Marriott’s New Loyalty Program – Winners & Losers

a view of the ocean from a balcony

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Earlier today I took a look at the facts behind the new loyalty program that’s being born from the merger of the Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs but I didn’t pass any comment on the changes. I also took a look at the new credit cards that are coming on-line from as early as next month as well as the changes we’ll be seeing to the existing credit card line up.

Posts in this series:

Now that all the facts are out of the way it’s time to let a little emotion show and to take a look at who the big winners and losers are in the Marriott Rewards/SPG shake up.

a ferris wheel next to a riverImage Marriott

The Biggest Losers

One of the biggest changes we’ll see from 1 August 2018 is the creation of a new tier within the new Marriott loyalty program which will be awarded to guests earning 25 nights at Marriott/Starwood properties.

Confusingly this new elite status is being called Marriott Gold Elite and the existing Marriott Gold status (awarded after a guest earns 50 nights at Marriott/Starwood properties) is being renamed Marriott Platinum Elite.

Compared to the old Marriott Gold status the new Gold level doesn’t offer particularly tempting benefits with lounge access and complementary breakfast no longer being on the list of perks.

Where the old Gold status offered a 4pm late check-out the new Gold status only offers a 2pm check-out and Marriott will no longer offer members with the new Gold status a guaranteed room type.

None of this is particularly unfair as it’s a lot easier to earn the new Gold status than it has been to earn the existing Gold status but this does create a big issue for a large number of travelers.

JW Marriott Singapore South BeachNo lounge access or complementary breakfast for the new Marriott Gold status holders

If you have traditionally earned Marriott Gold status by staying at Marriott properties then these changes will make little to no difference to you as, if you continue doing what you’ve always done, you’ll hit the 50 night target as normal only now your status will be called “Platinum”.

The benefits given to the new Platinum level are an improvement to those you were given at the old Gold level so all should be ok in your world.

That’s not going to be the case for those travelers who have been getting Marriott Rewards Gold status courtesy of the American Express Platinum Card.

The Amex Platinum Card offers Starwood Gold status as a benefit and as SPG Gold has been mapped to Marriott Gold since the merger first got underway the card effectively offers Marriott Gold too.

a silver credit card with a picture of a man

The problem here is that while the Platinum Card will continue to offer Marriott Gold status as a benefit it will be the new Gold status that cardholders will be receiving….and that’s quite a devaluation.

Gone will be the free breakfast and lounge access and, as those are two of the best perks out there, this will be a big hit for Platinum Card holders.

Joining the Amex Platinum cardholders in the biggest losers pool are United Airlines elites with Gold status or higher.

These elites have been used to being given the current Marriott Gold status which comes complementary breakfast, lounge access etc. Not any more. These United elites, just like the Amex Platinum cardholders, will now  be matched to the new (lower) Marriott Gold status which offers a lot less.

a view of a body of water with boats and a dock

Other Losers

  • SPG Platinum Elites who have been used to receiving 10 suite upgrades when they hit 50 nights will be disappointed to see that 50 night Platinums will only receive 5 suite upgrades (the 10 suite upgrade benefit is offered to 75 night Platinum Premier Elites).
  • SPG members who have been used to qualifying for Gold status with just 10 stays (essentially 10 nights) will be disappointed to see stay-based elite status earning disappear from 2019.
  • Marriott Silver Elites will see their bonus earnings drop from 20% to 10% but, as this is essentially a status that you can get with any number of credit cards, it’s not exactly daylight robbery.
  • Marriott Elites who have been used to getting a points “gift” at check-in as well as complimentary breakfast will now be asked to choose between the two (or opt for another type of gift or amenity) – not a huge loss in the grand scheme of things but a loss is a loss.
  • SPG Lifetime Platinum Elites will be mapped to Marriott 50-night Platinum Elite status and will have no path to any higher lifetime status. These members will go from being at the second highest elite level in SPG to the third highest elite level in the new Marriott program.
  • Marriott Rewards members will essentially see a devaluation of their existing points balances when the new reward charts come into effect in August. While the most expensive properties in the Marriott Rewards/Ritz-Carlton programs currently cost 70,000 the new award chart will see some properties cost as much as 100,000 points.

a table with numbers and a few pointsNew Marriott Award Chart

  • Starwood credit card holders will see their earnings drop when the two loyalty programs combine in August. Historically the SPG Amex cards have earned 1 Starpoint (equivalent to 3 Marriott Rewards points) for all spend outside of Starwood properties while, from 1 August 2018, this earning rate will be dropped to 2 Marriott Rewards points per dollar – this isn’t great for those who use the Amex SPG cards for unbounded spend and who then convert their balances to airline miles.
  • Starwood elites who spend 100 or more nights at Starwood properties are used to getting a personal “ambassador” assigned to them to attend to their needs. Going forward the criteria to get an ambassador will include a minimum spend of $20,000.
  • Delta elites will be missing out when the Crossover Rewards program is wound up in July – no more hotel benefits going forward.
  • Marriott credit card holders will now only be allowed to receive one set of 15 elite night credits irrespective of how many cards they hold that offer that benefit – the days of getting 15 nights credit from the personal card and a further 15 nights credit from the business card will be gone.

a bar with many bottles and glasses

The Biggest Winners

Marriott Lifetime Platinum Elites are amongst the biggest winners out of what we’ve seen announced in the past 24 hours….and that shocks me.

Existing Marriott Lifetime Platinum Elites and those who qualify for Marriott Lifetime Platinum Elite by 31 December 2018 will be grandfathered in at the new Platinum Premier level (requiring 75 nights/year).

This is a level that will not be attainable after this year and it comes with considerably better benefits than the existing Platinum status they have been used to – higher points bonuses, upgrades to suites and even possibly 10 suite night upgrades (this is yet to be officially confirmed as a lifetime benefit).

I was not expecting this (or anything close to this) as my comments just the other day will confirm.

The second group of big winners are SPG members as a whole as the new award chart should improve their lot quite nicely.

Right now the more expensive Starwood properties cost the equivalent of between 90,000 and 105,000 Marriott Rewards points per night while the new award chart indicates that the new cost of the most expensive properties will range between 70,000 and 100,000 points per night.

During “off-peak” times the most expensive Starwood properties may cost up to 33% less than in the past.

The last group of big winners are Marriott Platinum Elites who will soon be getting some seriously improved benefits.

Their status will now be called “Platinum Premier” and they’ll finally receive upgrades to suites on a space available basis on all reservations. These elites will also see their bonus earnings increase from 50% to 75% and the icing on the cake will be the 10 suite night awards they’ll be receiving every year.

Marriott's Aruba Surf Club

Other Winners

  • Marriott Elites who have been used to earning Gold status after reaching 50 elite nights will now see their status called “Platinum” and will receive a host of better benefits – upgrades to suites on a space available basis and at least 5 suite night awards per year.
  • People who go for the new Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus credit card will be winners as, for $10 more per year then the current Chase Marriott credit card, the benefits are a significant improvement (better earrings on general purchases, better annual free night certificate).
  • All Marriott Rewards and SPG members are winners from the point of view that Marriott didn’t take away or devalue the airline transfer benefit that we’ve all come to love. It may seem strange to call keeping the status quo a “win” but, considering a lot of us were sure this option would be stripped away, seeing it stay in place feels like a win.
  • SPG members without status (Preferred Guests) who have been used to earning 2 Starpoints per dollar on hotel stays (equivalent to 6 Marriott rewards points per dollar) will be seeing their earnings increase to 10 Marriott Rewards points per dollar at most properties.

London Marriott West India Quay

Bottom Line

I think Marriott Rewards members have probably come out of this better than some sections of the SPG membership pool but, overall, I’m not sure many of us could have hoped for much more.

It’s true to say that we haven’t yet seen how Marriott will price the all-suite resorts and we haven’t seen which hotels will fall into which of the new hotel categories but, considering the rumours that have been going around, it feels like we’ve got off light.

I don’t think that Amex Platinum cardholders or United elites have all that much to gripe about even though I’ve listed them under the biggest losers.

The Marriott Gold benefit for Amex Platinum cardholders was a loophole that appeared when Marriott bought Starwood and was never a promised benefit and, if I’m being completely honest, I always thought that United Elites got a far better deal with the Marriott partnership than Marriott elites – this feels like a little bit of parity has been restored.

I almost feel sorry for SPG Lifetime Platinum status holders as they’re bound to feel a little hard done by….but the fact remains that they’re not actually having anything taken away – they’re just not getting as many benefits as current Marriott Lifetime Platinums.

My biggest concern at the point surrounds how Marriott will allocate hotels to the new categories.

If the hotels are spread out across all categories things shouldn’t be too bad but if Marriott decides to load up the top 2 new categories with properties that are below the top-tier in the current award charts then this will be a significant devaluation.

We’ll have to wait and see what happens in the weeks ahead.

Any thoughts on what Marriott has done with the new loyalty program?

3 COMMENTS

  1. Thanks for the detailed information. I currently have Marriott Gold due to United status, and was desperately trying to find any information about how that was affected by the merger. Yours is the only site I found that explained anything about this, and in great detail to boot. Its bad news for me, but I least now I know.

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