Recognizing and thanking the Ambassador Team / Ambassador
 

Hi! Could someone please advise on the appropriate way to express gratitude to an Ambassador or Ambassador Team? :tu: For context, I usually give a small token of appreciation to individuals such as neighborhood gate guards, landscapers, service advisor at fletcher J, and office IT support staff. However, it appears that the Ambassador team operates differently from concierge teams at JPM or Amex travel planning agency. Specifically, Marriott policy apparently prohibits small gestures of appreciation, including eGift cards. I have upcoming travel across Europe through the end of August and maybe some more travel prior to the full enforcement of the RTO mandate, so it would be nice to show some form of appreciation to my Ambassador. Given this, is an email the only acceptable means to acknowledge or thank an Ambassador for their time and effort?

I have historically recognised particular staff with a direct physical letter to Mr Marriott's office, and the staff have been duely recognised in appropriate ways, though this was for hotels I stayed at regularly and after the fact (and as a surprise).

A few threads like this say the same thing:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...l-service.html
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...-employee.html

However, it does seem the way you have gone about this may be perceived as troublesome - I recognise your approach may align with a US culture of tipping, but you could see how it could be perceived as inappropriate for the ambassador to prioritise your needs above those of the other ~100 people they serve. Whether deliberate or not, it does sound a bit like "tipping the check-in staff in vegas for a room upgrade"

I agree, it shouldn't be money or an equivalent. My Ambassador has gone above and beyond (e.g., when I traveled to a remote area that she was familiar with because she had family there, she gave me a handful of off-the-beaten path recs, because she knows I prefer that kind of stuff). We have chatted about my kids and her grandkids, so whenever I get one of those $50 or $100 gift cards from her (even though they may be sent from Marriott and not necessarily from her), I send her a nice email with a family picture of us using the gift card (e.g. "thanks for buying us smoothies on the beach -- and for all you do"). It's my way of sending a human thank you.

The rules for ambassadors say they are not able to accept gifts, including gift cards. Stop sending your ambassador gifts.

To be clear, I am not sending anything anymore. I am simply inquiring within the forum as to whether this situation is typical. Calm down. :) For context, I have never had any trouble spending my own money to show appreciation for individuals who are dedicated to their work, like the gate guards in my neighborhood, USPS mailman, landscapers, fletcher jones service advisors, and IT support staff at my office during the holidays...

Thank you for your thoughtful perspective. I must admit, I had not considered it from that perspective before. I have always viewed hospitality as part of the broader service sector, where small tokens of appreciation are common. Over the years, I have expressed thanks to the JPM concierge team, Amex Travel, and professionals I work with in SoCal. I now recognize that, in this context, such gestures may be perceived differently....and I appreciate the insight.

By USPS regulation, limited to non-cash items such as a store- or restaurant-specific gift card not to exceed $20 in value. Cash equivalent cards such Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, etc., are not allowed.

In many coastal communities in Orange County, it is almost customary, esp among some older residents, to express our thanks and appreciation to our mail carriers in the holiday season, typically around Thanksgiving or Christmas. This kind of gesture will certainly not break a bank account, and all it takes is a card and a modest token of gratitude in a small holiday basket or bag. Those USPS mail carriers' jobs are labor-demanding and typically require daily delivery of regular mail and bulky and heavy packages. Those men and women are often patriotic and carry out their duties with professionalism and pride. The carriers who serve our neighborhood are very friendly and respectful, always waving and greeting us whenever passing by. I can’t speak on your behalf, but I appreciate their daily efforts and dedication in a position already undercompensated before COVID. Mind you, their current compensation levels must have further deteriorated in relative terms.

When adjusted for headline inflation number and ECI, and given the actual cost-of-living problem or “crisis” often felt among people in the lower earning quartile, the pay at USPS should be modest if not relatively low compared to median wage growth across different sectors. Many unlicensed contractors in California earn much higher wages than the dedicated men and women working these physically demanding jobs delivering your mail and packages.

In this instance it seems the perspectives are different because the wording of the OP hints at the thank-you token being sent in respect of ‘upcoming travel’, rather than to recognise previous good service.

Interpretation is often inherently subject to different views and variance, such as legal analyses of past, present, and possible future events. The present matter or issue we were referencing pertains to services in general which encompass both previously completed stays and prospective future bookings.

I thought the matter at hand was whether it is acceptable to 'tip' or offer gifts to your Ambassador. I would say no for the reason that one of the earlier posters suggested, that it's kind of on-par with tipping the FDA in Vegas to get a room UG. It to my mind comes out of the tipping culture in America which IMO has gotten WAY out of hand where everyone everywhere seems to have their hand-out and a simple "Thank-you" without a buck or five attached to it is met with stink-eye, something that doesn't happen in many other parts of the world.

I think treating the Ambassador with respect and genuinely thanking them when they do something you need done is enough and probably better received by many than a Starbucks GC.

By your reasoning, the annual $25 and $50 vouchers sent by the ambassadors could also be construed as an attempt to "tip" me or curry favor. If you want to be this negative, then I could also argue that these "tips" could be used to secure member recognition, or to go a step further, is it to dissuade scrutiny so that the member wouldn't add more workload to their existing workload?

I also disagree with your assessment of tipping culture in the US. I think the issue is not that tipping culture is "out of control." Instead, the problem stems from legislative inaction. Congress has failed to pass legislation that would provide wage protections, ensuring a livable income for most service workers. Employers are abiding by the law, though - they are simply exploiting the existing labor frameworks. In other words, it's legal for employers in the F&B sector to provide low base pay - when you use indicators such as median wage growth for workers in other sectors (i.e. BLS wage data, CPI data of income levels). Consequently, all the servers are compelled to rely heavily on gratuities as their primary source of earnings. I always tell people, if one finds tipping in the US burdensome or objectionable, the best recourse is to refrain from dining out. These service workers are not indulging in any form of luxury; most of the servers I have spoken to are often taking on multiple roles, such as students, caregivers and retail workers, to subsist. Lastly, if anyone is dissatisfied with the US, I don't think presence here is mandated or coerced.

Could someone tell me if my ambassador is still alive???? I really expected a bit more from them...like...check in every $5K-$10K worth of spend!

Wait, really? Why would they check in (other than birthday/anniversary) if you don't need anything? Is that a thing people value?

Some people who travel a lot are lonely I guess?