CanRulez

I agree. If the OP did in fact reach 100+ nights across both brands, then yes, I agree with the op.

Why piss off an elite customer who has brought you so much business? If anything, granting him the "exception" would have increased his loyalty to the brands, but it has now backfired.

As for those who claim "rules are rules," remember this....in business, there's ALWAYS exceptions.

pinniped

It is close to 100% mathematically certain that the OP exaggerated the 100+ elite-qualifying nights. For all we know, this wasn't really that close of an exception case.

C17PSGR

I am trying to figure the math out but 65 nights in a Marriott and 35 nights in an SPG with 7 stays doesn't get plat, right?

pinniped

He has at least the Marriott Visa and one would assume that anyone who's been doing any business at all with Starwood over the years has the SPG Amex.

The 65 MR makes him Platinum with 5 nights to spare, even if he never uses the Visa at all. I would assume that most Marriott members who have the Visa used it for their Marriott stays until very recently, when they might have switched to SPG Amex if they didn't care about the $3,000 spend EQN. Thus, if you're a Marriott Visa holder, it's really about 56-57 nights in the hotels to hit Plat, assuming no rollover and no other spending on the Visa outside of your hotel stays.

That leaves low-40's at Starwood. If you have the Amex, it's 45 nights in the hotels to Platinum.

Therefore, with greater than 100 total nights, it is almost impossible to avoid being Platinum. Someone from an international market with no access to these credit cards can certainly miss Platinum more easily, but OP already stated he has Marriott Visa. That card, moreso than SPG Amex, makes it tough to avoid Platinum with that many nights.

EDIT: I suppose it's possible that the OP has a Canadian Visa or UK Visa that doesn't include 15 EQN? Maybe the mathematical possibility is a *little* higher, but it's still low. I'm still betting it wasn't really 100+ qualifying nights.

MarkOK

That reminds me that 79% of statistics are made-up. In other words 'close to 100% mathematically impossible' is a made up mathematical calculation.

Yes, he could have exaggerated, but perhaps not.

The crux of the matter is that Starriott will give Platinum status in both programs if one earns either 75 nights at Marriott -OR- 50 nights/25 stays at SPG (and by earning, include credits via CCs if you wish), but you have to get an exception if you fall short on both ways even if you 'earn' up to 74 nights with Marriott and 49 nights/24 stays at SPG. It is thus possible that a Marriott is checking-in guest A as a platinum member that has 25 stays at SPG and 0 nights at Marriott, and checking in guest B as a gold who has 100+ nights combined at Starriot properties including up to 74 nights of credit within Marriott.

There seems to be three types of people on FT - 1. those that say rules are rules and you are a sucker for 'not knowing better', 2. those that say you must be lieing, and 3. those that recognize that someone has a right to be mad about the system and Starriott likely unnecessarily chased soured their relationship with a frequent customer.

Count me in as the third type.

craigthemif

No individual is particularly relevant to any airline or hotel chain. (unless said individual manages the travel budget for a large corporation)

But individuals unable to google "how many nights for elite status" are particularly irrelevant, as their level of engagement with the loyalty programme is obviously minimal.

HomerJ

....is reading comprehension an issue?....where did I say Hyatt wasn't a good chain?....I simply noted they do not have the footprint of either *wood or Marriott and if you travel outside of the environs of major metropolisis' the pickings get pretty thin.

pinniped

In this instance, I'm the second type.

I totally understand people who don't know all of the ins and outs of the programs, and support them when they ask for advice/suggestions on how to proceed next. Lord knows I've screwed up things over the years - crediting flights to suboptimal airlines, missing opportunities to hit a promotion, failing to be aware of an available status match/challenge, etc. Flyertalk helps, but most of the world isn't on Flyertalk.

All I'm saying with the math bit is that it's incredibly hard to actually stay greater than 100 nights, have the right credit cards, and avoid Platinum. You really have to try. If you try and perversely succeed, a better attitude may increase ones chances of being granted a comp or fast-track offer.

pinniped

Someone who *only* took advantage of the heritage-Starwood footprint might be okay with the Hyatt footprint. I'd expect that's where a lot of big-city-stay SPG members will end up if Marriott ever guts the things they like about SPG today.

pinniped

Another amusing angle to this thread is that the Marriott version of the Platinum challenge actually allows you to enjoy Plat status during the challenge. In other words, if this was offered to the OP, he'd have to suffer through ZERO stays as a non-Platinum member.

If his stay pace is even close to legit, accomplishing that challenge would be easy.

(I don't know if the SPG version of a challenge actually gives Plat during the challenge stays or not.)

MarkOK

I agree that no individual is ever as important as we pretend to be. But if you have said customer on the phone, at that moment in time, the company should treat good customers well. I think that means giving an exception to the law of the land, even if he is throwing a hissy fit DYKWIA argument.

And as for your second comment, you are referring to a luxury of time and projecting how someone should prioritize their time. Do we spend time on FT and elite programs? Yes, we make it a hobby, but we shouldn't expect every elite traveler to check their status-earning all the time and keeping up with every change or lack thereof in these programs. I might know my exact number of nights and points I have to elite status(and lifetime status) with right now, but there are lots of other aspects of my life where I get chastised for not doing some 'simple' thing. -aka- I've missed dates to get my daughter to dance rehearsals because I "didn't do a simple quick check on the facebook to get the most recent dates", I've missed awesome deals at Lowes because "I didn't simply open the ad" that week, I in fact went years without an Aadvantage account because I didn't bother doing a number of 'simple' things to get one set up (I tried a few times online, but kept getting an error message that I was already registered. I'd forget about it and carry on, too busy and not caring enough to do it, but then early last year, I finally made the simple call and found that I was getting the error message because someone else with my exact name already had an account and she had to override it). I didn't think it mattered much, but since I recreated my flight history, I've found I'd be 17% on my way to million miler/lifetime gold by now instead of the 3% I currently am. Anyways, calling someone 'disengaged' for not knowing the ins and outs and particulars is a rather bold statement imo. We are all busy, and can't expect everyone to share their free time the same way we do. SPG, quite frankly, doesn't care how often you check your account history compared to someone else.

Cledaybuck

I understand what you are saying, but if it so important to you that you want to change programs for not making platinum, you should probably pay attention to what the requirements for platinum are.

dunno282

Let's talk business then. What SPG considers an "elite" customer is relative. You can't assume that someone who stays 100 night by your standard is considered their most important customers. Maybe the threshold is 200-300 nights per year are the most important customers to SPG.

yurtripper

I don't believe that it does - the Marriott Platinum challenge works the same as SPG and you don't get the status until you've successfully completed it (unlike the 'Taste of Platinum' which seems to be rare or non-existent these days).

kaizen7

I believe OP stated that he was SPG platinum for few years.
Unless the rules was change in 2017 then I dont see the reason why someone who has been in the program for few years dont know the requirements.

and also, I believe he thought that SPG being merged to Marriott, he can stay at Marriott property and still receive credit for his SPG
I agree it can be common mistake on some, but, unless he link his Marriott and SPG account, he wont receive any benefit on Marriott stays.
Surely he need to at least logged into spg wbsite to link his account ?