cln

People have too much freetime

3Cforme

The OP will find lots of blather about prospective SPG:Marriott Rewards point conversions forward from here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...l#post25994485

yosithezet

Where did you get the idea that SPG LT requires consecutive years?

jb3t

Dumb question.... Is there a place we can post or email our concerns, ideas, or our feelings about what we love about the SPG program so that Marriott will see/acknowledge them?

I am sure MAR is not going to make decisions on the new program without doing market research. The last thing they want to do is piss off SPG loyalists because, quite frankly, the SPG customer base could be the most valuable asset in this purchase. Especially seeing SPG does not own much brick & morter.

While we are all venting on here, it would be nice to make sure our message and feelings were heard by MAR... In a non-complaining way.

sethb

Good question, since that's currently my major use card (given the relative value of points, and since I'm not still doing the traveling pattern where Hyatt points were over $.02 each).

sethb

Based on costs to get points and benefits of using points, anywhere between 2:1 and 5:1 can be justified. It seems to me that around 3.5 is overall the fairest, and I expect around 3 to be the actual ratio.

sethb

When they're in the consolidation/conversion phase, I'd say that staying in either kind of hotel should keep points in both from expiring.

sethb

"our hotels"? What sort of proprietary ownership are you suggesting exists?

And where are you getting those earning numbers?

Bravada04

There is talk about the changes happening possibly Jan.01/18..........Am I not understanding the rationale behind this but wouldn't it make sense for things to change on March 01/18 whereas the memberships would end or change for renewal as usual?

Cargojon

From the land of make believe, where Marriott elites will be lined up at SPG like its a new iPhone release.

I am elite in both programs, they each have their place. But neither is heads and tails above the other.

sethb

They'll change whenever they think it's best for them. It might well take even longer than that.

Visconti

The Amex SPG has been my favorite card.

Other hotel cards are only rewarding when paying for hotel stays, but the Amex SPG is rewarding on general spending. The ability to transfer points to a virtually any FF program with a 25% is without peer. This alone makes the Amex SPG the single "best" Airline rewards card for non-airfare purchases. While I suspect the better hotel cash & points redemptions will continue, availability may be reduced.

I believe the program will not change until 2018, but we may have (1) sudden termination of the 25% bonus and/or points transfers entirely, and (2) an even more than usual devaluation after next years category realignment.

As the purchaser inheriting an overly rich rewards program (from MAR's perspective), I see no reason why they'd offer a greater than 2:1 conversion ratio or continue the ability to transfer points.

The unknown is Amex. Chase is unlikely to be open to sharing the MAR/Ritz relationship with another lender, but even if they worked out an agreement, the SPG's card value will be lost, if only it'll be now earning less valuable Marriott points with limited flexibility.

My take? Use your points and don't let them devalue and capture the surplus. If they announced, say, transfers will end on 12/31/16, wouldn't every single SPG point be transferred out? In this scenario, MAR gains no surplus rendering devaluation irrelevant; in a scenario where all SPG points are exhausted, does the ratio even matter? Mind as well make it 10:1 for PR purposes. This is why I believe, similar to AS's devaluation EK, any decision to end transfers would be announced suddenly and without warning.

Visconti

Of course they should.

They paid for it. Now, in our modern PC state, they must proffer up a bunch of marketing BS placating the customers they've acquired, but they're certainly not going to deviate from their core strategy/culture just because of some incessant whining (including myself expressing our frustration and discontent on these forums).

Visconti

In general, I'd agree.

Naturally, those who prefer or find more convenient staying in MAR properties will find the Marriott program more valuable, and vice versa. If we're considering only the merits of hotel stays, the difference isn't earth shattering, though I'd say generally *woods has better properties, but not by an overwhelming margin.

However, a single SPG point is worth considerably more than a Marriott point. From this perspective, the Amex SPG offering 1 SPG point per spend makes the program a much better value proposition than Marriott's, since the majority of a normal person's spend will not be on hotels. In addition, the 25% bonus transfer to virtually all FF programs makes the Amex SPG the single best value rewards credit card for general spending.

Chase's Marriott 1 pt per spend? This card has such a limited purpose, I've never even bothered to churn them since it takes up a valuable Chase slot better allocated for their other cards.

Therein lies the difference between the 2 rewards programs.

MSPeconomist

With the MR program being bigger, there are probably more outstanding MR points in accounts than Starpoints in SPG accounts--adjusted of course for either purchasing power or spend needed to acquire those points--although this effect is probably mitigated by the SPG program probably skewing more elite heavy. With more "value" of the MR points in circulation, there could be an incentive to make SPG points worth more in the conversion.

The sad thing is that when Marriott people get access to Starwood hotels as award bookings or with elite benefits, there will be lots of demand from all those MR members, but Starwood folks won't find many hotels of interest either as award stays or for their (lack of) elite benefits. So movement of hoards will mostly be in one direction, and it won't benefit us at all.