Marriott brings back their Ambassadors for members who reach the top tier, starting next month.
The ‘Ambassador’ level of Marriott Bonvoy requires:
- At least 100 nights per year
- Spending at least $23,000 with participating hotels each year
That’s a high hurdle to clear. You might reach the 100 nights including up to 40 nights from their credit card (the business card plus premium personal one) for instance, plus 5 nights from the 50-night choice benefit. But that doesn’t count towards the spend requirement. And an average of $230 per night over 100 nights is a lot in many markets!
Once you’re dedicating that much business to Marriott, they need to – and indeed, once again want to- take very good care of you. No other program has a published top tier with such strict requirements.
- The Ambassador program is a carry-over from Starwood, members used to have an agent specifically assigned to them to take care of all of their stay needs, including making requests and customizing things with hotels and assisting with any arrangements. The promise was that this person “gets to know you over time” and “provide the personal touches that make each trip special.”
- Despite adding the minimum spend requirement (which Starwood didn’t have) on top of staying 100 nights, Marriott stopped providing an actual Ambassador to Ambassador members early in the pandemic. They performed mass layoffs of the representatives who took care of their best customers. Ambassador members stopped receiving a personal point of contact and were no longer able reach out to an individual agent directly as those “addresses [we]re no longer monitored.”
Marriott Senior Vice President David Flueck told me in fall 2021 that they’d be “investing in the Ambassador program specifically going into 2022″ but it took longer than expected.
Assigned personal ambassadors will be reaching out to Ambassador members in June, as in the past assigned based on their language speaking preference and home time zone. Many former Ambassadors have returned, apparently, and Marriott will accept requests now to Ambassador Services to be matched the person previously assigned.
As Marriott describes the service,
Personal Ambassadors will assist with tailoring and personalizing Member experiences with Marriott Bonvoy® and its portfolio of 30 hotel brands and over 8,000 properties worldwide. This includes helping Ambassador Elite Members to plan a trip, book or change a Reservation, book Hotel services and amenities, and/or assist with any Account or Stay related questions. Personal Ambassadors will also work with Hotels to facilitate any specific requests on the behalf of Members.
In my experience, as a previous Starwood Ambassador member, my contact would recommend room rates for me that I might not have thought to check myself – for instance using the SPG50 rate to book a suite for not much more than a regular room, rather than requesting a suite (which would likely have confirmed) because that would have meant re-requesting “Your24” 24 hour check-in benefits once the assigned room had changed and I wanted both. They sent me occasional gifts to the room as well.
The quality of individual Ambassadors always varied, and whether a given guest ‘clicked’ with their assigned Ambassador mattered too. So how useful this service is will be different for different members. Nonetheless, it’s great to see Marriott re-invest in members who are already investing the most in them.
I’m a big fan of Bonvoy. Currently on a seven day vacation in Florida of which all lodging cost were paid by points. I spend 250 plus nights a year in Marriott hotels but don’t have a need for a concierge service though I suppose it’s a nice perk for some.
Now bring back the SPG50 rate
I stay over 100 nights a year at Marriott but I don’t come anywhere near 23k spend. I managed to get Ambassador for a bout a year and a half during the pandemic when they dropped it to 14k spend. It honestly did nothing for me. The “pool” of assistants were less useful than the app. If they answered me at all. The only thing I can say for Ambassador is that I got free parking at maybe 2 hotels. I maybe got a better room upgrade once than I would have gotten as a Titanium but that is questionable. Most of the time I got no upgrade. They sent out a survey which I answered honestly and they contacted me about it and asked if I wanted to schedule a call to discuss it. I answered that I would and never heard another word. I am back to Titanium now as of March and I don’t think I am missing out on anything.
I am a better ambassador for my travels and know how to email concierges prior to my stay better than any new hire 23 year old kid could ever be. You gutted the program and now will have a bunch of newbies who will cause us all more grief at how slow and incompetent they are. No thanks
I would trade Ambassador service for another 25% points bonus, especially now that they devalued points. It makes no sense that Titanium and Ambassador both receive 75% bonus. The extra 2.5 points per dollar makes more sense than a semi-useless service.
This is great news – said no one!!
Been Ambassador ever since it was offered and never been impressed. I’m starting (finally) to phase them out and diversify my stays.
If Marriott wants to reward loyalty, then replace useless benefits like Your24 and Ambassadors with free nights, free experiences/tours, additional points accumulation and guaranteed upgrades to best available suites without asking. Here you go, free market research for ya Bonvoy!
Way too little
Way too late
I’ve loved learning about what’s been happening within the MARRIOTT’S ORGANIZATION. Admittedly, I became disconnected at the start of the pandemic. I love the PERSONAL touch and more.
the entire point system at marriott is devalued and worthless…. maybe fix that first and then someone will care.
Marriott understands their stockholders, but no longer understands their most loyal guests. No free water upon arrival, and no fully paid breakfast for top tier guests. Plus suite night awards which will expire before you have an opportunity to use them. Hyatt gets it.
Marriott needs to wake up and smell the coffee.. Ever since Sorensen, the former CEO passed away things went down pretty fast; COVID-19 made it worse. And now the only thing these bean counters care about is to make money for their stockholders. Personalized ambassador service won’t be the same as before. I would look elsewhere…
The Marriott web site still has a line on the platinum benefits page that there is dedicated phone support for platinum members and based on my experience today, there is none. There is also a help letter on the site that provides the number for “dedicated support for platinum elites” that is answered by automated system.