Lifetimenotelite

I’m sure you are aware they don’t care if it’s corporate or personal dollars.

I’ve steered 100s of thousands of spend towards Marriott over the years plus my typical annual couple thousand on my dime. So while not all my money, I have huge influence on which chain sees the revenue.

Just like business class travel the majority of the cabins are OPM or upgrades…..

BmanCCP

I travel 100%, working in healthcare jumping from gig to gig. Ion 2022 I am currently at 226 nights(with all the promos) 33K spend so far. I was treated nicely at STR Rome and Phoenician in Scottsdale, both points trips. Everywhere else nothing. In the US staying at only full service Marriott or "Premium" brands I have been treated like everyone else. No benefits I can tell, unless you count free granola bars and chips and occasionally bottled water at the M Club...

kennycrudup

I thought about that when I first got started traveling (and had no loyalty) and then again when I'd made LTTE. If I were lucky enough to travel on OPM, I'd consider that- but for my case at least, Marriott's footprint and diversity of brands/pricing means every time I look elsewhere, especially for longer-term stays either they're all measurably more expensive, or not close to where I need to be, then having to start at the bottom again to make my bones at a chain I probably wouldn't end up staying in that often because of pricing and footprint.

<grabs bucket of chum>
<stirs chum>
<stands next to shark-infested pool>
I had a great idea-
<lifts bucket>
... maybe Marriott should just buy Hyatt Hotels!
<runs away as fast as possible>

must_wander

That's a bit like curing the disease by killing the patient

Lifetimenotelite

Absolute truth. And, I was staying at Sheratons to poke away at LT only to see them merge lol.

The network post merger is so much better and then you have to factor in if you have no status the cost/worth of no lounge or bfast to get there.

The travel will come back. It does this every cycle. Business is built on relationships and memories fade.

When the economy falters there will be people telling their boss they need to meet in person to seal the deal 😃

post 9/11 was another shock to travel industry that people soon forgot

cubeman

To those saying $20k should give Ambassador regardless of nights, there have been a few datapoints that Marriott does consider this in giving Ambassador and a few people claim to have gotten it without the nights. Someone posted in the FB group that they got Ambassador for hitting 20k, before 100 nights with a screenshot of it.

It wouldn't surprise me if they are doing a soft test to see if people will spend more upfront to hit 20k rather then try to balance it with nights/spend. A customer who theoretically spends $20k at 75 nights is more valuable then a customer who balances it over 100. (Unless someone has the math to say otherwise). We do have quite a lot of people who try to average their spend to achieve that perfect ratio of 100 nights / 20k spend. I know there might be a few people like me who without double night promos struggle to hit the 100 but hit 20k.

arlflyer

Travel is back to 100% at my professional services firm for those looking for it. Teams are free to be on-site as much as they'd like, or can collocate at any company office to work together. The more experienced crowd who had their fill of travel pre-COVID isn't super enthusiastic, and the partners are happy to not fly across the country for a half-day workshop or meeting, but the COVID hires are all itching for in-person experience and eager to "live the life" with the travel, perks, etc. So we're certainly minting plenty of AMBs (and Hyatt Globalists, to the point that a few posters have made above).

UA-NYC

Interesting anecdotes...can't think of too many other things in life I would be happy spending $20K+ on and receiving a neutral to negative return (with an occasional few high points) when a cheaper & nearly identical offering could be had for under $5K (or a far superior one for the same price).

kennycrudup

Please tell me where I can get rooms (that aren't crack dens) for < $50, please!

gudugan

Let me introduce you to the wonderful world of casino loyalty programs... vs just buying the benefits

Roger Lococco

I’m already well over Ambassador qual levels this year with 100 more nights and $30k more spend booked.

UA-NYC

2 credit cards, 30 nights
20 more nights @marriott ADR of ~$150 = $3K (or even $200 if feeling plush)
equals Platinum

Voila, 95% of the benefits of Ambassador for less than 1/4 the price

ElevatorEnthusiast

Voila, another post of UA-NYC who despite their claims of hating Marriott sure does spend a lot of time spreading negativity on the Marriott forum. No one is spending $20K that they wouldn't spend on travel anyway just to get Ambassador. Perhaps, people enjoy staying in Marriott properties and will stay enough at places they like, which will cause them to obtain Ambassador. Woah, staying in nice hotels - what a novel idea!

If Marriott was really as bad as you claim it is, I wouldn't have had a lovely week of 8 nice stays at 8 different Marriott properties just last week.

kennycrudup

This.

(... and even if you thought you'd wanted to aspire to it, perusing FT should damper that notion. Damn shame, actually.)

Lifetimenotelite

that’s just it. Banking points for vacation stays. That’s the reward for loyalty. The trinkets during stays is nice but the biggest bennie is points for award stays. Unless you are banking huge money and don’t care which if that’s the case you aren’t on FT most likely.