So after what we considered a terrible customer service experience with Marriott last month, we have wondered if we can let go of the "golden handcuffs" (current platinum member, almost lifetime gold, almost 1 million banked points). We realized that though we have kept staying many nights at Marriott properties the last few years to maintain our platinum status, we have not felt much benefit to that status recently (almost never seem to be upgraded, few club lounges etc, suite night awards never seem
to work). Though we have continued to spend more and more over the years with Marriott Bonvoy, we keep getting less and less.

We spent time investigating where we should maybe start building loyalty instead (im also platinum at IHG and gold at Hilton through credit cards), and settled on World of Hyatt even though I'm starting with zero status with them.

Have to report that my first customer service experience with them has confirmed to me there is an alternative to continuing to suffer the customer service decline at Marriott Bonvoy. One of the things we have noticed at Marriott Bonvoy is their customer service reps/managers no longer seem to be empowered to resolve issues favorably for their customers. I was shuffled around to eight different people around the world after calling the Platinum elite line, told conflicting things, no one could directly put me in touch with a supervisor (i had to keep calling back to talk to different people), and was ultimately told there was no one to really elevate to. A few of the customer service reps even admitted to me that they no longer have the ability to help customers like they used to and the program has become much worse since they became "Bonvoy."

In contrast, with World of Hyatt, I called the general line to ask a general reservation question and in the course of that conversation, asked if there was any type of status match. I was pleasantly surprised when after being put on a very brief hold (and this was on a Sunday!), I was immediately put in touch with a knowledgable supervisor who took time to explain how their process works and gave me a very fair option for accelerated status.

Granted Marriott has a much bigger footprint, but I'm almost relieved to no longer be tied to them, and happy to start building loyalty somewhere where status still hopefully counts for something (and at least still has good customer service). If i can't find Hyatt where I go, i plan on falling back on IHG or Hilton where I also get some benefits (after i spend down my 1 million marriott points). If you too have been unhappy with the decline in the Marriott Bonvoy program, you don't need to feel stuck!