frenchft

From Marriott standpoint... let's hope it does not affect the existing guest with ambassador and that they will deliver a good service... because if they manage this the same way they manage their merger... good luck for people seeing any benefits and incentive to stay and spend more with MR

rny321

My initial upgrade to PPE + A went away. Although I had over 100 MR nights and several SPG nights, I had mostly award stays and didn't have the spending this year. I would have appreciated having an opportunity to decide if the additional effort and/or spending was worth pursuing, but I am not at all upset that I didn't receive something that I wasn't entitled to.

bhrubin

There's no question that previous SPG Plat100 Ambassador elites are going to have the better end of the deal for the end of this current year. We already have our assigned Ambassadors, and many of us already have established relationships with the Ambassador team and with the hotels we already frequent.

Of course, I think it was very smart of Marriott to start this loyalty merger in mid-year 2018 rather than in Jan 2019. This earlier merger basically allows them to work the kinks out mid-stream, rather than at the start of a new year when everyone is dying to get everything. Not as many customers are dying to get everything now. This allows Marriott to give extra perks to some (Ambassadors to Plat Premiers), introduce new systems for upgrades/SNAs, etc, to test things out and perhaps placate more customers. This also allows them minimize the award arbitrage issue a bit, since starting in the new year would have been much worse IMO.

frenchft

but if you want my opinion, regarding the number of properties, I would even have make the ambassador status at 150 nights + 30 or 40k but deliver something unique.
100 nights and 20k is too easy to reach anyway with such a huge number of hotels, everywhere you go there is a Marriot / SPG property.

I really don't like the dilution of benefits (same with the gold MR to platinum), same with the CC who give gold status, etc. Dilution is the worst thing ever, it's a loose loose thing.

frenchft

josep

Was wondering if someone can help on how to get the Ambassador level, specifically:

- Would 100+ nights and over $20K spend in 2017 with MR give an Ambassador for the rest of 2018, now that it has been introduced for MR? Or do I need to qualify in 2018?
- For qualifying spend: most of my nights are on Ritz-Carlton, which used to consider only room rate as qualifying spend for points. After the merge: should all legacy spend pre Aug-18 (eg. restaurant bills, in-room dining. etc) count towards $20K?

C17PSGR

No.. You'll have to reach the 100/20k for 2018 to qualify for an ambassador. Good question on the legacy spend. I don't like RC's and generally avoid them but I would think it should count toward the spend under the new program. Probably a good idea to check, however, since they may not have incorporated it. I can see my spend but haven't confirmed the numbers since I'll be over anywhere.

I don't think the "taste" concept was intended. There seems to be a lot of reports of errors and more recent reports where people are having their status corrected.

bhrubin

getagb

kaizen7

I believe if Marriott set the requirements too high, it will no longer attractive to people. Its better to create an unpublished "secret" level for those high nighters and high spenders altogether.

Invitation only Platinum Premier with Personal Concierge .... plt p pc

And also the gap between 75 nights plt p to 150 nights is a bit too high ... again will reduce the incentives for people who stay in between
MR better create 100 and 125 nights benefit to fill the gap

If a person stays at 95 nights/ year,and already spent above 20k .... the possibility of getting plt p a by adding 5 more nights will be very attractive and I wont be surprised if the person manage to squeeze some extra holiday ...
staycation over couple of weekends ... to reach plt p a
And yet if plt p a is at 150 nights, higher chance are he will stop at 75 and move the extra 20 nights to other chains to experience different hotel (vacationing to Amans or Four seasons)

Jordan D

Which makes no sense - I'm PPE based on the 2017 room nights (140+ nights), so why shouldn't I be PPE+A based on the 2017 room nights & spend (140+ nights & c.30k USD spend)? If the first is true, why shouldn't the second?

C17PSGR

Were you PPE before August 18th?

Before August 18th, someone who had a 140 nights in 2017 would be just Platinum unless they had been selected for the unpublished PPE ( which generally required multiple years of 100 + nights)

UA-NYC

Because in the 2017 qualifying year Marriott did not have a formal Ambassador program like they do now

I am PPE+A for this year because I earned it in 2017 with Starwood

Chewie

Oh well. Fancy status was revoked today. With only $4k to go and I have reservations for 9 out of the next 12 weeks. It won’t be an issue.

I will be back in this thread before you know it.

C17PSGR

Not exactly, Marriott had a formal Ambassador program for 2017. However, the requirements were unpublished and it was by invitation

That being said, there are folks who are PPE+A (or should be) who (a) qualified for it under the published SPG rules in 2017, (b) have met the qualifications already under the published rules in 2018 under either the SPG 100 night or the Marriott 100 night/20k, of (c) those who were selected under the Marriott unpublished program. There is no option for I would have qualified in 2017 if the current rules had been in place.