I confess I'm confused .... it seems to me that (a) a poster posted a rumor on FT a couple of days ago and (b) another poster gave a picture of a card from China. These postings have replicated throughout the blogosphere and on FT but it is still two postings. Both make a vague reference to August. Someone else said a phone told them that the airline transfer program was going to end on Monday. That has also been blogged many times and posted about many times although no one has been able to receive similar information.

So [MENTION=23861]UncleDude[/MENTION] what is it from these two postings that makes you believe that a major consumer facing company would do something in August that keeps people from requalifying or obtaining lifetime status they would otherwise have obtained during 2018? It seems (a) contrary to what the company has said, (b) to create an incredible logistical burden on them to sort out elite status in the middle of the year, and (c) something that will go contrary to the business case for an elite program. That doesn't mean I won't be surprised if they devalue the program, do things we don't like, and put a spin on it. And it also doesn't mean I don't believe I won't be able to book SPG properties from a single reservation site in August.

But, apart from my business life of 3000+ nights in Marriott/SPG and 3-4 mm miles on various airlines, I've also spent a fair chunk of my adult life in conflict zones in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. So please help me understand what it is from these two posts that convinced you that Marriott is going to completely merge the two programs mid-year to keep people from requalifying? Apart from satisfying my curiosity, it might help me in trying to deal with rumors that American soldiers are kidnapping women from villages or that NGO's are making women infertile and/or spreading AIDS through polio vaccines in parts of world.