Originally Posted by
M.dA.R.
Well, first of all, it was never announced that the new program would start on Aug 1. A set date was never advertised and all mentions were generic for the month of August. I for one think it may even start earlier than that, on July 27 or 28.
The sample award chart was announced for May, and they came through. The full award chart was announced for June; again, they delivered.
So, what you “hardly call” on schedule, was on schedule.
^^^
Thank you! Indeed!
I’m a bit tired of the naysayers complaining about how Marriott hasn’t delivered on its promises. I doubted like most at the start, but Marriott has come through with remarkably impressive performance and decisions throughout this process. It hasn’t been perfect, but what is these days?
Marriott took Starwood and largely made the new loyalty program adopt a semi-SPG look. SPG was the most impressive loyalty program, and Marriott largely cloned it for itself. Marriott promised to please the SPG elites, and it largely has done an incredible job doing just that. Marriott promised us award charts, and it has delivered us award charts.
Marriott deserves tremendous respect for merging two huge programs and customer bases into one new community. They’ve done it with care, with thought, and with an eye to trying to please as many customers and owners as possible. They even listened when the SPG Lifetime Plats complained about not getting New Lifetime Platinum Premier status like their Marriott counterparts. (FWIW, I’m not benefitting from that.)
Marriott has earned high praise. But the whining and complaining and the constant doubts aren’t warranted. Thus far, Marriott has delivered.