travelinmanS

I was Plat via a challenge and now I'm Plat in the new program not PP. I still don't see the difference, however. Seems I still get lounge access, 4pm checkout and extra points. What am I missing out on by not being PP? I'll hit it anyway sometime in Q4 but I'm wondering what I'll be missing out on in the meantime?

Kacee

2.5 points per dollar and potential for better upgrades. The latter may be significant, because there are going to be a gazillion new Plats for the next 5.5 months due to the generous transition rules. I'm guessing Plats are not going to see many free suites this year.

potm

Completed the Marriott platinum challenge last year in May after matching SPG gold from Amex to Marriott gold. Ended up with 50 Marriott nights for the year and a few SPG.
Still showing as platinum now with 1 lifetime year. What have you guys got for the lifetime years?

Brooke123

I'm worried that waiting to bother Marriott about this will weaken the momentum/our message. People complained immediately about the travel packages and then they received the 30K points back. People are receiving mixed messages about if this is 1.) a technical issue or 2.) if this is our new status because we did not "earn" it.

I feel like the more people call in to complain, the better the chance of someone going in and fixing this for all the status challenge people. Last thing we want is for Marriott to get only a handful of calls about this each week, think its not that big of a deal, and strengthen the message that "promotional" elite status does not qualify for PP.

Kacee

And the bloggers are totally ignoring these "wrong status" issues. Marriott PR machine in action. They're hoping we all just go away while they make vague promises that unspecified problems will be "fixed" in the days ahead without actually addressing what they've done (apparently deliberately) or confirming that proper status will be restored.

Happy

Also the 48 hours reservation guarantee - in case you are walked, PP gets some extra compensation. This is not available to Plat.

I also want to mention that whatever Starwood Lurker has said (at the time whatever information the "Loyalty Team" gave him to pass on) can NOT be relied on based on NONE of the drips and bits of information on the Travel Package has ever come true. Instead it is a completely nasty surprise to many who acted upon the suggestions from the Lurker based on what he was told by the "Loyalty Team".

Finally based on experiences, the Asia call centers reps are much better trained, much better on top of things in a changing environment. Hence I dont doubt when they said they received memos from HQ in US on what the Plats from Challenge would remain Plat Elites, is something made up. US reps are the worst, many are incompetent, and worse yet, lazy. I have better experiences dealing with Asian reps for almost all programs, Marriott in particular. No long wait. Handled the tasks within minutes. Willing to dig deep to resolve issues that the US reps created and unable to fix... Just sayin that I would not brush off CSR info across the board - it depends on WHERE the CSRs are located.

Dont forget it was from a Chinese source that we learned about SPG would be no more come August when the official Marriott lines were that the merger would not be finalized until either end of 2018 or early 2019, when the Chinese site broke the news. Every English blogger and his affiliates pooh pooh the "rumor. The rest is history as they say.

Call me pessimistic, I believe we would remain Plat Elites,

Happy

I am afraid you will be super pissed based on how Marriott handled the TP debacle. Do you realize as late as the morning of August 20th they were still trying to spin out of this major defraud?

Read this post https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/30108459-post6020.html

You will realize if still not by now, that Marriott is still trying to get away as much as it could, even on the Real Damages done to those who redeemed Travel Packages.

If not for the huge public outcry on Social Media platforms that have been tweeted and retweeted all over the places, there would not be a abrupt change of course by late afternoon on the same day about the Refund and Ability to book now without waiting till Sept 19.

it is a complete PR Spin because when people followed the steps outlined by Marriott Insider (How official it can get?) to initial refund process as well as trying to book - NONE has succeeded. They received emails back either the system has technical difficulty and cannot handle the request at this time, or telling them to call Reservation to sort it out!
Nobody can use the existing legacy cert to actually make a reservation. System would not allow it. That is despite the Spin in the Marriott Insider's post about how the system has successfully passed the "press test" so effectively immediately one can use those legacy certs.

What a crock of you know what.

But, I am sure there would still be some who would advocate "patience is a virtue" thing - it does not work when you are dealing with Corporate Creed and the Corporate is out to cheat you whichever way it feels it could get away from, starting from the very beginning and still shows now...

That said, because the number of people who went thru challenge to earn the status is relatively small comparing to the number of travel package cert holders, (and the potential PR backlash from Social Media), I am afraid we would be wronged no matter what - because we would not be able to put enough pressure to Marriott to get it right. Our number is too small - and that probably is the same reason why the blogs would not address this area.

Dan89

This would be a good thread to voice our concerns

https://insiders.marriottrewards.com/thread/55450

maplenight

Again, why would taste of Gold get the same thing as taste of Platinum? Marriott can't get away with this.

maplenight

Again, why would taste of Gold get the same thing as taste of Platinum? Marriott can't get away with this.

navatwal

I am Marriott Platinum, status still shows as Platinum, not upgraded to Platinum Premier on 8/18 just yet, shuld have this have not happened automatically?

Do I have to call Marriott / Merge Accounts to get correct status to reflect.

RogerD408

No, sit back and wait for them to finish the job. I have over 490 SPG LT nights and it's telling me the number of nights still needed to get LTS 250?

maiden42

Any intel on starting a new Platinum challenge now (post-merge)?

I.e. I am Gold now but want to do a Plat Challenge.

Is it still around? 9 Stays only?

EastCoast2

Is anyone who completed the Taste of Gold challenge showing as Platinum under the merged program?

xar

i think as it is, Marriott has enough problems on their hands right now and reviving challenges at this stage is probably least thing on their bucket list. (assuming they do have one, since everything looks haphazard.)
In additional, they are probably trying to deal with the wraith of all the existing Plat/PP members rather then adding new ones into the muck.