DONE with SPG/Marriott

 
Old Mar 6, 2018, 6:55 am
  #61  
 
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Originally Posted by HomerJ
Best of luck finding anywhere near the amount of Hyatt properties to stay at..
Uh. Hyatt is a perfectly fine program and hotel chain. Just because they don't have as many properties as Marriott, doesn't mean they aren't as good. I would actually argue Hyatt's are much better in terms of quality, that is until Marriott officially acquires both Starwood and Ritz.

Hyatt may not have as many hotel properties as around the U.S, but at least they know how to value their points so they aren't next to worthless, ahem... Marriott and Hilton.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 7:42 am
  #62  
 
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Originally Posted by pinniped
The crazy thing is: I empathize with the OP. He's done something that is almost impossible to actually do, and I could easily see a non-FTer (read: someone who isn't a total nerd about these programs) doing and not being aware of it until too late. I can also see where Marriott/Starwood might be willing to grant an exception to someone who really has fully barely short of Platinum in both programs.

Different tone, less entitlement, less informing us how sophisticated he is...he might actually get some helpful advice here. Hotel programs have been generous to me over the years, occasionally extending Plat/Diamond when I didn't fully earn it. Asking how to proceed in this situation isn't unreasonable, but "reasonable" discussion left the station 1 sentence into the OP.

Makes me wonder if the request to Marriott and Starwood wasn't a snotty entitled demand/threat, and that's why it got shot down.
Perfectly stated.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 7:57 am
  #63  
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Originally Posted by mikesyr18
Uh. Hyatt is a perfectly fine program and hotel chain. Just because they don't have as many properties as Marriott, doesn't mean they aren't as good. I would actually argue Hyatt's are much better in terms of quality, that is until Marriott officially acquires both Starwood and Ritz.

Hyatt may not have as many hotel properties as around the U.S, but at least they know how to value their points so they aren't next to worthless, ahem... Marriott and Hilton.
The Hyatt footprint might be good enough for someone who was primarily a Starwood guest to begin with. Yeah, it's a little more limited, but if you were into Starwood mainly for big city hotels, Hyatt's an okay alternative. It doesn't fully stack up to Marriott, since Marriott now has a bajillion brands and a huge suburban/rural footprint plus some other brands that saturate different regions of the world.

Marriott has done a much better job IMHO than Hilton has in terms of not allowing their points to become worthless. The value of a single MR point has stayed relatively stable for quite some time. The two biggest "devaluations" in the past decade (IMHO) were things outside Marriott's control - changes that AA and WN made. Other than that, there's just the gradual category creep that you have to deal with in all hotel programs, but they've also made it a bit more lucrative for elite earning and a bit easier to redeem most non-MVCI awards.

Hilton, on the other hand, seems to rewrite the whole structure of their program every 15 minutes. I'm Diamond there, earned 62 points per dollar on my most recent stay, and have no real idea what that will be worth six months from now. I'm still playing their game because I redeem at resorts once in a while, but the elite experience at HH is kind of lacking. That program is starting to feel pretty IHG-ish at this point.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 8:06 am
  #64  
 
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Originally Posted by tb21nym
I have been a Platinum member with SPG for three years. I stayed over 100 nights this last year between Starwood and Marriott. I was just demoted to Gold in both programs because I barely missed the threshold in each program. They conducted exactly zero due diligence to see I had stayed over 100 nights between the two and are unwilling to "make an exception". They even had the balls to offer me a "Platinum Challenge". Has anyone else had this experience? I called Hyatt today and they will honor my Platinum status Day 1. I am switching programs this week and closing my Marriott CC account. I am absolutely appalled and certainly hope you all realize what you're dealing with here. Only a matter of time before they treat you all the same way.

Why would you close your Marriott CC account? It is one of the few cards available which offers PRIMARY rental car coverage. Whatever you feel about their hotels and their program, this is a valuable tool to have in your travel kit.

For some reason, the card does not show up on the following list, but I include it for the sake of completeness. It offers a decent explanation of what the difference is between primary and secondary coverage, and what you get and do not get when using a card that does have the primary coverage benefit.

https://thepointsguy.com/guide/cards...ntal-coverage/
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 8:06 am
  #65  
 
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Dang this stinks. I'd be ticked off too. I fully agree SPG should make this right. Clearly you are the type of customer this chain is looking for. A loyal customer who stays a substantial amount of nights per year. It would mean absolutely nothing to SPG to give you PLAT. And for those who say "rules are rules", try an get off your high horse. If the OP had exactly the number of stays he says he had, you can't really think he/she should not be allowed a tiny bit of leniency?

100 nights per year, even at a modest rate of $200/night is $20K in spend. OP may not have the best tact, but it sounds like he/she is the kind of customer I'd want to keep happy and in my hotels, especially as airbnb and similar hospitalities slowly chip away at the market share of these giant chains.

In a strange turn of events, I also recently lost my PLAT status (it was my fault). I politely sent them a Facebook message yesterday and this morning I woke up to a response saying they were upgrading me back to PLAT as a one time courtesy. May be worth a shot for you?

Good luck.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 8:54 am
  #66  
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Originally Posted by tanner1821
Dang this stinks. I'd be ticked off too. I fully agree SPG should make this right. Clearly you are the type of customer this chain is looking for. A loyal customer who stays a substantial amount of nights per year. It would mean absolutely nothing to SPG to give you PLAT. And for those who say "rules are rules", try an get off your high horse. If the OP had exactly the number of stays he says he had, you can't really think he/she should not be allowed a tiny bit of leniency?
You make a point, but it raises the question for me of,.... If SPG is simply going to determine who the high value customers are in a subjective manner, why bother having the rules at all? Just let SPG figure out which customers it wants to retain and pay attention to them.

I see no way to have a program like this without rules; and if one is going to have rules which have meaning, they should be followed.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 9:03 am
  #67  
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Tanner , of course it was your fault you lost your status , who's else fault would it be? Serious question
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 9:14 am
  #68  
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Originally Posted by tanner1821
I politely sent them a Facebook message yesterday and this morning I woke up to a response saying they were upgrading me back to PLAT as a one time courtesy. May be worth a shot for you?
It's hard to rebuild a bridge that you've already burned down.

Originally Posted by mikesyr18
Hyatt is a perfectly fine program
I'd say that was true of Gold Passport, but World of Hyatt is driving away top-level elites in droves.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 9:23 am
  #69  
 
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Originally Posted by pinniped

Hilton, on the other hand, seems to rewrite the whole structure of their program every 15 minutes.
Hilton should just re-structure so 1 point = 1 cent. It's a little ridiculous seeing 12x, 6x, 3x , per dollar spent with the Hilton card, when in reality, it equals a value of 7.2%, 3.6%, and 1.8% back. It's almost as bad as the new Subway program that's rolling out.

Right now I have about 101,500 Hilton points, but if I could sell them, I would. I like more straight forward rewards programs, not because I'm stupid, but because I know they do it on purpose to make it seem like they're giving their customers more value due to the # of points needed for one room. It's all in a way to subtly lie to your customers by deflating the value of your points and making it seem like you're getting more in value than you really are.

Make the rooms starting at 8,000 points a night instead of 25,000 or whatever. Soon it'll cost you 1,000,000 points for a bottom tiered hotel free night and you'll get 10,000 points per dollar on your Hilton card when used at those properties.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 9:28 am
  #70  
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Originally Posted by tanner1821
100 nights per year, even at a modest rate of $200/night is $20K in spend.
If he did that many nights at that rate and never used his Marriott Visa anywhere but on the Marriott stays....he still makes Platinum.

Something else is going on.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 10:11 am
  #71  
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Originally Posted by mikesyr18
Soon it'll cost you 1,000,000 points for a bottom tiered hotel free night and you'll get 10,000 points per dollar on your Hilton card when used at those properties.
Just like what happened to pinball machines.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 10:29 am
  #72  
 
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Originally Posted by wbl-mn-flyer
Why would you close your Marriott CC account? It is one of the few cards available which offers PRIMARY rental car coverage.
The collision damage waiver is secondary to your personal automobile insurance in the US.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 12:24 pm
  #73  
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Primary rental car insurance is only on the Ritz card. It's secondary on the Marriott Visa.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 1:42 pm
  #74  
 
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Once again someone has started a DYKWIA thread only to disappear and leave everyone else discussing randomness.
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Old Mar 6, 2018, 2:49 pm
  #75  
 
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Originally Posted by pinniped
The crazy thing is: I empathize with the OP. He's done something that is almost impossible to actually do, and I could easily see a non-FTer (read: someone who isn't a total nerd about these programs) doing and not being aware of it until too late. I can also see where Marriott/Starwood might be willing to grant an exception to someone who really has fully barely short of Platinum in both programs.

Different tone, less entitlement, less informing us how sophisticated he is...he might actually get some helpful advice here. Hotel programs have been generous to me over the years, occasionally extending Plat/Diamond when I didn't fully earn it. Asking how to proceed in this situation isn't unreasonable, but "reasonable" discussion left the station 1 sentence into the OP.

Makes me wonder if the request to Marriott and Starwood wasn't a snotty entitled demand/threat, and that's why it got shot down.
One only needs to look at my initial posts on FT to realize I was a very nave and arrogant traveler that thought I had things figured out. Now, after more than 12 years of exposure to FT, I still learn something new everyday. The separate setup between SPG and Marriott I'm fully aware of, but plenty of friends aren't. FT is fantastic for learning, both good and bad, but I cannot tell you how many times a friend or coworker slams a company because of ignorance. I'm not faulting them, but I'm appreciative of what I have learned on FT, and I'd like to think its made me a better traveler.
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