Originally Posted by
paolo64
Agree. But this is the fault of the company, isn’t it? If they forced properties to honour the rules, it would be less common to see this kind of unseemly bickering at the front desk. All I ask for of a program is that the rules are clear, consistent and enforced. I’m never going to stand in the lobby arguing the toss over upgrade or not ( and nor for that matter do I want to have to ask...it’s tacky.) Upgrades should be offered and assigned automatically, end of the story.
If I detect a hotel not playing by the spirit of the program, if not the precise rules, then I vote with my feet/wallet and move on . However, I will complain in writing for a egregious breach.
In this case it’s a bit of both. I’ve seen people demanding free breakfast at Design properties, asking for extra amenities or points if the hotel is near capacity so they won’t be upgraded, just demanding suites, etc. For whatever reason, this pushiness seems to be more common from the Marriott side, but it’s entirely possible that it’s people who behaved like that who historically got the most out of the programme.