MSPeconomist

What makes you think that the second/third room will count toward the $20,000?

exploreaswego

If you do a fair bit of speculations and reading around here and the travel bloggers. The current listed T&C on qualified spending is still quite unclear.
Some bloggers reported their SPG ambassadors interpreting different information regarding the qualified spending.
At this point, there is no way to be sure unless you write in or call the Marriott rewards team, or just have to wait in the coming months for the company to release more info regarding the new rules.

bhrubin

MSPeconomist

1. Good luck getting through to a phone agent.

2. Good luck getting a phone agent to actually answer the question.

3. Good luck getting a response to an email.

4. Good luck getting someone to read the email who understands your question.

5. Good luck getting an answer to your email question.

6. Good luck getting the same answer if you ask the question more than once for verification.

Rinse and repeat.

bhrubin

hockeyinsider

Yet another reason why it would be nice to have the new terms and conditions now. I presume Marriott will calculate the $20,000 the same way it has calculated who received the unpublished platinum premier, which pretty much everyone agrees was probably some combination of room nights and revenue. But that's just me presuming and Marriott being opaque.

hockeyinsider

They've had, what, six weeks. That's plenty long enough.

Worse yet, you know damn well they have been working on this for probably six months.

I can't imagine someone woke up in early April and said, "Let's design the new program overnight." Although, the way it was launched makes it possible.

MSPeconomist

C17PSGR

Does seem a bit odd, right?

I'm assuming they'll define it as points earning activity as traditionally used by Marriott but the guy running the program is a Starwood guy and folks over on the other board claim they don't earn points for dining, bar, spa, etc. Not sure that's right though as I haven't pulled my SPG bills and compared them.

And back on the ambassador experiences, I don't think we've had many reports other than mine with Marriott Ambassadors and with the exception of one poster (and perhaps another), even SPG Ambassadors mainly seem to be handling things that we would otherwise be calling reservations for such as requesting upgrades, booking awards, etc.

exploreaswego

I hear ya, but the balls are all in Marriott's court now. There's really nothing we can do unless we wait for more information, or ask questions at the respective channels that their "informed reps" can provide actual answers.
Even then, like you mentioned, based on reading everyone's experiences, answers are never consistent even when coming from their internal sources.
They get to dictate the rules and terms, going into it, we all knew it was going to be a hot mess when Marriott decided to make this transition mid-year as compared to starting it in the next calendar year as announced previously.

hockeyinsider

If Marriott is logical and ethical, qualified spending would be any spending eligible for points.

hockeyinsider

I'm really disappointed that (at least to my knowledge) none of the travel writers and bloggers who covered the big announcement and had exclusives with Flueck ever asked Marriott the question everyone really wants to know: Why a mid-year launch as opposed to January 1, 2019.

bhrubin

Not really. We know Marriott will announce more of the award category chart this month. We know Marriott will release more info to clarify program details this month, too. Presumably, the details on what constitutes spending and how it will be tracked will be shared sometime later this month.

Marriott is doing current Marriott elites quite a big favor here by starting the new program in August--else current Marriott elites would have no chance to attain Ambassador status at all for 2019. Marriott's decision to start in August is a huge boon for Marriott Platinums with the opportunity now to earn Ambassador status that otherwise would not have been at all available.

So I'd say Marriott elites may want to cut Marriott some slack. Impatience isn't a virtue, and some Marriott elites are clamorinng incessantly for details that are going to be released this month--still 2 months in advance of the start of the new program, and 5 months earlier than it otherwise might have been! It's a new loyalty program. It's a huge loyalty program. There are many details. There are many questions. There are many different options available. Marriott is doing pretty well so far, I'd say.

I earn SPG points on food/beverage now both with an SPG hotel stay and even when I don't stay at an SPG hotel. I earn SPG points on most hotel services except for stuff like spa (I don't do spa, so I could be mistaken--but I don't think so) and some concierge fees. But I also earn SPG points on most concierge booked tours that I charge to my room.

It's important to recognize that current Marriott Rewards "Ambassadors" are merely trial runs attempting to mimic what SPG Ambassadors do. So any Marriott elites with "Ambassadors" sharing their experiences cannot be expected to have a proper perspective on what the new loyalty program Ambassadors are equipped to do.

It's quite interesting to me that so many of the same people who think it's overrated or worthless to have an Ambassador are also complaining or so curious about how to qualify to get one.

exploreaswego

I think deep down, we all know that with the 3:1 ratio and AMEX/SPG spend bonuses, Gold SPG status match for Plats were too generous on Marriott's end just to entice new members to "enjoy" the benefits.
It has clearly tanked their revenue over the past year, pulling the plug earlier with "hidden devaluations" can save them million of dollars in a matter of a few months..
Especially with the year end period, which is the most lucrative quarter for the company.

It's disappointing that none of these travel bloggers brought this up in the spotlight, but putting yourself in their shoes.
If you have thousands of points stashed with Marriott, and the potential of making business with a giant like Marriott/Starwood. It is far less likely for one to poke the bear with such questions.
Even if one did, you'll get fluffed answers from their exe/reps.

DL-Don

I am currently an MR LTP and expect to be LTPP under the merged program (2900+ nights, 9+ million points) . I currently have 73 MR nights (including roll-over and credit card nights) and 8 SPG nights. If by the end of the year I have a combined total in excess of 100 and I spent $20K, will I have Ambassador status?