There certainly has been a lot of chatter recently surrounding program changes. We finally can share more information, and we’re so excited for you to be among the first to hear what we have planned! Here’s the news you’ve been so curious about:
Starting this August, SPG®, Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® will become one program. Our names will stay the same until 2019, but we’ll consolidate everything else into one set of benefits to make things easier and provide more opportunities for you. More details can now be found at members.marriott.com, however here are some highlights starting in August:
Earn and redeem across the full collection of 6,500 hotels/29 brands — more hotels where you want to go.
- Starting in August, you’ll earn 10 points per US$1 spent on eligible hotel charges (5 points per eligible US$1 at Element, Residence Inn and TownePlace Suites hotels. 2.5 points per eligible US$1 at Marriott Executive Apartments). Elite members earn even more with their bonuses.
- For SPG members, your Starpoints balance will be multiplied by 3 in a one-time conversion in August.
- The new consolidated free night Award Chart offers 8 Categories with off-peak, standard and peak pricing. Category 8, off-peak and peak won’t roll out until early 2019. Hotels slated for Category 8 will be in Category 7 until that point, offering a 25,000 points per night savings!
- Over the next few days we will be adding examples of where hotels will fall within the new free night Award Chart. We’ll be sure to post again when this is live. In the meantime, you’ll be pleased to know that our move to one Award Chart offers even more value for your points, with more hotels moving down in redemption rates than up.
- For free flights, you’ll be able to transfer points to more than 40 airlines, including new options. The new ratio will be 3 points for one mile.
- Plus, we’ll add 15,000 points for every 60,000 points you transfer to airline miles, providing you with a total of 25,000 miles in the airline program of your choice.
Enjoy consistent Elite benefits and status recognition at all hotels across 29 brands.
- The new Elite structure offers 5 Elite tiers and benefits.
- Existing Elite members will continue to be Elite and will receive a new, but similar, tier level in August. You could also receive a higher Elite tier — based on your combined Rewards and SPG nights stayed at any of our 29 brands going back to January 1, 2018.
- The new Lifetime structure offers 3 tiers and benefits.
- If you’ve previously achieved Lifetime Elite status in Rewards or SPG, you will have that Lifetime Elite status in the new program. In addition, when you combine Rewards and SPG accounts, we will combine your lifetime activity across both toward Lifetime Elite status in August. And if you qualified for Elite status in both programs in the same year, it will count as 2 years toward Lifetime.
Simplify your experience — one account, profile, login, points balance and Elite-night balances.
- So, if you have a SPG account and a Rewards account, you can combine them in August to consolidate your points, Elite nights and profile into one.
Seamlessly access everything through our websites and apps, and when you call Member Support.
- For the first time you’ll be able to see your full account details and search for and book hotels across all 6,500 hotels whether you are using the SPG app or marriott.com.
Be sure to check out members.marriott.com to learn even more about what’s coming in August. There’s a lot more information there, including FAQs. As we lead up to August, we’ll continue to update the site. In the meantime, please feel free to comment here with questions and suggestions and we’ll do our best to answer all of them.
Best regards,
Marriott Rewards Insider