The more that I think about it, that is what I believe is going to happen with SPG LTP. A growing number of us are being told (in writing and on the phone) by Marriott CSRs (who at least in my case said they ran it up the chain and received confirmation from supervisors or leadership) that SPG LTP are going to be grandfathered as LTPP, not LTP. In at least 4 or 5 cases I have read about on this board, folks were told that they had to merge their SPG and MR accounts in order for this to happen. I have been trying to think about why this is.

Now in my case, a mention of needing 750 nights and 2MM points was not mentioned, but for others, it was. So let's for the moment presume that it was just an omission in my written reply, or that the CSR had information about my account that I'm not aware of (for example, I have no idea how many historical SPG points I have earned, but I suspect it's a lot), and that the SPG member would need to have achieved comparable MR activity to qualify.

In all of the cases posted where folks received info from Marriott stating that SPG LTP had a path to LTPP, it was mentioned that once you link your MR and SPG accounts, all members across all programs are viewed as Marriott, not as SPG/MR/RC, etc. My CSR said specifically, "you have linked your programs, so according to us, you are Marriott, you are no longer SPG." What I think this means in practice is that MR LTP will indeed by the dictionary definition be the ones grandfathered as LTPP, but that on August 1, all members in all programs who have linked their accounts will have their activity converted and standardized, and if that member has achieved the MR historical requirements for LTP, they will, in that instant, become a true legacy MR LTP, prior to the granting of the grandfathered status, and will thusly be eligible for LTPP.

I believe that in practice, this will mean that a member with 750 nights and the equivalent of 2MM points (taking into account SPG * 3) will, upon conversion, become a true MR LTP, and that will be the justification for aligning all programs. Not even sure if I can get there personally, and it may be that they ultimately decide to convert all SPG LTP to LTPP, but having read everything in these threads, and trying to think logically, this is the most likely scenario in my mind.