I've never had a Ritz Carlton perk up and offer me anything besides 1,000 points for being a Titanium member.

I'd doubt an exception is granted just because it was requested. The odds are better that it was a business decision based on what they thought about costs and benefits to the company, although one never knows. It's always possible someone just gets lucky or talks to a manager on a good day.

And of course they don't offer the same service to everyone. They offer better service to elites and better elite service to higher level elites. I believe what you meant is they should stick to publicly announced benefits. I'd be surprised if they didn't try harder for someone who spends $50k/year than someone who spends $20k/year. Look at American Airlines. It has an internal rating system by which it ranks top tier elites by some non-public metrics, reportedly including profitability. Those who are higher rated get better treatment. Other businesses do the same, either formally or informally.

Which isn't to say that it's not possible for Marriott to behave irrationally or inconsistently, with a wide variety of CSR competence and other lack of policy enforcement.

Marriott should indeed give the service that is earned/expected to all members. Marriott fails because it doesn't even give what the program terms state. That's the real problem. Not that that some get above and beyond.

There will always be exceptions above and beyond what is expected. Always. I have family far richer than I, and they often get better than I at some places they frequent often that I've never been to. They should.

A billionaire who spends millions of year in fees should, in a for profit business, get "exceptions". Equal under the law but not in for profit arenas.

I was stuck on hold for about 15 minutes a few nights ago. I wound up politely informing the CSR that in the time that it had taken me to get through, I had managed to confirm a new credit card and book my room on a data-throttled phone (I mainly called because my phone was on restricted data...the joy of being in a family with three kids ;-) ). I'd just finished doing so when they came through, but it was a bit of an embarrassing moment...really, for both sides of that conversation IMO.

I've stopped driving business to Marriott in most cases. Part of that is that I managed to requal very early this year, giving me a bit of flexibility. But a lot of it is that Marriott has generally fallen on their face. My view is this: There are a lot of good folks working the front desks around the country, doing their damnedest. But between a bunch of franchise owners getting too clever by half in the face of negligent corporate management and labor squeezes on the other side of the equation, there's only so much they can do. And in some of these cases it hurts because there are a few hotels I've been frequenting for various reasons for years (e.g. the Hunt Valley Inn, where I've been attending conventions for several years) but there's only so far things can go to pieces before I might get stuck moving my business.

Edit: Honestly, if this goes on the net result of this is likely to be that I muddle my way to Titanium in 2022 for 2023...but knock on wood I'll be doing it on the basis of 30 nights from credit cards, 5 from the 50-night award, and maybe a few other nights from an odd promo with the rest coming from events held at Marriotts or cases where relative footprints force my hand. But I feel like I'm getting a better experience out of pairing Hyatt and Choice than Marriott. Even then, I'm honestly holding on for the 48-hour guarantee more than anything else.

I am not traveling like I used to (retired in 2019) so I am not seeing hotels every week. But as a Lifetime Titanium I dont expect a brass band upon arrival but it seems like I am like every other person in line. Seems to be a lot of hiding behind Covid issues that are causing problems. I am sure they have issues but the end user experience is taking a hit

My two experiences in the last month or so are so-so greeting, average rooms (no views in hotels that have great views) and almost no nice, extra anything. I have a minor billing issue with the Key Bridge Marriott that has yet to be resolved even after 2 calls to them.

Marriott isn't making a ton of money from me these days, but once I draw down my pile o'miles it is time to look elsewhere for vacation places

The United status.

For those who don't fly a lot of Star Alliance, but still use it for a couple trips a year, that perk is worth something.

Everything else about Marriott has become a commodity. They're taking out the service elements at pretty much every brand. I'm glad I have lifetime status, because I will never again chase status at a chain hotel. They are all interchangeable beds and showers with mostly unfriendly staff at this point.

I would guess starting 2022the value of being Titanium will be eroded further due to all these bonus nights and demoted ambassador members.

Honestly, for me, even current ambassador tier is useless. No more personal ambassador, and the Global Ambassador Service quality have been dropped significantly.
They very good at copy and paste the information on Marriott/hotels website without even bother to see if the answer was there.

I easily earn 20,000 United Mileage Points through this route; crediting all my Hertz Car Rentals to United. Hertz gives 500, United gives 500 for 1,000 per rental. It's easily a one way business class trip to Europe before you know it.

It's worth something.

mikebor , don't take it personally that you're getting attacked for getting good service from Marriott. There is a faction here who are so blinded by their hatred post-merger that they refuse to believe anything could approach old SPG standards (except perhaps Hyatt Globalist, with lots of bluster but few actual stories of what the status gets them... wait, maybe that's exactly like SPG after all).

I don't still have a personal ambassador but feel very well taken care of by Bonvoy. I hardly ever call the ambassador line to request anything, and properties typically treat me VERY well. Whenever I do need something from the ambassador team, they handle it quickly and professionally. Hyatt lost me as a customer years ago with repeated lackluster stays and poor follow-up from the Gold Passport (old Hyatt program) team when I had a couple of issues.

Yes, I will never chase lifetime status at any hotel chain ever again (even Hyatt which has been good to me). Not worth the risk of massive devaluation and not worth listening to my wife who tells me "Told you so" when she never understood why I chase SPG lifetime in 1st place.

​​​​​​If I grt Hyatt by spend it'll happen but I won't go out of my way

I'm in an odd position WRT Hyatt because I have a single expensive event there every year which actually takes a reasonable chunk out of LTG there. I'm not "chasing" status per se, but as things stand (with Hyatt standing out among the brands) it feels like I might blunder into that over time...and if I get close, I might stretch for it. But such a timeframe is perhaps a decade off before it becomes tangible.

The main thing that I'm facing is that Hyatt went with AA and Marriott went with UA, and I'm a DL guy, so the airline pairings are non-considerations for me.

For the twice a year I fly United it is nice. But I (unfortunately) earn A list preferred on SW and Platinum on Delta most years too.

Marriott is still better than Hilton IMO (where I'm Platinum somehow this year too), but slightly less available.

I’m considering making it to titanium largely for the UA benefit and the additional points. But the extra Points aren’t really that many in the scheme of things, and I,almost never fly, and almost always fly delta.

At this point, Marriott and Hilton are totally interchangeable to me. I'm Titanium and Diamond - neither mean anything at any property - and all of my post-pandemic hotel stays have been with such completely barebones services and surly staff that the flag outside the building really doesn't matter.

I haven't had any truly *bad* stays. The bed is fine, the shower works, the toilet flushes. Those are pretty much the only variables in any of these brands anymore. So I just search all hotels and pick the cheapest property that fits my needs, giving maybe a few bucks "credit" to a brand where I have elite status so they don't stick me with the worst room in the building.

I think the best stay I had recently was a Holiday Inn Express, simply because the pool wasn't out-of-order and they actually had their normal breakfast service running. Yay. An HIX breakfast! A hotel that actually functions correctly enough to get bagels and eggs right.

Hyatt Globalist >>>> Bonvoy Ambassador (let alone Titanium) and it's not even close...and like SPG (but even better), there are *tangible* Globalist benefits (a la no resort fees ever, no parking fees on awards, confirmed suite upgrades at booking, full breakfasts, etc.) vs. the vaporware that Ambassador offers these days (and you don't have to spend $20K even)