Dec 4, 2018, 10:44 am
Last edit by: HHQX888
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Ambassador Service general phone line (USA): (866) 924-9885
Europe: +353-21-4861 222
USA: +1-866-924-9885
Asia : +86-20-38157156
Marriott Bonvoy ‘Ambassador Elite’ Level : experiences (2020 and earlier)
May 15, 2018, 8:32 pm
#121
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: UK
Programs: Bonvoy Lifetime Titanium Elite, UA 1K
Posts: 822
May 15, 2018, 9:37 pm
#122
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: CHS
Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy Amabassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,589
Nah, they already said in August when the swap happens there will be a $$ number on your account page on the Marriott.com website. You can call now and ask what your YTD spend is, mine is extremely accurate - even with 85 days in a RI so far, I will be on track to hit 20K I think.
May 15, 2018, 9:52 pm
#123
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hold it down for The Bay, reppin' Oakland
Programs: Lowly UA silver, Marriott Ambassador/Tit4Lyf, IHG Plat
Posts: 1,763
Nah, they already said in August when the swap happens there will be a $$ number on your account page on the Marriott.com website. You can call now and ask what your YTD spend is, mine is extremely accurate - even with 85 days in a RI so far, I will be on track to hit 20K I think.
This does not, however, mean that they are always accurate. Because they appear to be tracking spend via base points, the number they gave me was off by around $15K.
May 16, 2018, 8:21 am
#124
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: CHS
Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy Amabassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,589
Yes, I have no doubt that they are clever enough to calculate $ from base points on 3 rooms, even with some properties earning at different rates.
This does not, however, mean that they are always accurate. Because they appear to be tracking spend via base points, the number they gave me was off by around $15K.
This does not, however, mean that they are always accurate. Because they appear to be tracking spend via base points, the number they gave me was off by around $15K.
Airlines do this now, if i spend $5000 on 2 tickets - one for me and one for my wife, I only get PQD's for my ticket and she gets PQD for her ticket - if she doesn't have a FF account, they go into the ether, no one gets the benefits of spending the money on her ticket.
May 16, 2018, 9:05 am
#125
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,417
Nah, they already said in August when the swap happens there will be a $$ number on your account page on the Marriott.com website. You can call now and ask what your YTD spend is, mine is extremely accurate - even with 85 days in a RI so far, I will be on track to hit 20K I think.
So did they give you half credit or full credit for your spend during those 85 RI nights?
May 16, 2018, 9:33 am
#126
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: CHS
Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy Amabassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,589
Full credit for "Room Rate" all the taxes, occupancy tax, local room fee and all the other local type taxes were not counted. Luckily when i do my expenses i have to break that out, so I already had a good handle on that number.
May 16, 2018, 12:21 pm
#127
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hold it down for The Bay, reppin' Oakland
Programs: Lowly UA silver, Marriott Ambassador/Tit4Lyf, IHG Plat
Posts: 1,763
I wouldn't be surprised if the 3 rooms thing went away and dollars were calculated based on the room that the member is in only. That way they can still award bonus point for meetings, extra rooms etc, but spend will be what the member spends.
Airlines do this now, if i spend $5000 on 2 tickets - one for me and one for my wife, I only get PQD's for my ticket and she gets PQD for her ticket - if she doesn't have a FF account, they go into the ether, no one gets the benefits of spending the money on her ticket.
Airlines do this now, if i spend $5000 on 2 tickets - one for me and one for my wife, I only get PQD's for my ticket and she gets PQD for her ticket - if she doesn't have a FF account, they go into the ether, no one gets the benefits of spending the money on her ticket.
May 16, 2018, 3:12 pm
#128
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: CHS
Programs: UA GS, Bonvoy Amabassador, Hertz PC
Posts: 2,589
You certainly do, there is no denying that.
Then again, with industry consolodation, you have Starriott, Hyatt and Hilton at the top of the heap - plus many fabulous independent properties.
Hilton, nor Hyatt have the coverage Starriott does and they are probably banking on that to some degree as they know they have a somewhat captive audience. Plus the groups that use Marriott in the past now have access to the SPG brands and vice versa. Some may stay, some may go, some may expand etc.
Based on their current releases and conversion, I think the vast vast majority are happy so far, we will see if devaluations come after they realize this was too generous or not.
All that said, I have no clue, nor do I have any inside data to indicate they are removing the 3 room limit, other than I was asking/speculating if what they quoted you for spend lined up with what you would have if you only counted one room per night......
May 16, 2018, 4:01 pm
#129
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hold it down for The Bay, reppin' Oakland
Programs: Lowly UA silver, Marriott Ambassador/Tit4Lyf, IHG Plat
Posts: 1,763
Two to three times a year I book group contracts as well. I think it would be in Marriott's best interests to give some credit for group spend. If they fail to do this, they may fail to offer the highest level status to many of their most lucrative customers.
May 16, 2018, 4:39 pm
#130
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
It lined up with three rooms spend. The issue is that, in most cases, I book and pay for 4-9 rooms. That's a whole lot of revenue I bring to Marriott for which I'm not getting credit (unless they figure out how to credit more than three rooms).
Two to three times a year I book group contracts as well. I think it would be in Marriott's best interests to give some credit for group spend. If they fail to do this, they may fail to offer the highest level status to many of their most lucrative customers.
Two to three times a year I book group contracts as well. I think it would be in Marriott's best interests to give some credit for group spend. If they fail to do this, they may fail to offer the highest level status to many of their most lucrative customers.
Also according to Marriott Insider and Starwood Lurker, Marriott will not continue the SPG policy of awarding up to 3 elite nights for up to 3 paid rooms where a member stays in one of them. However, points will be awarded for up to 3 paid rooms, so members still get credit for those additional rooms—just not towards elite status.
Marriott has decided what is in its best interests insofar as awarding elite status, probably based on innumerable calculations of how many elites would have attained various levels of status in previous years among both Marriott and SPG members.
Few benefitted more than me with the SPG policy of gaining up to 3 elite night credits—which is how I now have 119 nights for the year already! Of course, losing the 3 elite night credits policy and gaining the 10 elite night credits policy means I do even better—and it rewards me even more for putting my larger groups at Marriott hotels, even more than the SPG policy did.
So your assessment that the new policy somehow hurts Marriott might be true for YOU in your personal circumstance—but is quite doubtful for the bigger picture that actually concerns Marriott. People who book large groups of 10+ rooms do better with Marriott’s policy than they did with SPG’s policy...and those larger bookings account for vastly more business than the 2 extra rooms individuals may book.
Sorry.
May 16, 2018, 4:46 pm
#131
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
When you look elsewhere beyond Plat75, of course, you also do give up the Plat75 ability to get a select suite or at least a very upgraded room category, lounge access, free breakfast, more points, and better treatment overall at the Marriott properties. I think you’ll find you give up more than you gain, but that does depend on where else you choose to stay.
May 16, 2018, 7:11 pm
#132
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hold it down for The Bay, reppin' Oakland
Programs: Lowly UA silver, Marriott Ambassador/Tit4Lyf, IHG Plat
Posts: 1,763
So your assessment that the new policy somehow hurts Marriott might be true for YOU in your personal circumstance—but is quite doubtful for the bigger picture that actually concerns Marriott. People who book large groups of 10+ rooms do better with Marriott’s policy than they did with SPG’s policy...and those larger bookings account for vastly more business than the 2 extra rooms individuals may book.
The question remains whether those who book and pay for 4-9 rooms will receive credit for this spend, and whether those who book large groups will receive any credit for that spend. If we don't, Marriott is making it harder for some of its most lucrative customers to achieve its highest level of status. Their choice, but it seems like a mistake to me.
May 16, 2018, 7:28 pm
#133
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Hold it down for The Bay, reppin' Oakland
Programs: Lowly UA silver, Marriott Ambassador/Tit4Lyf, IHG Plat
Posts: 1,763
When you look elsewhere beyond Plat75, of course, you also do give up the Plat75 ability to get a select suite or at least a very upgraded room category, lounge access, free breakfast, more points, and better treatment overall at the Marriott properties. I think you’ll find you give up more than you gain, but that does depend on where else you choose to stay.
What it means is that 25+ of the nights I currently spend in Courtyards/Fairfields/SpringHills/TownePlaces may be moved to Hyatt Places/Hilton Garden Inns/Hamptons/Homewood Suites/Home 2s/Holiday Inn Expresses/Staybridge Suites/Candlewood Suites if those hotels are more convenient and/or a better value. These are not locations where I see much benefit from status, so if choosing something else on occasion has no impact on my status with Marriott (because I may not reach $20K in spend if they only count 25-35% of my spend), there is no real reason to stick with Marriott for these nights. I'll still do my 75 nights, but why do more?
For Marriott it is worth noting that the 25+ nights they may lose from me represent a lot more than 25 room nights. Sure, it will be at cheaper properties, but I will generally be booking 6-9 rooms for each of these nights (sometimes more). Even at the low end we're talking about a potential loss of 150+ room nights.
May 16, 2018, 8:15 pm
#134
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,324
I'm not entirely stupid. If I have 25+ nights beyond PLAT 75 to spend elsewhere, I'm not going to make those the nights I'm on vacation in London, or nights when there is a good full service property with a nice lounge that works for me.
What it means is that 25+ of the nights I currently spend in Courtyards/Fairfields/SpringHills/TownePlaces may be moved to Hyatt Places/Hilton Garden Inns/Hamptons/Homewood Suites/Home 2s/Holiday Inn Expresses/Staybridge Suites/Candlewood Suites if those hotels are more convenient and/or a better value. These are not locations where I see much benefit from status, so if choosing something else on occasion has no impact on my status with Marriott (because I may not reach $20K in spend if they only count 25-35% of my spend), there is no real reason to stick with Marriott for these nights. I'll still do my 75 nights, but why do more?
For Marriott it is worth noting that the 25+ nights they may lose from me represent a lot more than 25 room nights. Sure, it will be at cheaper properties, but I will generally be booking 6-9 rooms for each of these nights (sometimes more). Even at the low end we're talking about a potential loss of 150+ room nights.
What it means is that 25+ of the nights I currently spend in Courtyards/Fairfields/SpringHills/TownePlaces may be moved to Hyatt Places/Hilton Garden Inns/Hamptons/Homewood Suites/Home 2s/Holiday Inn Expresses/Staybridge Suites/Candlewood Suites if those hotels are more convenient and/or a better value. These are not locations where I see much benefit from status, so if choosing something else on occasion has no impact on my status with Marriott (because I may not reach $20K in spend if they only count 25-35% of my spend), there is no real reason to stick with Marriott for these nights. I'll still do my 75 nights, but why do more?
For Marriott it is worth noting that the 25+ nights they may lose from me represent a lot more than 25 room nights. Sure, it will be at cheaper properties, but I will generally be booking 6-9 rooms for each of these nights (sometimes more). Even at the low end we're talking about a potential loss of 150+ room nights.
May 17, 2018, 2:14 am
#135
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: In the air
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Bonvoy LT Plat, Hilton Gold, GHA Tit, BA Gold, Turkish Elite
Posts: 8,720
For Marriott it is worth noting that the 25+ nights they may lose from me represent a lot more than 25 room nights. Sure, it will be at cheaper properties, but I will generally be booking 6-9 rooms for each of these nights (sometimes more). Even at the low end we're talking about a potential loss of 150+ room nights.