The upgrade issue and the dissatisfaction voiced, is I believe a manifestation of a larger issue.

SPG, Hyatt and Marriott -- all three are the recipients of kudos and knocks on FT,

The difference is in how they react to them.

All have elite customer service reps, but of the three SPG stands alone inasmuch as it is proactive as tonot only a broader scope of issues faced by frequent guests, but how it is going to manage those issues.

Nothing personal here because I think he's a reflection of his employer's approach, but it's apparent that Chris is simply not empowered to the extent of the SPG Lurker to delve into issues not only with regards to their frequent guest program but also to reach beyond it to what I'd call the "total guest experience.".

Soc's been very gracious in terms of his insights and hisanswering the "why's."

Trouble is that he (no longer) is a part of Marriott corporate.

A number of posters on Mr. Marriott's blog have made references to this board and the comeback is the same ,(paraphrase) - "Bill Marriott wants you to know that we're very cognizant of the issues discussed on FT."

So, taking them at their word, they're aware of this group's concerns.

Trouble is, there's little or no evidence they're addressing them.

Suite Upgrades?

How long have we been railing about the administrative failures on the part of hotels when dealing with B1G1 free weekend night EEOs and the hassles we have to deal with because of them?

From Chris we received assurances, promises, "we're going to heed suggestions,' yada, yada, yada.

What we haven't gotten is action.

The fact of the matter is that Chris has all but disappeared.

It's a given that there's inconsistency of treatment of guests (training/culture/whatever the reasons) between Marriott- properties whatever their flag.

The way I've come to look at it is that MR is a rewards program that works for me inasmuch as there are so many Marriott locations worldwide.

As far as correct billing (the first time), reward availability, EEOS, BBs I'll just have to continue dealing with the hassles on an individual basis because there's no reason to think that Marriott will react with an across-the-board corrective effort despite the more than ample evidence it is required.

Upgrades/"Recognition"/"freebies" -- whatever I get, I get and whatever I don't, I don't and I'm not going to lose any more sleep over it.