Marriott Rewards & SPG Update Guests On Merger….Kind Of….

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Marriott Rewards and Starwood’s SPG program put together have a LOT of members so there are quite a few people eagerly waiting to find out what’s in store when the two loyalty programs merge.

Marriott Rewards members are generally more relaxed about the whole merger while SPG loyalists appear to be expecting (and anticipating) the apocalypse. I don’t blame SPG loyalists for this but as someone who has never really understood the excitement that often surrounds SPG I can’t say I really understand the doom-mongering either.

JW Marriott Hong Kong

Still….

We had an update of sorts from Marriott and SPG yesterday but if you were expecting serious details about what to expect going forward they you’re about to be disappointed.

In a nutshell here’s what was announced for 2018:

• Marriott Rewards, SPG and Ritz-Carlton Rewards will all remain separate programs for the time being.
• SPG members will soon be able to earn Starpoints on Hertz rentals
• Marriott Platinum Elites and SPG Platinum Elites will be awarded Hertz Five Star Status
• Marriott Platinum Premier Elites and SPG Ambassador Elites (both requite 100+ nights in a year) will be awarded Hertz President’s Circle status.
• SPG Lifetime Platinum Elites’ Starpoints balances will now never expire
• Marriott Rewards will be eliminating “rollover nights” and status buybacks from 2018.
  • Nights in excess of your status level will be rolled over into 2017 but not after that.
  • Status buybacks will be offered to those who miss out on their target status at the end of this year but that will be the last time.

St Regis Langkawi

Thoughts

There’s good news and bad news here….and there’s also a possible hint at something we can expect down the line.

• Having SPG and Marriott Rewards not join into one program in 2018 is probably a positive for most people – primarily it gives SPG and Marriott elites more time to earn lifetime status in their respective programs before any changes are put through but also it prolongs the time that SPG loyalists have to enjoy the program they so love.
• Earning Starpoints for Hertz rentals is a nice bonus (Marriott Rewards members can already do this) but I suspect most people who value Hertz Five Star status will already have it through any number of other means (like the Amex Platinum Card).
• The loss of rollover nights will be a blow to a lot of Marriott Rewards loyalists and I’d certainly be more annoyed about this loss if I didn’t think I’d be hitting Lifetime Platinum status soon.
• SPG lifetime Platinum elites will probably be pleased that their points balances will not longer ever expire but, considering how easy it is to keep SPG balances live, this isn’t exactly a big deal…..but it may point to what we can expect.

It’s interesting that SPG lifetime elites are being told that their Starpoint balances will no longer expire as it points to the fact that lifetime status will be eventually incorporated into the new combined Marriott rewards/SPG loyalty program (why introduce a benefit that you’re going to wipe out within the next 2 years?)

I realise that it was always unlikely that lifetime status would be revoked/removed under the new combined program but at least we now have a positive move that backs this belief up.

Bottom Line

I think the loss of rollover nights is a bigger issue than a number of people seem to think it is (based on what I’ve read elsewhere). It has been a reason to carry on booking stays with Marriott even if you didn’t think you’d achieve the next status level and often provided a nice boost towards elite qualification in the following year. It’s a shame it’s going away.

The other announcements are pretty innocuous and, with the exception of tacit confirmation that lifetime status is staying when the programs combine, I don’t see too much else worth thinking too deeply about.