rocky

I've made three requests this year and all have been bungled.

• I needed to add my wife to a reservation so she could get a visa. It was a critical request. Never executed.
• I wanted to send my wife chocolates for her birthday that I'd previously had at the St. Regis Deer Valley. (Willing to pay for it.). No execution.
• Wanted to book a room at St. Regis Princeville. There was only one room left at the hotel available for reward points. It was toward the end of her work day, but she was emailing and I responded immediately. If someone is leaving for the day and you know there is only one room, my expectation is that you pass the request on to someone who is on the clock. I ended up calling the call center and booking it so I didn't lose it.

So far 0/3.

In the distant past (~8 years ago), I worked with Abel Holguin, who was fantastic. (He moved into a different role, so he isn't an option.)

Is my experience atypical? As much as people complain about the AmEx Platinum Concierges, I've never had this kind of experience.

RogerD408

Yes, you have a bad ambassador, sadly you may also have a typical ambassador. You can try asking for a reassignment, but the odds of getting someone better is not great. Unfortunately, sites like FT tend to get the negatives more than the good. No one wants to hear I made 5 requests and each one was granted, rather they want to know all the trials and tribulations someone has good through. So I wouldn't use the anecdotal reports as being typical. Years ago a local TV station tried a 30-minute "Good News" program, it failed, ratings too low for the sponsors.

rocky

So what are the great experiences you've had? Like I said, I loved Abel. It's been too long for me to remember what he did, but I always had great experiences.

Xu Guan

I recently had an ambassador change and it sounds like we have the same sort of Ambassador. My Ambassador previous to this one always reached out whenever I made a reservation on points or if the reservation was on a weekend to see if there was anything they could do to help the weekend travel run smoother. Whenever there was an occasion that I was celebrating or just a friends weekend, my old ambassador always would make sure the hotel knew ahead of time and would always have a little something extra.

Whenever there was a new promo that came out, my old ambassador would also send me the details and would ask if they wanted to register me automatically for the promotion. I was pretty bummed when I was told there was going to be an ambassador change as mine was moving onto another position at Marriott.

I have pretty much given up on my current ambassador as they take a while to respond and never reaches out.

rocky

I made a (small) effort to get to ambassador after finishing the 75 nights. Even if the program stayed the same for next year, I'm not going to actively try.

Intl359Widget

It seems to me that with the pending Marriott and Starwood integration that Brand Loyalty is going the way of the Dodo even for the eHVCs.

I have no desire and no plans to exceed 75+ Nights for 2018 with the upcoming speculation on the tier changes as well.

TerryK

I suspect 2018 maybe the last year of SPG Ambassador program. There is no equivalent of ambassador in Marriott program.

RogerD408

Yet the leaked tiers include an Ambassador at 100 nights and $20,000 spend. https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29619500-post1.html

rocky

I might finally get LT once the programs are consolidated and I get Marriott nights folded in. I'm at 604 SPG nights, but only 8 years platinum.

Even if not, I'm not going to try very hard. I expect Marriott will destroy all the reasons I've been loyal to SPG since 99. (Damn, almost 20 years!)

It's like at UA. I'm >800k miles and if I get to MM, it will be by accident, not intent. Just flying whatever offers best value on a given trip. They want to optimize their revenue by trip? I'll optimize my spend by trip.

longtimereader firstimeposter

I’m thinking they are starting to give up on some they think won’t requalify with the new standards. I’ve been with the Ambassador program for 4 years and haven’t heard from mine since November, not even an email from them upon requalifying. I still find value in emailing the generic Ambassador email address. They seem to get things done quickly and efficiently.

Ambassador service is disappointing and Marriott will need to do something drastic to justify the $20k spend.

rocky

I just remembered one thing I did get from my ambassador that was a pleasant surprise: for my birthday, she sent a big, fluffy St. Regis robe with my name embroidered on it.

porkie

Marriott does have it's own version of ambassador program although so far it's been available only through invitation.

MSPeconomist

TerryK

I am happy to stand corrected.

maisondubonheur

Got an Ambassador since last August. Already through my second. What a disappointment. SPG is top program till plat75. Than you reach a level where the only thing an Ambassador is bringing is frustration...and the will to put your nights somewhere else. No intention to chase at all that level anymore, plat75...whichever what they show us next Monday may be the only one worth it. Sad! I cannot undestand why they try to alienate people spending over 30% of a year in their properties...