Originally Posted by samosa

I will speak for myself. I saw this thread and thought, if Marriott pays significantly less for a specific room, elites and reward members may receive less than stellar service (ie no upgrades). I have been told on very few occasions that we would not get a titanium (or prior equivalent) upgrade because we were on an award stay. Never argued because it wasn’t important, but figure maybe it was reimbursement related.

If true, I might be more likely to pay cash if I really liked the hotel and it wasn’t a poor value. —just me since my cash to points analysis is not sophisticated.