RUMOR: Marriott Rewards/SPG Program Announcement Coming

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The Points Nerd blog and View From The Wing have reported a suggestion that Marriott is set to reveal a few significant details relating to the combined Marriott Rewards/SPG rewards program in the very near future.

An announcement is expected to be made around 16 April and, supposedly, this is some of what we can expect:

  • The Starwood Preferred Guest program will end on 1 August 2018
  • All Starpoints will automatically be converted to Marriott Rewards points at a 1:3 ratio
  • The existing status tier structure will be discontinued and a new 5-tier system put in its place:
    • Silver – requiring 10 nights
    • Gold – requiring 25 nights
    • Platinum – requiring 50 nights
    • Platinum Premier – requiring 75 nights
    • Ambassador – requiring 100 nights and $20,000 spend/year
  • Possible changes to redemption rates based on seasonality

a tall building with many windows

Thoughts In Brief

This seems very sudden considering all indications up until now have suggested that the two rewards programs wouldn’t merge until 2019.

It also seems somewhat strange that a loyalty program (SPG) would be cancelled/ended in the middle of a year – why not wait 5 months and make the break clean?

The rumored new tier structure makes sense as it’s essentially a Marriott/SPG hybrid but I don’t like what this could mean for lifetime Marriott Platinum status.

Most of us working towards Marriott Platinum Lifetime status will have been working towards our goal with the understanding that we’ll be getting top-tier status (or at least all the important benefits of top-tier status) but that probably won’t be the case.

SPG has two main tiers of Platinum status (one earned at 50 nights and one at 75 nights) and it’s the status and status benefits earned at the 50 night level that are bestowed upon SPG lifetime Platinum members.

Currently there’s only one level of Marriott Rewards Platinum status and it’s earned after 75 nights but, if Marriott introduces two Platinum tiers as is being suggested, it doesn’t take a pessimist to see that the combined program will almost certainly set the lifetime Platinum status benefit at the lower of the two levels….and that’s bad news.

Those of us who have been earning Marriott Platinum status year on year have been spending at least 60 nights (plus 15 nights from the Marriott credit card) at Marriott properties so any lifetime Platinum benefits should be equal to whatever is offered at the 75 night mark, not whatever watered down version is brought in at 50 nights….but that’s what I expect us to see.

Anyway, we’ve seen this all before at American Airlines.

American’s Platinum status was demoted from being the 2 highest tier in the AAdvantage program to being the tier second from bottom and everyone who had lifetime Platinum status saw their benefits and earnings slashed in the process – this is what loyalty programs do so we really shouldn’t be surprised.

There aren’t really any detailed rumours surrounding what Marriott will do with redemption rates but considering the utterly ridiculous rates SPG currently charges for its overhyped top-tier properties I fully expect to see significant changes in the reward night chart.

45,000 points/night at the better JW Marriott properties will probably soon be a nice but distant memory and if the JW Marriott in the Maldives ever actually opens its doors I expect it to be one of the first 100,000 point/night properties.

Sydney Harbour Marriott

Bottom Line

Things are looking good in the hotel industry right now so hoteliers are emboldened to make changes that we, the savvy travelers, aren’t going to like – that’s just a fact of life.

Marriott/Starwood is a powerful giant with a huge worldwide footprint so it doesn’t need to work as hard as a standalone Starwood or Hyatt to keep customers happy….and those at the top know that all too well.

We may not see all the rumoured changes announced around the 16th (we may not have any announcement at all)….but changes are definitely coming and anyone who thinks they’re not going to be bad is deluding themselves.

Sadly I suspect we’re about to see the beginning of the Hiltonization of Marriott/SPG and, regardless of what some Hilton loyalists will tell you, that’s not good news for most of us.

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