Originally Posted by
Horace
Then again, it's also possible that the levels for lifetime Rewards status will increase in 2018 -- although that would make a lot of members angry, which is not what Marriott wants for a smooth merger of the programs.
Given Marriott just a few years ago reduced their LT requirements, it will be interesting to see how LT statuses are affected by this acquisition/merger.
One thing I could see them doing is throwing back in some type of minimum number of years at Plat to achieve Plat LT status. Currently Marriott doesn't have any requirements around ever being Plat before getting Plat LT status. They used to require at least getting that status once. SPG requires 10 years of Plat status (plus other requirements of course) before achieving LT Plat status.
I guess the question really is what is Marriott using LT status to do? I really think they originally added it in years and years ago not as any "carrot" for getting people to stay more at their hotels, but more as a "reward" for many years of consistent patronage. Then when other hotel programs started adding their own LT statuses, I'm wondering if their thinking changed to more of the "carrot" approach. But how they want to use LT status will probably affect how LT status will look in the new combined program.