FlyerTalk Forums - Lots of bad experiences with upgrade availability

Quote:

Originally Posted by sophiegirl (Post 9525201)

For whatever reasons, it does seem as if the front desk staff are not well trained on the various aspects of the check in procedures that are even slightly out of the norm. If you read FT, a consistent theme across the threads include improper posting of PP's or BB's, improperly processed BOGO's, forgotten plat gifts, and (I guess, after reading this thread) upgrades.

I have never asked for an upgrade, figuring if they had one, I would get it. Obviously, based on reading these posts, I am naive in that beleif. But I don't agree that it is makes it hard on the staff if I were to ask- they are NOT telling me I can't have it, they are saying there isn't one available for me to have. Big difference in my book.

I agree fully that if there were an upgrade, I would get one, which is why I don't ask. And absolutely, there should be no need to ask as you say. In my current six years as a Plat, I have had a total of one BOGO problem and one non-offered plat amenity. That's a darn good track record in my book and just about as good as it gets in the travel industry, IMHO. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Marriott's consistency.

If Marriott were to stop delivering upgrades in an acceptable manner to me, I'll look for another program. As it is, I readily admit that SPG frequently delivers on this promise much better, and it has caused me to think about things. But while SPG gives BETTER upgrades, MR gives MORE CONSISTENT upgrades, so I stay plat at both.

My main point is that if you were to ask Marriott employees what they dislike about their jobs, I'm sure elites whining about upgrades would be pretty close to the top, especially at the front desk where they don't generally assign those rooms anyway. It's the "if you don't ask you won't get" mentality that gets driven into the heads of everyone as a travel "ethos" at every step of a journey that I take issue with. "Do you have any upgrades? Do you have any upgrades? Do you have any upgrades?" etc, etc... No isolated incident reconfirming something remotely rises to that level. I'm just advocating that people act with a bit of class and make the lives of employees easier.

If I got irritated with Mr. Irritated's advocacy of that mindset, that is the part that rubs me the wrong way. If he advocates inquiring politely when one thinks something is wrong, I have no issue with that and happily retract any harshness that might have come through.