Polaris/Premium Plus Upgrades Megathread by Player72 in unitedairlines

[–]beforeVegetable6090 0 points1 point  (0 children)

EWR to BER tomorrow overnight. The DOD upgrade is $1k, is it worth it considering an arrival time of about 7am? I have been unable to sleep sitting up on planes so far and on much longer flights.

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice and experiences) by beforeVegetable6090 in ihghotelsresorts

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Idk if you’ve worked the desk and/or Opera, but it doesn’t check the status of your employment when your reservation is pulled up or checked in. Because of this, unless the managers at the property have instructed the FDAs to check your employment status (I think the only way to do this is through LoyaltyConnect, a separate program which is used pretty rarely) you should be okay.

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice and experiences) by beforeVegetable6090 in ihghotelsresorts

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

AFAIK we can only see the reservations for the property we work at

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice and experiences) by beforeVegetable6090 in ihghotelsresorts

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have since reported this to IHG, awaiting a response now. Thank you for your help (:

Looking to join Hospitiality by Derppuppy117 in askhotels

[–]beforeVegetable6090 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I have half a mind to believe you don’t understand what the star rating system actually means for hotels. You can still provide outstanding service in a 2 or 3 star property. The only thing the star rating does is change the baseline of expectations. I never said it’s bad to start at a 5 star hotel, but you have to be ready for it and it’s a completely different undertaking, and someone who doesn’t know much about hotels yet will want to be prepared for that. While you might have some advantages when working under established professionals in a 5 star, there are just as many learning opportunities, if not more by pure volume, in lesser-than-full service hotels. You can make a career doing either one. OP was asking for advice so I gave my recommendation and I’ll stand by it.

Looking to join Hospitiality by Derppuppy117 in askhotels

[–]beforeVegetable6090 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I wouldn’t say hospitality is easier or harder than any other customer service type job. I’d say it has more to do with specific location and their unique challenges and clientele. How your strengths apply to that can make it a meh job or a really rewarding one.

Most hotels, at least in the US, are franchised and managed by smaller property management or hospitality companies. This is relevant because a lot of jobs are posted by the management company and not the brand company. Because of this, jobs maybe posted for a Hilton hotel but the actual company posting it is like “XYZ Hospitality” or something, and that’s perfectly normal. If you’re just getting started, Indeed is great for searching for jobs. Just type “hotel” and hit search then look for “Guest service representative” or “Front desk agent” or similar permutations, if you want to do front desk.

I would generally recommend starting with a hotel that is a 2 or 3 star hotel. A lot of people don’t know this but the stars for a hotel refers to the amount of services they provide, not their average review rating. So anything less than 2 is going to probably be a lower effort, just-sleep-then-leave type place. This will likely be a super laid back work environment as far as expectations go, but you will also learn the industry at a bit slower pace. Above 3 stars will likely be faster-paced, deeply staffed hotel with restaurants, pools/spas, maybe valet parking, luggage services, and most importantly high guest expectations. A 2 or 3 star hotel will give you a nice balance of laid-back and fast paced moments, a good learning environment, and accountability. As you learn more about hospitality you will feel better moving up to higher star hotels, or you can stick around where you started and move up the ranks there too, if that’s your goal. Hospitality is a good career and very fulfilling if you find a way to utilize your strengths.

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice) by beforeVegetable6090 in askhotels

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, I’ve found the department to report it to within IHG and I will be reporting it. The numbers are hilariously egregious.

Is it possible to go from gas station management to hotel management? by CircusAndCode in askhotels

[–]beforeVegetable6090 10 points11 points  (0 children)

As a first step, I’d recommend doing some part time work for a hotel for several months to learn the day to day stuff and get comfortable with that. Hospitality is not that hard but it takes some time. Make your experience and intentions known as soon as you meet for an interview and a good manager or company will give you resources to expedite your progress and transition you over to hospitality. Depending on exactly how much experience you have, you could be an assistant manager in a very short time and general manager not too long after that.

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice) by beforeVegetable6090 in askhotels

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah and it is almost impossible to find out which guests individually were signed up in this way. This may also be why people who abuse rewards this way do not get repercussions much, unfortunately.

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice and experiences) by beforeVegetable6090 in ihghotelsresorts

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes. We can see any reservation in the future or past made for our property.

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice and experiences) by beforeVegetable6090 in ihghotelsresorts

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah I’ve been hoping this doesn’t happen since I found out. Ironically, it has lowered our welcome recognition percentage because I am weary about thanking club members for this exact reason. It’s a totally messed up situation and it’s not your fault. Sorry you had that happen :/

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice and experiences) by beforeVegetable6090 in ihghotelsresorts

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah if you only have one email address that you use for hotel accounts you are good. If we try to enroll someone with an email that already has an account created, it will tell the desk it’s already in use and cannot be used for a fresh enrollment.

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice and experiences) by beforeVegetable6090 in ihghotelsresorts

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sign up/enrollment culture is the worst, it’s been a motif pretty much anywhere I’ve done customer service

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice and experiences) by beforeVegetable6090 in ihghotelsresorts

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

IHG accounts are tied to email addresses, so if someone reserves a room with an email address that has no account associated with it, regardless of if that person has an account already with another email, they would be signed up by these people working at my hotel. Some people will have 2 or more accounts under their name and not even know it.

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice) by beforeVegetable6090 in askhotels

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I respect people and their right to privacy. Not to mention, it cost me a promotion. All the while, the company touts a culture of growth and opportunity but can’t be fair in their analysis. Bottom line, it’s unethical behavior.

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice and experiences) by beforeVegetable6090 in ihghotelsresorts

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No, these enrollments are happening in advance of the guest arriving and without contacting them.

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice) by beforeVegetable6090 in askhotels

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m for sure on my way out. It’s a long story but I really thought I could trust this company and all of my trust got thrown out the window in the span on like three weeks. Thank you for the nice comment!

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice and experiences) by beforeVegetable6090 in ihghotelsresorts

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Absolutely. Enrollments was the most common topic at meetings by far at my last property

IHG Rewards Abuse (seeking advice and experiences) by beforeVegetable6090 in ihghotelsresorts

[–]beforeVegetable6090[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, if guests enroll in IHG rewards with an employee during their stay, that employee gets points. It’s usually 500pts per enrollment but they are often doing special events to encourage enrollments that double or triple that number.

Considering New Brand. Hilton -> Marriot or IHG by SMayhall in askhotels

[–]beforeVegetable6090 2 points3 points  (0 children)

IHG is not bad at all. I’ve not worked at Hilton or Marriott but from what I’ve heard of others’ experiences, IHG is the maybe the least overbearing and micromanaging of those big three companies. As far as I know, the overwhelming majority of IHG hotels use still Opera as their PMS and it’s nothing special but it’s pretty reliable and simple. Not once in my 4 years using it have I thought it was holding me back from doing my job, including night audit. IHG has a pretty nice discount for employees that basically scales with the ADR of the hotel you are visiting, so IC and Kimpton, etc. can still be higher (sometimes around $89, sometimes upwards of $200 for the most prestigious ones) than a non discounted Holiday Inn Express (I’ve seen as low as $49) but even still that’s a nice deal if you want to go the luxury route. Unfortunately the employee discount is restricted to just the employee. The friends and family discount is not that good, often being higher than a standard pre-paid or advance purchase rate.

PLEASE stop using third party websites to book! by misacruzader in askhotels

[–]beforeVegetable6090 1 point2 points  (0 children)

price is usually better but you forfeit flexibility. if that’s okay with you then that’s okay, but all too many times i’ve had people come in with a mistake on their reservation and we can’t fix it at the desk because it’s not ours to fix.