Originally Posted by
sdsearch
So blaming the AA/US merger for the Dec 2011 "Million Miler" change at AA would be like blaming the upcoming Marriott/SPG merger for the changes Marriott made to lifetime status a couple years ago (like dropping the years requirement, which btw SPG does have). I see no parallel with anything that Marriott and SPG may decide about lifetime status in the future.
I agree with your assertion that the AA/US merger had nothing to do with AA's LT program changes. But while a "stretch" I could see a possible relation to Marriott's previous change to its LT requirements with the upcoming Starwood/Marriott merge.
If I remember correctly, Marriott changed their LT status requirements around the same time Starwood added SPG LT benefits. So Starwood adding LT benefits to SPG might have had something to do with Marriotts change. And now with the upcoming merger there will no longer be an SPG LT status out there. So while I don't think it will really cause Marriott to make yet another LT status change, there might be a remote possibility of it.