Delays in being assigned Ambassadors
 

Hi folks,

As far as we know, NO ONE who seems to have qualified for new Ambassador service since the Aug 18 merged systems has heard anything from the Ambassador service. If anyone newly qualified for Ambassador service HAS been contacted by the Ambassador service or been assigned an Ambassador since Aug 18, please do let us know!

I imagine that Ambassador Service is being withheld from contacting anyone new UNTIL the Marriott IT team is able to confirm it has correctly elevated only those who truly have earned the service. With all the IT misses and errors, we can assume that it still will take time for Marriott IT to confirm the accuracy of that information. I am sure Marriott does not want to make the mistake of accidentally assigning Ambassadors to guests who actually didn't qualify! The PR fiasco and end result likely would be Marriott having to honor the mistake. That would be quite costly for Marriott.

So the delay is more than likely a result of Marriott waiting for the Marriott IT teams and status checks to be confirmed before anything proceeds.

Possibly ... although I'll note that my ambassador (NV) retired at the end of August and I haven't been assigned a new ambassador yet. There is another poster who had an ambassador leave -- not sure if there has been a new one appointed. I suspect there may be organizational/structure/program discussions going on. Particular since the terms and conditions reference an ambassador section that doesn't exist.

In fairness, I have received a couple of unsolicited emails from other ambassadors checking in and letting me know they would be happy to assist with combining accounts.

Data points on recent Ambassador email contacts and refunded points from SPG pre-merge reservations canceled after Aug 18:

(1) My Ambassador emailed me today that my refunds had processed through for my canceled StR Bal Harbour and StR Bahia Beach award bookings. (Both have already been re-booked at the lower rates now available.) That was 360K points for each booking! (The new bookings are a mere 240K each!)

(2) My Ambassador also emailed me today that my refunds will process in the next few weeks for my Sept 27 StR Florence bookings--one a junior suite for 5 nights and one regular room for 3 nights. I'll get back 400K points for the junior suite (interestingly, Marriott priced the junior suite at 110K points per night as opposed to the normal SPG doubling that would have been at 120K points per night) and 135K for the regular room.

(3) With that many points being returned, I honestly can say that I don't mind allowing the IT team the delay in getting that fixed!

(4) My Ambassador also emailed to tell me she reached out for me to the teams at the StR Osaka, Suiran, and RC Kyoto to make sure everyone is OK after the recent typhoon. Fortunately, I already have heard back from my new friend at the StR Osaka who told me that everyone, staff and guest alike, were fine. The building shook a lot from the high winds but otherwise avoided any major issues/damage.

(5) My Ambassador also emailed me today to follow up that she wasn't having luck on fixing my 75 nights Choice Benefit not working. Fortunately, either what she did or what Marriott Customer Care did worked anyway, as I had that functionality resolved yesterday and already had selected the 5 SNAs. So it's possible Marriott Customer Care got the job done!

I chatted with an ambassador tonight -- was transferred to them. She confirmed that many people were given Ambassador status that should not have, so they're manually reviewing each person (not sure if this is really accurate) to be sure that they either should have it or not. I also earned it mid-Aug but have not been notified. She said that it may be a few weeks still but they don't have a definitive timeline.

$20k Qualifying Spend for Ambassador Service
 

If I book two rooms on my account does the spend for both qualify towards the $20k or just one room? Thanks!

It looks like they are calculating it off of base points earned, which would credit you for up to three rooms, though Marriott has not issued any explicit policy.

Great, thanks!

Anecdotally, I think they are calculating spend based on base point earned. This should be accurate for anyone who never books more than three rooms.

I tend to book and pay for more than three rooms. I know I've spent at least $36K this year, because I have 27 elite nights from the Chase card (15 for the card and 12 for spend). I only use the card at Marriott properties, so I am pretty sure on my spend estimate.

Despite this, Marriott has calculated my spend at $12,745. As I tend to average 6-10 rooms each night, I'm guessing that they reached this figure based on maximum three rooms per night.

None of my pre-8/18 legacy SPG spending is counting. Also, none of my events are counting, either. It would also appear resort fees, dining charges, parking fees, and taxes aren't counting either.

I haven't run the exact numbers since I'm over $20k but when I combined accounts, my spending total jumped from the addition of the legacy SPG spend. On the Marriott side, I know the dining/bar/spa is counting and presume it did from the SPG side.

Unfortunately, I don't think stupid resort/destination fees count or earn points as I've been told that. That being said, I think the new FAQ's on the website suggest maybe they do:

Charges not eligible for earning include, but are not limited to: taxes, service charges, gratuities, and third-party services (such as parking, business center, watersport rentals, etc.). In addition, certain types of room rates are not eligible to earn Points. These include group or convention rates settled through a master bill, airline crew room charges, tours or pre-packaged deals through travel agents, wholesale rates, and rates from third-party bookings such as, but not limited to, Priceline.com, Expedia.com, etc.

https://www.marriott.com/help/rewards-faqs.mi

Not sure about meetings although I would hope Marriott would make a distinction between those on here who organize real meetings and those who are just trying to build nights through RE

I'm LTPP and on the Overview page where it says progress towards Ambassador it's correctly reflecting my nights for the year (48) but for Spend it says $0. Anyone else seeing this?

Mine says over $20K when I'm in reality only halfway there. They know there are still display issues.