I think I've read elsewhere that the dollar amount doesn't show up until you have 50 nights.

Wonder how they'll do it next year...

My YTD spending total currently on the website seems to be about $3K lower than it should be (I am just counting base spend and excluding taxes). Has anyone had success calling up Marriott and trying to get some kind of spending summary from them to see what stays they might not have credited correctly? I am reluctant to call in as it sounds like the call center and their IT in general is still mostly broken and I am likely to spend a lot of time and not get a resolution, but I was curious if anyone with a similar issue has been brave enough to try and get an answer.

event spending doesn't count towards ambassador. discussed in this thread.

Between spending apparently not counting toward the ambassador threshold and the loss of elite-qualifying nights, there isn't much of an incentive to hold events at Marriott properties anymore. I do about $250,000 a year in events.

It all depends upon your goals. If maintaining elite status is the goal, then that's been shot down. But if MPG points have value, then they make sense. As I recall the early days of the program, I believe the intent was to get assistants that don't get to travel like their coworkers that are on the road day in and day out and they may be bragging about their benefits and perks received. This program passed some of those benefits along to keep MR properties in their minds when making office arrangements. Members jumped on and learned how to play the game and bump their status and that's now being cut back. All to often we only think of ourselves and don't acknowledge those that really make things happen for us. Imagine if you had to pass on 10% of your loyalty benefits on to your support staff? And before the flames get turned to high, there are many of us that plan and book our own travel plans, and that's fine. But again, when this got started, assistants were in the loop more than not.

+1. For example, I have a couple of meetings a year and have my assistant or one of our marketing team organize it. They like getting the perks from that and it helps keep them motivated. AA used to use Concierge Key, in a similar way to encourage travel planners/organizers.

Of course, some posters here seem to have business to involve extensive meetings and want to get the benefit of that (as they should). Marriott appears to have made the calculation that points are the best way to incent that and that night credits aren't necessary although I confess I'm not entirely sure how that works. If one has $250,000 in meetings annually, would they get 2.5 million points -- even if not night credits?

Marriott caps out the number of points you can get -- unless the property pays itself for bonus points (I've had triple-point contracts) -- with events so even then you are being penalized if you do high-dollar events at properties. I get there were people scheming under the old legacy Marriott program to get elite-status through fake, no-show meetings but there has to be a way to do this better. If I spend $250,000 annually with Marriott, excluding my personal spend, they could easily take 10% or 20% and apply it toward the ambassador threshold.

The new loyalty program does allow one to earn elite nights towards status--we get 1 elite night credit for every 20 room nights consumed. My suspicion is that Marriott may copy SPG and occasionally allow double credits (1 elite night for every 10 room nights consumed) when they determine they need to incentivize this more.

That the new loyalty program no longer allows one to earn more than 10 elite nights based on meetings without rooms is a strategic decision, one almost certainly intended to stop the collusion of people trying to achieve higher status without actually staying at Marriott properties.

That the new loyalty program does not count event and meeting spend towards the calculation of spending towards Ambassador status is also a strategic decision, one likely intended to stop the collusion of event organizers who spend a lot but don't stay a lot at Marriott properties. My guess is that there aren't so many people complaining about this overall since most of those don't stay often enough at Marriott properties that it matters. We are hearing a lot of complaints from a loud minority here, more likely.

For the record, it would help me greatly if Marriott allowed event/meeting spend to count towards the $20K Ambassador spending threshold--but I'll hit it regardless.

For the record, it would help me greatly if Marriott allowed events to continue to earn 10 elite nights--but I'll get 100 nights regardless.

I am sure Marriott has done the calculations and decided how best to achieve the goal number of Ambassador guests it wants with the types of guests it most wants. I'm also sure that Marriott will adjust these rules and thresholds in the coming years as it sees the behavior of the customers it wants to continue to attract to stay at its properties (e.g. those who profit the most) and those from which Marriott doesn't profit as much.

Isn't that the definition of FT? We are a very small minority of MR/SPG members.

Well --- the attitude of a couple of the posters in the Rewarding Events thread is certainly interesting. They were really concerned that they might miss out on a suite upgrade because it went to someone who actually stayed a lot at Marriotts! I certainly understand folks who are trying to get to the next LT threshold but some of this seems a little crazy.

That being said, I think the program will have lots of plats for 2019, but many less for 2020. Hopefully, that will give Marriott the opportunity to understand and reward those who bring more value to the company ... it sounds like people who are booking 20-40 rooms or $250,000 in meetings certainly fall into that category.

Actually, I had a very, very long conversation (90 minutes) with Marriott's director of loyalty product strategy after escalating complaints about the new program's negative changes to Rewarding Events. He conceded they didn't fully think this out, especially for planners that do legit events without a room component. Apparently, they are looking at how to address this, but this conversation occurred before it was revealed that event spending won't count toward ambassador threshold.

Not surprised, Marriott wiggles some more. Anyone else feel like MPG is going to be a moving target for a while?

Ambassador suite upgrade at Ritz-Carlton data point
 

And here's a data point from a fellow Ambassador guest who was upgraded from a regular room category to a suite at the Ritz-Carlton Geneva. Considering that Ritz-Carlton was notorious for not upgrading to suites pre-Aug 18, I think it's fair to say that Ambassador status means something.

I have only had an Ambassador for a few months but I have to say I love the service and would definitely be incentivized to add more stays to hit 100 if I was close.

My Ambassador called me yesterday proactively just to make sure that all of my issues had been resolved and to discuss a game plan on getting my points refunded
on 2 upcoming Cat 8 award stays. (It is more complicated because I booked Specialty Select instead of Standard)

I had several issues that she made certain were resolved. She had tracked down the points transfer that was initiated on 8/16 and made sure it credited as of 8/17 so that it wouldn't be over the new Marriott limit (it was 34,000 Starpoints) She issued a refund of points for my stay in Anchorage 8/17-8/19. Somehow because it happened during the changeover I was charged double.

Aside from our actual Ambassadors, we have the new benefits for Ambassador Elites. I am happy to see the post above regarding the upgrade at the Ritz Carlton Geneva.

I will start including Ritz Carltons if they give better recognition.