khabah

Just got an account update email with this graphic in it, further emphasizing the death/no-point-in-this-ness of 'Ambassador' Elite:



I was also reading through several travel blogs, and came across this scathing review of Ambassador Elite status from LoyaltyLobby. The way the program has been under Marriott from the get-go has generally been underwhelming and not one I will ever aspire to again, and this blurb puts it rather nicely. Pasting below:

"You could argue that Marriott has never understood loyalty and still doesn’t.

It didn’t much matter when most of their hotels were select service yards or inns and a few cookie-cutter Marriott boxes at city and leisure destinations around the Americas.

Marriott considers its loyalty program members mainly as a cheap distribution channel per comments made on a recent corporate earnings call, and it shows.

The purpose of the Ambassador service, when Starwood launched it, was to offer genuinely world-class service and have a one-stop contact for all hotel-related issues from bookings to upgrades and after stay follow-ups.

SPG also partially devalued the program when it was made public from a trial, and a requirement of 100 nights per calendar year was set

Marriott further “enhanced” it by first doubling the number of accounts that each Ambassador was supposed to handle to more than 300 and then 500 or so, making it impossible to deliver the promise that was made to these members who spent more than 100 nights and $20,000 at their hotels yearly.

Many Ambassadors left, and the quality contact center that mainly handled these requests in Canada was closed, and employees laid off.

I have said it before, and I will repeat it, if you stay 100+ nights per year at hotels, you should stop crediting to Marriott at 75 and build up a top tier status with one or more of their competitors. I see absolutely zero reasons for trying to reach the current Ambassador status with Marriott."

Oof.

The few comments below support it. Part of me is surprised at how tone deaf Marriott is at the sheer criticism of their highest loyalty tier, while the other part of me has accepted that this is a company that really, really doesn't care.

khabah

kaizen7

Receive this warning before when I sent an email to my ambassador email address few months ago.

If Marriott really remove personal ambassador and replace it with global ambassador team, then it would be interesting to justify the extra requirements as the tier end up become platinum with extra point earning with some chance to get your24 approved.

As the platinum and titanium get dedicated elite support.

Time to really change the tier name to Your24tm members

Kacee

Marriott doesn't seem to care much about actual benefits not matching published and marketed benefits.

That said, they did give us the $100 end of year gift, which was I suspect an attempt to make up for the obvious problems with the current Ambassador program. While that was a nice gesture, it didn't make me any more inclined to spend $20k (or $14k) with Marriott again.

kaizen7

Agreed. other than supposedly "better recognition" due to being highest tier of Bonvoy, I didn't see the value in directing $14k towards Bonvoy if I end up receive benefit similar to titaniums.
Might as well stop at titanium and use the remaining nights to chase elite from other programs

jjLDNY

Completely agree with that transcript and the above posts. I will over the upcoming months book no more than 25 or so nights with Marriott (which including my +50 will get me to Tit) if I can help it, and instead put nights into Hyatt as the points are worth more to me as I have an abundance with Marriott.

longtimereader firstimeposter

Hyatt points are valued higher because they’re harder to earn. They’re program is more closely aligned to what SPG’s looked like. As a globalist I earn 6.5 points per dollar compared to 17.5 points per dollar as a Marriott Ambassador.

top tier hotel at Hyatt is 30,000 - $4,615 in spend to get there vs 85,000 at Marriott - $4,857 in spend to get there. Really need to look at promos to determine which is the “most” valuable.

jjLDNY

Valid call out, have updated. They're more valuable to me atm as I have plenty of points with MR.

Kacee

Also need to consider the value of that free night. Marriott doesn't waive resort/destination fees on award stays, Hyatt does. Hyatt also provides free parking (currently to all, in normal times just to top tier). That's without even getting into the more subjective process of comparing other elite benefits, such as breakfast and upgrades.

longtimereader firstimeposter

That's getting into Globalist vs Ambassador. From a points valuation perspective, yes Hyatt points are worth more (TPG puts them at 1.7c compared to 0.8c for Marriott) but I'm just stating they're harder to earn.

Is the value of Globalist worth more than Ambassador? With Marriott dropping the personalized Ambassador and cost to earn, I would say yes, with some of the points you mentioned but it depends on the type of properties you stay at.

SHLTP

I don't see any justification for hitting the spending and night threshold to achieve ambassador anymore (I let mine lapse). It's better now just to hit Plat w credit cards/nights and then go after Hilton or Hyatt or Shangri-la etc.

I'm not convinced even Titanium is worth going after. Those extra 25 nights can be used somewhere else.

​​​​​​With getting rid of individual ambassadors, to justify hitting the threshold Marriott needs to give some meaningful benefits - like confirmed at booking Suite nights like Hyatt or free category 8 certificate.

Unless they do that, theres really no point to try intentionally to hit ambassador

dcstudent

I just made ambassador in 2020, purely by luck of timing of a 14 week trial in which I lived out of a Marriott. I've had three stays since making Amb, and I have seen nothing special (granted small sample size but occupancy at the hotels was near zilch so it wouldn't have been hard to at least upgrade i would think). Like many of the posters, not sure what the point of Amb is. Nothing more guaranteed than Platinum. No more suite nights or points than Titanium. Your 24, if the hotel allows you to have it. A general email which goes to someone who may or may not be helpful or even competent. No guaranteed suite or even a 1 class upgrade at booking.

I saw no reason to aim for this status in the first place and am totally meh about keeping it. I'll make Tit with the 50 gimme nights + 15 credit card +stays at my usual go-to properties, but otherwise I'll be aiming for Hyatt/Hilton/Accor (Fairmont & Sofitel mainly).

HaleiwaFlyer

But isn't the whole point of getting Ambassador is for the bragging rights?

All kidding aside, what the more seasoned and well traveled individuals say, having repeat business and building relationships with management is probably worth more than status. It was an eye opener that I got treated better at a Hyatt that I never stayed at before, as the lowest tier loyalty member, than as a Marriott Ambassador. For my own personal data points, I was upgraded more as a Marriott gold member than when I became Ambassador (I don't really consider the same room at a club level as an upgrade). Based on other posters, if you are a non-US Ambassador, you will be treated very well with upgrades. For us US Ambassadors, it is not as nice.

In regards to your 24, every single time I reached out to my Ambassador, it never helped. I would only find out if a room was available at the time of check in or 24 hours prior to check in by using the chat function with the hotel directly. With Hyatt, I opened up my phone app, showed an automatic upgrade processed, and was able to check in at 10 AM without even making a phone call or inquiring if I can check in early.

goodeats21

Agreeing with all the above.

Loss of personal ambassador email address is big for me. I have had horrible, incompetent service from the general Ambassador pool. Found a great agent that shared her email address with me and has been great ever since.
Of course Marriott now kills it.

khabah

Following up on the above, I just read this article about how Bonvoy is the "backbone" of Marriott's strategy. They're not interested in giving away "too many free nights", but rather want their guests to wonder "why they would ever join another hotel loyalty program."

At this point, after all this, I wonder if Marriott's top brass are senile, straight-up delusional or really dislike where they work to the point that they themselves are sabotaging it from within. Double-you tee eff.

Pasting below to avoid the annoying registration wall.

khabah

***

How Marriott Is Fighting To Save The Golden Goose: Its Loyalty Program

NationalHotel
January 13, 2021 Walker & Dunlop Benjamin Paltiel, Bisnow Custom Content WriterFor major hospitality companies, the coronavirus pandemic has imperiled not just their day-to-day business model but also their most important lifelines: the loyalty programs that they have spent tens of billions of dollars building and that set them apart from their upstart home-sharing competitors.

Hotel conglomerates like Marriott International have occupied a precarious position when it comes to keeping the goodwill of their most active customers. With business travel at a crawl, many longtime loyalty members would have lost the elite status that took them years to build.

The executives in charge of Marriott’s Bonvoy loyalty program have had to balance incentivizing guests to use their services while making sure they didn’t revoke members’ status or give away too many free nights of stay at a time when the bottom line for hotels has never been weaker.

“Bonvoy is the backbone of our strategy,” Marriott International Group President for Consumer Operations, Technology and Emerging Businesses Stephanie Linnartz said on the most recent Walker & Dunlop Walker Webcast.

The hope, she said, is to make guests ask themselves "why they would ever join another hotel loyalty program.”

Under Marriott’s rules from years past, it would have been very difficult for anyone to earn or retain their elite status in 2020, Linnartz said. Revenue per available room, a prominent metric in judging hotel performance, fell from its 2019 peak by a shocking 85% across Marriott’s global portfolio of hotel brands in Q2 2020. And though leisure travel has ticked up month by month through 2020, occupancy is still nowhere near 2019 levels, with business and group travel still at record low levels.

As the pandemic set in, Linnartz and her colleagues sprung into action to overhaul the loyalty program. The company offered widespread leniency, extending the elite status that members earned in 2019 through 2022, ensuring that members wouldn’t be kicked off for not using rooms during the pandemic. The free nights of stay that come along with status may hurt more to give away than they would in another year, but Linnartz said they are a small price to pay for continued customer loyalty.

Even as demand for hotel rooms has taken a severe hit, pricing has remained largely consistent, Linnartz said, as slashing pricing was unlikely to drive more demand. Many of Marriott's largest corporate accounts, including Microsoft and consulting giants Deloitte, McKinsey and Accenture, have chosen simply to roll over their 2020 pricing into 2021 rather than renegotiate.

But as much as saving Bonvoy has been about playing defense, Linnartz said that her team has worked to find new ways of getting customers to engage and spend with Marriott brands during the pandemic. The Bonvoy-branded credit card began offering miles for nontravel purchases like gas and groceries. And Marriott has continued to expand nontraditional stay options: Marriott Homes & Villas, the company’s vacation rental platform, has expanded into North America after a successful pilot in Europe, and the company will also grow its fleet of Ritz-Carlton-branded luxury yacht cruises.

After it acquired Starwood Hotels & Resorts in 2016, Marriott became the world’s largest hotel company, with 30 different brands in its portfolio. On the webcast, Walked & Dunlop CEO Willy Walker asked Linnartz whether the pandemic might be a time to take stock of those many brands and build back under fewer banners, but Linnartz expressed confidence that the brands are more likely to grow than merge.

“In this day and age, the more choices we can offer the consumer in terms of size and scale, the more attractive Marriott Bonvoy is,” she said. “It's really the flywheel of being part of our travel platform. I think we have hands-down the best hotel brands in the industry, at all price points. The same guest who might stay at a Ritz-Carlton for certain stay occasions might want to book a room at the Courtyard by Marriott to go to their kid's soccer tournament.”

The synergy of having all those disparate brands under the Marriott umbrella is something that gives Linnartz faith in the future of Marriott’s brands as it faces competition from much younger companies. Walker pointed out that Airbnb’s market capitalization currently sits at around $100B, almost 50% more than the market caps of Marriott International and Hilton combined. Linnartz pointed to the importance not just of brand loyalty but of longevity when it comes to success.

“Airbnb has really built an admirable platform,” Linnartz said. “I think it’s great to see them become a public company. Marriott has been a public company since 1953.”

dcstudent

I've now had 4 stays as Ambassador this year. Three were one-night stays, one was a two night stay. I'll post full reviews on the appropriate master threads but here are the parts that matter most to ambassador level folks. Please note, I did not reach out to the Ambassador service for any sort of assistance on either of these stays.

Marriott Cleveland East: 2 night stay Sunday and Monday night: Welcomed as being a Bonvoy member. No mention of Ambassador. Upgraded from base king to corner king (since upgrades and room availability are so opaque, I don't know if anything else was available. Lounge closed, provided tickets for complementary a la carte breakfast in restaurant (given to all Plats and above on request) in addition to welcome points.

Marriott Lexington KY: 1 Night Stay on a Saturday: Welcomed as Ambassador. Upgraded from base king to corner king. Hotel has multiple suites, but they are not even bookable online ever so not sure what gives. Asked about breakfast, as lounge closed, I was provided tickets for $25 fresh bites. Not informed that the breakfast was in lieu of welcome points until I noticed welcome points were missing when stay posted. Not worth chasing.

Marriott Lexington, KY: 1 Night Stay on a Tuesday: Not welcomed as a returning guest or Bonvoy member. Booked base King, got a corner King. Suites again exist but are literally not bookable online so not sure whether anything is considered "standard".

Marriott Greenville, SC: 1 Night Stay on a Friday: Welcomed as Ambassador. Upgraded to huge full 1 bedroom suite. Provided tickets for full breakfast in restaurant + welcome points. Was told if I wanted water/snacks to come to front desk and certain items would be complimentary because of lounge closure. (This was probably my 2nd best stay during COVID hands down and a top stay generally as far as staff quality and honoring elite benefits. Staff was amazing, especially given I had never stayed here before. (#1 stay was at a hotel where they know me))