lexdevil

Note that this is not what I am saying. I've certainly got an incentive to stick with Marriott whenever doing so allows me to experience the benefits of status. Those benefits are, however, not all that compelling at Fairfields/Springhills/Residence Inns/TownePlace Suites. Upgrades are minimal/rare, and everyone gets free internet and breakfast. My status tends to net me some extra points and a market item, nothing more.

This means that for nights beyond 75, if I'm going to be staying at a limited service property, other chains are now in play for me. All other things being equal, I'll choose Marriott due to my status, but when a competing chain has a nicer or more convenient property that is cost competitive, I will now consider it.

There is an irrational/emotional appeal to achieving top status. Currently, because PP does not have defined criteria, I ALWAYS choose Marriott. I cannot know how close I am to slipping from Platinum Premier to Platinum. It's not like PP translates into better treatment very often if at all, but I'll admit that I find earning it satisfying.

If Marriott only counts spend from 1-3 rooms and does not count spend from group contracts/events, there is a good chance that I will not meet the $20K spend threshold for Ambassador status. If the highest status is unattainable to me, I have less incentive to keep all of my stays at Marriott. It frees me to play the field for some of my stays.

I am not saying, "I hit the goal, so now I'll stay elsewhere and abandon the perks of the status I have earned." I am saying that if $20K spend is out of reach (despite my spending $40K or more with Marriott each year), I will have less incentive to stay with Marriott in certain circumstances. I'm also saying that those occasions could add up to a significant number of room nights, given the number of rooms I tend to book.

Given that the purpose of frequent guest programs is to drive spend, I think that Marriott will be making a mistake if they do not figure out a way to credit spend on more than 3 rooms and group/event contracts.

If only a small number of us work this way, and accounting for more than three rooms is a challenge, Marriott should consider an informal/exception/invitation option for achieving Ambassador status, in addition to the defined nights + spend option. If I were told that I did not meet the formal criteria for Ambassador (due to how spend is calculated), but that I was granted Ambassador status in recognition of my value to Marriott, I would be back to always staying with Marriott because I could not know if staying elsewhere would drop me below some unspoken threshold and demote me to PLAT 75.

I have a question for you. Given that you are SPG Plat100, why do you bother with Hilton Gold? Are there occasions when you choose Hilton over SPG, despite your high status with SPG? If it's because you can't rise any higher with SPG, and Hilton sometimes has properties that fit your needs better, that's exactly the type of situation I am describing.

bhrubin

I think Marriott would say good luck. Or good riddance.

lexdevil

Certainly their prerogative. Given that I keep qualifying for Platinum Premier, I don't think that that's how they feel, but whatever...

Not sure what in my statement triggered this. I'm not threatening to leave in a huff. Not even if they don't adopt an informal invitation to Ambassador status. I'm simply trying to explain why only counting spend from 1-3 rooms may decrease my Marriott stays. I'll still do a lot of Marriott business, I'll just feel free to experiment a bit. Given the extremely limited benefit of PP over Platinum, this probably isn't even a bad thing for me.

kaizen7

lexdevil

A useful Marriott tip. If you just book and pay for your event/group directly with sales, you'll get your 10 nights + 3 points per dollar spent. If, however, you have your salesperson set up the block with a group code or booking link (so others can book into the block), you will get your 10 nights + 3 points per dollar spent on the contract AND the nights + points for up to three rooms that you personally book and pay for within your block.

We only do better on elite qualifying nights, which I don't need more of. If the highest level of status now has a spend requirement, and they don't count our event/group spend toward Ambassador status, we are potentially worse off when it comes to qualifying for that status.

lexdevil

Even if you can no longer get the old Chase Marriott card (that gives an elite qualifying night for every $3K in spend), you should still probably get a card for the 15 elite qualifying nights annually. It sounds like you are close enough that it could make a difference.

EuropeanPete

I actually get Hilton Gold for free with my AMEX, but I have stayed enough at Hiltons this year that I'll hit Diamond in a week or two.

Hilton is my 2nd preference brand (assuming Starriott as a whole is first), which for me means the following:

• If there are no suitable Starriott hotels nearby and there is a good Hilton, I'll usually do that
• If there is an exceptional Hilton and only good/ mediocre Starriott hotel I'd rather stay at the Hilton (this almost never happens with Hilton, but I used to have Hyatt as my #2 where Park Hyatts can be amazing)
• If there is a truly exceptional hotel in the area which is neither Starriott nor Hilton I play off price/ hotel quality/ uniqueness of the property and make a call - e.g. tomorrow I'm staying at the Gray in Beirut from LHW simply because it looks the best choice but in Budapest last weekend I stayed at the Ritz Carlton knowing it was probably worse than the Four Seasons (but also probably cheaper and frankly pretty damned good in any case)
• I'm willing to pay a certain premium to be with Starwood on a like for like basis for "loyalty" (e.g. I like the points, I like the Ambassador service), but sometimes Hilton is simply more keenly priced. For example, I prefer the Sheraton Park Lane to the Hilton Park Lane even ignoring programme affiliation, but if the Hilton is $200 USD a night is cheaper, I am going to go there. It's luckily relatively rare that I'm in a situation where Starwood, Marriott and Hilton properties are all over-priced, leaving me in some non-chain or Accor type place.
• So far I've almost never stayed at Marriotts - partly because I dislike the chain's aesthetic values across most brands and partly because I've not explored them all yet

I am pretty attached to my loyalty and will go out of my way for points, but the above sounds to me like how most people really should be thinking about this thing. I took the same approach a couple of years ago when I was SPG50 and so could have "risen" to SPG75 if I decided to make what I might call stupid sacrifices to get there.

lexdevil

What you describe is very similar to my thinking, only you are a touch less loyal than I am (if I could have reached SPG Plat75 rather than 50, I would most likely not have sacrificed that opportunity, at least not unless the benefits of staying outside of SPG were extremely compelling). In a world in which the bulk of my spend will not count towards Ambassador status, I'll probably be a bit less loyal and make decisions more like yours. I'm not angry. It is, as I've said, freeing. I'll probably discover some hotels that I like better than a few of my current mainstays. And I'll still spend most of my nights in Marriott properties.

I'm simply saying that Marriott would get more nights from me if all of my spend counted towards Ambassador status.

C17PSGR

All these recent posts highlight why these should be multiple threads .... a great post on maximizing benefits from an event, discussion about the value of getting another 25 nights, etc. Not sure why they were combined because they are very different issues, even though they have something to do with ambassador status.

Back on the thread of ambassador experiences, on my fourth stay of the week ....

1. Thanks for being platinum at Marriott, we've upgraded you to the Concierge Floor
2. Thanks for being a platinum at Marriott, we've upgraded you to an oceanfront suite.
3. A call to my ambassador to get a friends name added to a reservation, the all suite property upgraded to a larger suite
4. A stay at a W where I was given a wonderful parking lot view room and thanked for my loyalty.

Except for the call, all of these decisions were made at the property. The ambassador certainly saved me from being on hold for a few minutes since the screen brought up my name and reservation automatically. I don't believe the ambassador made calls to any of the properties, the Marriott properties gave or exceeded published benefits but didn't notice I was a Plat Premier, the SPG property did not (and I didn't feel like arguing). We'll see how tonight's Courtyard handles it

So, while I'll be at 150 nights this year and over $20,000 in spend, I'm skeptical that I will get anything more than what I am currently receiving from am Ambassador and other than help booking family vacations (which seems like a great value for some), I'm still not hearing anything of significant value from having an Ambassador.

lexdevil

I agree. It would be great if some of these posts could be moved back to the thread I started on whether event/group spend should count towards Ambassador status. I know my comments on rooms 4-9 are not entirely relevant, but they would be better there. I have no idea why that thread was added to this one.

MSPeconomist

C17PSGR

Well ... I agree that SPG doesn't see my Plat Premier/Ambassador status,

On the Marriott side, they see codes for Plat Premier (X4) and Ambassador (M0) but none of our SPG colleagues seem to know whether the FD can distinguish between the Plat/P75/P100 on the SPG side.

And, I was realistic on my expectations since I've stayed at this SPG property before (I'm a glutton for punishment but its close to where I need to be) . Of course, all our friends on the SPG side keep talking about how Plats almost always get upgraded to suites ...

UA-NYC

Which W? I enjoyed a nice 2 room suite at the W ATL Midtown a week ago and another 2 room suite at the W ATL Buckhead the week before that. Quite typical IME. Heavily discounted corporate rates.

MSPeconomist

UA-NYC

PlatMinus only exists in your own mind. I might get some nice snacks in room once in a while (though not on either of these two trips). Got my standard "thanks for being a Plat" welcome (never "Ambassador Guest" BTW). But to these hotels I was a regular Plat. As are Plats, Plat 50s, Plat 75s. Enough with the misinformation already.