marriott

Tag Archives for marriott.

Does Marriott Have Too Many Ambassador Elites?

by Gary Leff

picture with stairs around it in a hotel
May 22 2019

A reader writes in that he’s staying “at a no-name, forgettable Sheraton in a medium-sized city” where there are “3 full-service Marriott properties nearby.” A housekeeper “left her manifest.. out on her cart” and there are “3 ambassador elites on a single floor.” He thinks that says there’s something wrong.

There are rumors that some Ambassadors working for Marriott may be assigned as many as 300 top tier elite members, and there are reports of some Ambassador elites not hearing anything at all from their personal agent for months at a time.

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Marriott Bonvoy Has One Big Problem. There’s a Simple Solution.

by Gary Leff

outside marriott hotel
May 18 2019

When things go wrong, either because a hotel doesn’t deliver promised benefits or because something doesn’t work right on the back end with an account, it’s almost impossible to get swift any resolution from Marriott Bonvoy. Customer service is a problem.

When things go smoothly – as they do the majority of the time – Marriott has, in my opinion, a better program than Hilton or IHG. But when they fail the issues are magnified because these failures are primarily happening to their highest volume most loyal members and because there’s no mechanism to fix the issue. That’s a problem, but it’s one that can be fixed.

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Chase Surveying How to Redesign an Airline Credit Card

by Gary Leff

airline cabin
May 18 2019

Chase is surveying how to design an airline card. I’d normally think they would be look at the United product, since Chase and United have been in ongoing and vigorous discussions about how to improve their program (although the United card was recently revamped).

There are two references in the questions that suggest to me they could be thinking through the British Airways product: carrier surcharges on award travel and European destinations.

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Marriott’s CEO Was Surprised to Beat the Chinese to Buy Starwood

by Gary Leff

bonvoy
May 16 2019

When Marriott acquired Starwood hotels they beat out Hyatt, which may have offered a more financially attractive package but whose complicated stock structure (the Pritzker family has outsized voting rights) created complications, and Chinese conglomerate Anbang Insurance.

Arne Sorenson, CEO of Marriott, says he was surprised that they won the bidding and were able to make the deal.

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