hhoope01

Or you actually want to use the combined points in one or the other program.

SkiAdcock

Yes, but the person asking a few posts above was doing it thinking it would count towards LT right now - and will probably be disappointed.

Cheers.

cmculp

I'll let you know. Transfer posted, as of yet lifetime hasn't changed. The points came from Amex which prior to the linkage couldn't move to MR.

In the end, no matter. This weekends stay will top the 2 million mark. Testing the system...

TrojanHorse

I'm definitely waiting on a definitive answer to this as well; I'm a couple hundred k short of 2M

I've met the other criteria so this would be an easy way of getting the points. I'm sitting on a good chunk of SPG points as well

pdx1M

Well I suppose waiting on a definitive answer is your prerogative but do realize that to implement the transfer capability was pretty simple (both programs already had simple transfer mechanisms) but to implement what you'd like (crediting the transfer against lifetime status) would require that the points be subtracted from the background SPG lifetime record at transfer time (and likewise on the MR side) or you essentially have created a lifetime points manufacturing scheme but just moving points back and forth. That would be extra work that serves no real purpose at this point given that eventually the programs will get combined and a final answer to the lifetime points issue is chosen. So I'd put the odds of what you want as very close to 0%.

hhoope01

I would agree. There have been posts from others who verified that their LT numbers didn't change after a transfer. And I would also agree that setting up the points transfer was probably a lot easier to set into place and the LT amount updates will occur at some point in the future. Just not right now.

OU812

Marriott's website now includes all the SPG brands. http://www.marriott.com/marriott-brands.mi#ourbrands The brands are divided into Luxury, Premium, Select, and Longer Stays brands and further divided into Classic and Distinctive as follows:

There is also a indication within each brand of the rewards program (MR, RCR, or SPG) it participates in. Interestingly enough, only Marriott brands come up when searching for available hotels using, "find and reserve," on Marriott's website.



Regards,

RIP...

Horace

First, I'm glad to see that Marriott is not using the rather meaningless term "Lifestyle" now. (Earlier lists that put such disparate brands as EDITION, Renaissance, AC Hotels, and Moxy into the same "Lifestyle" category were just plain silly.)

Essentially, brands that used to be "Lifestyle" are now "Distinctive" but the term is subservient to more meaningful categories such as Luxury and Premium.

It's not surprising to me that only Marriott brands come up at http://www.marriott.com and only Starwood-legacy brands come up at http://www.starwoodhotels.com so far. The merger only happened a week ago.

If you click on the link for each brand at http://www.marriott.com/marriott-brands.mi you go to an appropriate website for that brand.

I would imagine that one of the highest priorities now is to develop and populate a single reservation system, with website access to Marriott and Starwood-legacy brands. Considering that some customers now have two linked accounts, some have two unlinked accounts, and still others have only an SPG account or only a Rewards account, making the system work well for everyone will be a challenge.

DJ_Iceman

Agreed, and maybe this is the first step towards standardizing and further simplifying this ridiculous brand proliferation. If we get to the point where there are certain brand standards that apply to ALL hotels in the luxury, premium, select, and longer stay categories respectively, that will alone be wonderful. And if "classic" means cookie-cutter while "distinctive" means more unique (but the respective brand standards are still rock-solid), I'm all for it.

MW147

I am Lifetime Platinum with Marriott, I did not have an SPG account.

I established an SPG account, linked them together, and was instantly an SPG Platinum. It could not have been easier.

I have not tried transferring points yet, we will see how that goes!

TrojanHorse

Who's trying to go back and forth, I just want to transfer my spg points once if they will up my LT balance to 2M MR points so I can become LT Plat. I wasn't trying to go back and forth in a scheme. Where did you come up with that anyway?

SkiAdcock

I don't think he meant you specifically, but just pointing out that some would try to game the system re: LT by transferring back/forth. Which is probably a reason transferred points between the two programs don't count towards LT status.

Cheers.

pdx1M

Right - I was certainly not suggesting you wanted to do anything like that. My point was that if the long term plan is to combine the points via some formula then you can't just transfer points. LT points aren't being spent - they exist forever as earned. The SPG points are already in the future combined system as SPG points so to keep from multiple counting them you'd have to deduct them from SPG LT points in order to move them which is not something you otherwise ever do with LT points - they just grow, never shrink.

MSPeconomist

IIRC lifetime points do shrink if they're transferred to another person. I think someone posted about experimenting with this in the last year or so.

cmculp

I tried a couple of weeks ago. I moved points from AMEX to SPG then sent them to Marriott. My goal was to push beyond 2 million points.

The points posted, balance increased but lifetime stayed the same.

Next stay pushed over, so I know it is current