Tag Archives for ambassador elite.
A Marriott Bonvoy member reports that they had 102 nights and $13,992 spent with Marriott during 2021. Top tier Ambassador status required at least 100 nights and $14,000 in spend. They add that they should have gotten a drink at the bar on their last stay, but didn’t realize they’d need it. And they’d happily send Marriott the $8.
A reader shared a recent Ambassador interaction that underscores just what the experience has become. They were asking for help with a stay next weekend and followed up after not hearing back about their request for four days. Some snippets from the response they received.
With Marriott extending everyone’s elite status for next year, there are plenty of members getting a status gift – recognizing that once-loyal guests haven’t had their business travel start back up, and especially those whose travels normally taken them abroad including to Asia.
On the other hand there are members who have spent countless nights with their head in beds in 2021. They’ve given Marriott their stays and it turns out they didn’t need to do this in order to keep their elite tier for 2022.
Hyatt’s dedicated concierge program is much easier to qualify for than Marriott’s. Yet there will likely be far fewer members qualifying for a concierge in 2022. That’s the perfect time to amp up the service in ways it was originally envisioned, and the current Hyatt leadership is well-positioned to drive this.
Marriott’s top tier 100 night elite status is called Ambassador. The unique selling proposition is supposed to be a dedicated contact who takes care of all the member’s Marriott needs, ensuring a seamless experience.
Only they laid off these agents, and Ambassador members no longer get an Ambassador. Marriott is surveying how these top customers are managing under the new regime.
IHG will be bringing back a generous offer for joining or renewing its Ambassador program, which is the chain’s paid status program for Intercontinental hotels..
When Marriott acquired Starwood they also acquired the Ambassador program which offered a single point of contact for the chain’s top customers, to make reservations, interface with hotels on requests, and act as a concierge more broadly.
First Marriott had mass layoffs of concierges. Now they’ve decided emails to individual concierges can no longer be answered – everything goes into a single customer service pool.
A significant number of Marriott Ambassador agents have been notified that their positions are being eliminated, generally effective October 1. This isn’t the first round of layoffs for Ambassador agents. The hotel chain shed customer service agents who work with top guests back in March, effectively eliminating the ‘dedicated agent assignment’ for customers who stay 100 nights and spend $20,000 each year with Marriott.
IHG is offering U.S. residents who join the program by September 30 and complete two qualifying stays by January 31, 2021 a free night worth up to 40,000 points that must be redeemed by April 30, 2021.
Similarly, joining their Intercontinental brand’s Ambassador program by November 15 (which is a paid program) and staying just once at an one of their premium brands (Intercontinental, Kimpton, Regent but not Fairmont) by January 31, 2021 earns a free night worth up to 40,000 points that must be redeemed by April 30, 2021. Ambassador benefits are even improved this year and next.
Marriott has laid off several members of their Ambassador customer service team, and will no longer provided dedicated agents to their best customers until “returning to business as usual.” Instead, Marriott tells me, the remaining group of their best customer service agents will be “dedicated to Ambassador Elites.”
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
