Here’s what you get for spending $23,000 a year at Marriott hotels, in addition to benefits like occasional room upgrades and continental breakfast. The hotel chain has sent out end of year holiday gifts, and a reader shares that they received a lego puzzle set of a Marriott Design Hotels property in Iceland.
As they put it, this “seems like a tremendous expense for a gift that many people spending $23,000+ won’t appreciate.” My take is that someone at Marriott decided they needed to promote this brand and there was a budget for it, rather than having ‘how can we show appreciation for our top customers and build loyalty’ as the starting place.
Marriott has the most exclusive top elite tier with published earning criteria. The Ambassador level requires not just 100 nights in hotels but also a minimum of $23,000 in spend, nearly impossible to achieve in many parts of the world with low hotel rates.
A carry-over from Starwood, members receive 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.”
Compared to Titanium (75 night, no spend requirement) status, Ambassadors also receive:
Your24: Subject to availability, arrange in advance to check in at your preferred time and have a check-out time 24 hours later.
Higher priority for upgrades at least in theory, although upgrades can be hit and miss at best at many U.S. hotels.
Gifts are nice, too, as a surprise and delight. For many years Alaska Airlines sent out cookies at Christmas to MVP Gold members, which was then their top elite status tier. Clearly the economic value was limited, but these were still a prized gesture.
Five years ago Marriott sent out cheese boards which seemed to connect less well. But those feel a little more useful than Lego maybe?
At $23,000 in spend – and in most cases significantly more – maybe a free hotel night in Iceland?
More From View from the Wing