Huge Changes to the Marriott/SPG Program

Marriott purchased the Starwood portfolio in September 2016 and being that they were very different programs, no one was sure how these programs would change once the merger finally took place. Well yesterday, Marriott finally revealed the full details of their new loyalty program, as the merge Marriott Rewards, Ritz-Carlton Rewards, and Starwood Preferred Guest, into a single loyalty program…

and there are A LOT of new changes coming! I’ll break down what the new changes are when they go into effect, and what that means for members going forward– let’s get started!

Unified programs with new elite tiers

As of August 2018, Marriott, Ritz-Carlton, and SPG will function under one unified program. With this, members will be able to earn and redeem points at all properties without having to transfer points and will receive a unified set of elite benefits at all of these properties. Members will also make all bookings at marriott.com, which means that spg.com will no longer be used.

Furthermore, as of early 2019, Marriott will create a new name for their loyalty program, the name of which hasn’t yet been revealed.

Going forward, Marriott will have five elite tiers, as follows:

• Silver Elite: 10-24 nights
• Gold Elite: 25-49 nights
• Platinum Elite: 50-74 nights
• Platinum Premier Elite: 75-99 nights
• Platinum Premier Elite with Ambassador service: 100+ nights plus $20,000 of qualifying spend

Essentially they’re maintaining qualifying tiers at all the levels that both Marriott and Starwood previously had, but some big changes will be coming to what benefits are received by each tier.

For this year alone, Marriott will be matching elite tiers as follows:

This overall is good news, as almost every current tier will be receiving a bump in status through the end of 2018. Additionally, through the end of this year, elite qualifying nights from all three programs will combine towards your status for 2019. Meaning if, by the end of 2018, you’ve stayed 25 nights with Marriott, 20 with SPG, and 5 with Ritz-Carlton, you’ll receive Platinum Elite status for 2019.

New program elite benefits

So you’ve now got an idea of what tier you’ll fall in, so what will the benefits of that tier be?

Silver Elite

• 10% bonus points
• Priority late check-out, subject to availability
• Dedicated elite reservations line

Gold Elite

• A 25% points bonus
• 2PM late check-out, subject to availability
• A welcome gift of points
• A room upgrade subject to availability, excluding suites

Platinum Elite

• A 50% points bonus
• Guaranteed 4PM late check-out, except at resorts (where it’s subject to availability)
• A welcome gift of points, breakfast, or an amenity
• A room upgrade subject to availability, including suites
• Executive lounge access
• Annual Choice Benefit (5 Suite Night Awards or gift option)

Platinum Premier Elite

• A 75% points bonus
• A further annual Choice Benefit (5 Suite Night Awards or gift option)

Platinum Premier Elite with Ambassador service

• Ambassador service
• Your24 (the ability to check-in and check-out over a 24 hour period, subject to availability)

For those of you who prefer things to be visual, here’s a breakdown of each tier in chart form:

For me, there are two big takeaways from these changes. First of all, it’s a massive devaluation for Gold Elite as it will no longer receive lounge access/free breakfast, or guaranteed 4pm late-checkout (2pm instead). A huge blow to those who don’t stay enough to earn platinum or folks who were receiving a status match from their SPG Gold status via their American Express Platinum cards.

The good news is that Platinum is now better than ever AND much easier to earn, as the qualifying nights required used to be 75 and are dropping to 50 in the new program. So in addition to your 4pm checkout, free breakfast, and lounge access, you’ll also be eligible for suites upgrades during check-in, a 50% bonus in points earned, and 5 suite night awards each cardmember year!

I know my travel hackers out there are likely thinking to themselves “Will there be a way to earn Platinum status without needing to stay 50 nights every year?”

The answer is yes! Many of the changes to the Marriott & SPG credit cards are the inclusion of a 15-night qualifying credit just for holding the card. So if you’re a current Amex SPG or Marriott card holder, you’ll only need to stay 35 nights. This benefit cannot be stacked though for those of you who hold multiple cards.

Point Earning

When this new program is launched, all current Starpoints will be converted into Marriott Rewards points at a 1:3 ratio, same as before.

All members will earn 10 points per dollar spent with Marriott, but when you factor in elite bonuses:

• Base members will earn 10 points per dollar
• Silver members will earn 11 points per dollar
• Gold members will earn 12.5 points per dollar
• Platinum members will earn 15 points per dollar
• Platinum Premier members will earn 17.5 points per dollar

As a point of comparison, previously with Marriott Rewards:

• Base members earned 10 points per dollar
• Silver members earned 12 points per dollar
• Gold members earned 12.5 points per dollar
• Platinum members earned points 15 points per dollar

For those interested, here is a chart comparing all earning rates before and after.

Award chart

Earning more points and additional benefits are all well and good, but how about the hotels we spend those points on? Is the award chart being devalued after the merger? Well, yes and no. Allow me to explain…

As of August 1, there will be a new award chart used for all hotels, with Categories 1-8. For the remainder of 2018, all hotels will have “standard” pricing, while starting in January 2019 we’ll see both “off-peak” and “peak” pricing added, meaning that a given hotel can up to three levels of award pricing. Great news for travelers that have the flexibility of traveling during off-peak times, but if your vacations usually fall in the summer–you certainly won’t be a fan of the change.

Here’s the new Marriott Rewards redemption chart (Marriott will continue to offer fifth night free redemptions, as before):

How does this compare to the current charts?

Right now Marriott Rewards charges the following number of points:

• Category 1: 7,500 points
• Category 2: 10,000 points
• Category 3: 15,000 points
• Category 4: 20,000 points
• Category 5: 25,000 points
• Category 6: 30,000 points
• Category 7: 35,000 points
• Category 8: 40,000 points
• Category 9: 45,000 points

Ritz-Carlton Rewards charges the following number of points:

• Tier 1: 30,000 points
• Tier 2: 40,000 points
• Tier 3: 50,000 points
• Tier 4: 60,000 points
• Tier 5: 70,000 points

Starwood Preferred Guest charges the following number of points (adjusted for the 1 SPG point to 3 Marriott points transfer ratio):

• Category 1: 6,000-9,000 points
• Category 2: 9,000-12,000 points
• Category 3: 21,000 points
• Category 4: 30,000 points
• Category 5: 36,000-48,000 points
• Category 6: 60,000-75,000 points
• Category 7: 90,000-105,000 points

So after comparing, it appears as though the Marriot & Ritz categories will potentially be receiving a slight devaluation and properties from the SPG portfolio will appear to be less expensive. Though, we have no idea yet what properties will fall into what categories–but I’ll be sure to keep everyone updated when we do.

Airline transfer partners

Perhaps the one perk people were most worried about is what would happen to Starwoods airline transfer partners? If you’ve been reading the blog for a while you’ve likely read my post detailing how SPG points were the most flexible of all point currencies because of their ability to transfer to 40 different airline partners. A benefit that Marriott points have never been able to match, so with the merger are those transfer partners going away?

Not at all! All of the previous airline transfer partners are here to stay! In fact, they will soon be adding a few more airlines to the list.

Going forward, you can convert Marriott Rewards points into airline miles at a 3:1 ratio, with a 15,000 point bonus for every 60,000 points transferred. This means that for all practical purposes, mileage transfer rates are staying the same (you used to be able to convert 20,000 Starpoints into 25,000 airline miles). Furthermore, Marriott Hotel + Air Packages are also here to stay.

New credit cards

The moment we’ve all been waiting for!!! Well, maybe just me…

Last year I wrote about the credit card agreement for Marriott, and how both American Express and Chase will be issuing Marriott credit cards in the future:

The specific language was:
“Amex will offer super premium and small business cards, Chase will offer mass consumer and premium consumer cards”

So, what new cards are coming?

On May 3, the new Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card will be introduced. The card will have a $95 annual fee and will offer:

• 6x Marriott Rewards points per dollar spent at participating properties and 2x points per dollar spent on all other purchases
• An anniversary free night certificate valid at any property retailing for up to 35,000 points per night
• 15 elite qualifying nights towards status annually

Essentially the card is just an improvement on the current Marriott card which will no longer be available after the Premier Plus is released. This card will be subject to the Chase 5/24 rule.

Then in August, the new SPG American Express Luxury Card will be introduced. The card will have a $450 annual fee and will offer:

• 6x points per dollar spent at participating hotels, 3x points per dollar spent on airfare and U.S. restaurants, and 2x points per dollar spent on all other purchases
• A $300 annual statement credit for on-property purchases
• An anniversary free night certificate valid at any property retailing for up to 50,000 points per night
• Automatic Gold status
• Platinum status when you spend $75,000 on the card in a year
• A Priority Pass Select membership
• A $100 Global Entry fee credit
• 15 elite qualifying nights towards status annually

To be honest, I’m a little let down with the offerings from this card. 6x points at Marriott properties are nice, as when it combines with my new Platinum status in August, I’d be receiving a total of 21 points per dollar on Marriott stays when using this card. However, 3x point on airfare & restaurants is useless to me as I’d rather earn 3 Chase Ultimate Reward points with my Sapphire Reserve than 3 Marriott points.

The value of the card as an “everyday spender” has gone away as well, as previously you earned one SPG point for every $1 you spend (which used to be worth 3 Marriott points), now you’ll just receive 2 Marriott points for all non-bonused spend–effectively a 33% loss to your return on spend. In which case I’d rather use my Chase Freedom Unlimited for my non-bonused spend.

The $300 annual statement credit and anniversary night are nice and will certainly help offset the cost of the $450 annual fee. But automatic gold status is not compelling at all, as we just saw how much they devalued that tier in favor of platinum members, and there are so many other cards that offer a priority pass membership & global entry credit making it essentially worthless to anyone who holds one of those cards.

We will have to wait and see what the sign-up offer on the card are like to see if it becomes more compelling when it is realized in August.

Winners and losers

Well, that was a lot to take in, so in summary, who are the winners and losers in the new program?

Losers 

• Delta elites who will no longer receive hotel benefits because the Crossover Rewards program is ending.
• Starwood Golds: You can no longer qualify with 10 stays. 25-night elites no longer get guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout, instead of getting 2 p.m. subject to availability.
• American Express Platinum cardholders: Some complain that they’ll no longer get club lounge access or breakfast at Marriotts, but I don’t think that’s a fair argument. Before the merger in September, Platinum cardholders got Starwood Gold which didn’t give them lounge access. After the merger when Starwood Gold matched to Marriott Gold which got lounge access at Marriott, a loophole was created. That goes away now because it was never really intended to be there in the first place. Platinum cardholders keep the same 25-night elite status as before. The loss here is that no longer comes with guaranteed 4 p.m. late checkout.
• Starwood American Express cardholders: They lose daily spending potential that was great for airline mileage transfers. Instead of earning, in effect, 1.25 miles per dollar spent [with the 5000-mile bonus for transferring points into 20,000 miles] the base earn rate of 1 mile per dollar gets cut by 33%. Moreover, the card previously came with ‘Preferred Plus’ status that offered 4 p.m. guaranteed late checkout. Instead, the card will offer Silver status without late check-out going forward.
• Starwood Platinums qualifying on stays: Stay-based qualification goes away and folks with 25 stays and fewer than 50 nights will drop to Gold — no more suites, breakfast, or even 4 p.m. late checkout.
• Starwood 75 night elites will no longer get 24-hour check-in privileges.
• Starwood 100 night elites who spend less than $20,000 a year who will no longer get 24-hour check-in privileges or an Ambassador.

Winners

• Starwood General members: Increased earning for hotel stays.
• Chase Marriott cards: The new card will double its points-earning for non-bonused spend.
• Marriott 50+ night elites: They’ll get breakfast at more hotel brands, breakfast at resorts, and upgrades to suites when available — including priority for suites at least 5 nights a year. They already got 4 p.m. late checkout as a result of the merger, too. In other words, they get a meaningful elite experience which Marriott really did not offer before.
• 100-night elites spending $20,000 or more annually: They keep all the benefits they are used to on the Starwood side, those benefits extend to the Marriott side (so a much bigger footprint), and they’re getting better earn and burn for their spending.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I think the changes are generally quite positive for those who actually stay with Marriott hotels semi-regularly, and still palatable for the average traveler as well. What do you think of the new Marriott changes? If you have questions about anything I went over, just let me know and I’d be happy to answer!

Cheers and safe travels!