Am I really writing a review of a Holiday Inn? Well, yeah, sorta, because I received the best (or at the very least funniest) elite recognition ever, and this was on a stay that United paid for. As I mentioned yesterday, I took a bump off a JFK-SFO flight and was accommodated on a flight this morning. United covered my hotel and compensated me nicely. Anyway, they booked me at the Holiday Inn JFK.
What was so special (or as the case may be, hilarious) about this stay?
Well, I get to the check-in counter, present my accommodation voucher from United, my meal voucher, my credit card, and my Priority Club number, since I wanted to earn points for incidentals. The agent places my credit card and Priority Club number vertically on the keyboard so that he can easily record the information. I haven’t received my new Priority Club card yet, so the one I presented was still the “Platinum Royal Ambassador” card. Everything is fine and the guy is nice, but then the manager comes out of the back room. Now, the manager reminded of Tracy Jordan, both in the way he looked and the way he acted.
Anyway, as he walks out the back room and comes to the front desk, his eyes glare over at the keyboard of my agent. All of a sudden he loudly exclaims “dammmmmmmn” and looks up at me as if I’m an alien. He says “I’ve never seen one of them before. I’ve seen some Ambassadors, but a Royal Ambassador. WOW! I thought that was a legend. Call the housekeeping manager now and get this man a suite. Let me shake your hand.” At this point the agent that was helping me goes “yeah, I’ve never seen one either, that’s pretty rare.”
Obviously I was in shock, since usually the front desk agents don’t even recognize status, let alone roll out the red carpet (if that’s not an oxymoron at a Holiday Inn).
At this point I really wanted to live up to the legend that the manager thought I was. He said “You must live at Holiday Inns.” I jokingly said “Nah, I actually live at InterContinentals.” He laughs and says “Well excuuuuuse me, I hope we live up to your standards.” The banter went on for a few minutes, and soon enough I walked away with a free breakfast voucher (which they don’t usually give out) and free cocktail vouchers (which I gave away), along with a voucher for dinner courtesy of United.
Anyway, I was entertained, to say the least.
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