Just thought to share with the group about calling Marriott and since the nature of my calls are all related to Travel Packages, hence I thought to post it in this thread.
I had called about 5 times to Marriott within the last week on different time of the day. All but one time I got an agent within 15 minutes. And that one time that took > 30 minutes, I didn't even get an agent that know anything about Travel Package and need to transfer me again that hold for another 15 minutes.
That > 30 minutes call was my 3rd call, hence, I decided to follow what I did on the 1st and 2nd call when I call the 4th and 5th time.
What I did is tell the automated voice system that I want to check my balance, that actually transfer you to an agent. I actually was surprise as I thought it will ask me to punch in my membership numbers and read me my balance. My initially thought is that if I am be able to punch in my numbers, it will recognize my Plat status and get me to an agent faster. For all 4 times that I did this, I got an agent within 15 minutes, one of the call (in the middle of the day) actually got me an agent in 5 minutes.
Also, this option do not get you those regular reservation agents that know nothing about Travel Package, these agents know how to order new travel packages, attach or detach certs to reservations, and upgrade category on a CAT 1-5 certs. They will put you on hold for 5 to 10 minutes but come back and have everything done correctly.
Hope this help some of you here