Originally Posted by
svo242
FYI, this is the number I was given/use and I am always connected to a "Marriott Luxury Associate" who can look up/book the club upgrade rate. It's not just central reservations. Did you speak with someone after dialing that number?
I totally agree that it's unfortunate we cannot even look up these rates online, that properties can be very selective in which rooms (if any) they open up for the club upgrades, that the upgrade rates often vary from the member flexible rate, AND that the Ambassador service cannot quote us these rates via phone or email. I've also had issues after booking, where my reservation reverted to one night (instead of four) two weeks before arrival - that was a mess!
That said, I have still found some great value with the certificates, most recently in October, when the club upgrade rate ended up somehow being lower than the regular rate. Quite a crapshoot, however. :/
Yes, I spoke to a very helpful agent named Teresa who worked previously for Starwoods. I specifically asked her was she central reservations, because I had an older number that was specifically for the "Marriott Luxury" but after the "Ritz Carlton" greeting I got the generic Marriott greeting which is why I asked her if she was central reservations. However, that number may get some better experienced agents as she has worked in Starwood/Marriott for 19 years and absolutely knew what she was doing. We had a nice chat on how awful the SNA program is and the many problems surrounding it. Her one bit of advice is call M-F during business hours if you want a decent agent.