agent bookings will still get priority and GMs will still favor those booking channels they have direct relationships with, regardless of the bottom line.

(Iīm not just rambling here - Iīve spoken to a few MO GMs and sales people and nobody is excited about the prospect of John Doe showing up thinking heīs booked under some special VIP rate.)

My .02 cents.