If i can add some things, although nothing brand new :

points missing for stays in september : no answers at all to my twenty mails, and when I call, impossibility to solve the problems : just the message stay calm and be patient . I do not try anymore to report anomalies in more recent stays, I just give up.

Ambassador status reached some weeks ago : nothing received about my ambassador. Quite disappointing compared to my first experience with this status with SPG 6 years ago.

discovering it is impossible to email to a Marriott concierge ( no email published) , just possible to call and pay long distance fees.

taking into account the mess following the merge, what a pity Marriott and Starwood agreed on a takeover.

hard to say , but Accor is offering currently better services and recognition than Starriott.

My ambassador called to introduce herself to me last week, just a few business days after achieving the status. I haven’t attempted using her services yet, but at least the prompt introduction was a good start; better than some here seem to be experiencing.

First, I doubt that has much to do with Ambassador elites.

Second, I doubt those figures are garbage—since it is illegal to materially exaggerate or discount such statements in an earnings call. Nor is there really any incentive to lie, as Sorenson already had noted a height of call volumes being 35% higher than normal and with much longer hold times.

Third, despite the IT integration issues and the “noise” we know all too well here on FlyerTalk, there still has been no noticeable migration of customers from Marriott to any of its competitors. While Marriott Q3 revenues were down and its stock took the concomitant hit, the exact same scenario was equally as true for all of Marriott’s competitors, including Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, and Accor. Not a single one of those competitors noted any increaesed bookings or larger customer migrations in their earnings calls, either.

Turns out, it is just noise.

Congrats! I encourage you to message the Lurkers here on FlyerTalk and ask them to expedite the contact or share the Ambassador program phone number.

I also thought they might notice a small dip in future bookings. But they didn’t.

I found the fact that luxury and upper upscale revenues were up and select service revenues were down to be very intriguing. I actually wouldn’t be surprised if most of the noise arose from those who happen to stay more often in the select service segment.

I always have believed that there is more value to the Ambassador program for those staying in the nicer service brands—upper upscale and especially the luxury brands—and for those who spend more. I’ve always gotten tarred and feathered, sometime even by moderators, for those beliefs. I’ve been accused of being condescending and elitist for those beliefs. I’ve been accused of bragging because of those statements. Yet the new $20K revenue requirement and successive data points like these from this most recent Marriott earnings call continue to reinforce that my beliefs are not remotely outrageous and might be right on the money.

The other important point that I noticed from this Marriott earnings call is how important the big group and corporate bookings are to the bottom and top lines of the select service and upscale brand segments. Sorenson was quick to note that weaker September figures were largely due to drops in those segments, while leisure and individual/small company travelers (like me) were far more likely to impact the upper upscale and luxury brand segments. That may be why the noise arising from individual or small potatoes company customers who stay often at select service brands has so little impact on Marriott; they’re just drowned out by the much more significant impact of big groups and corporate customers.