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.
Let's deal with facts. This is from a Marriott/SPG Q&A citing 8/1 as the start date:
Q: Can I receive SPG benefits and earn Starpoints and Elite Night Credits during stays at hotels in the Marriott Rewards portfolio? And can I receive Marriott Rewards benefits and earn Marriott Rewards points and Elite Night Credits for stays at hotels in the SPG portfolio?
A: Until August 1st, 2018, the programs will remain separate: SPG members will continue to earn Starpoints and receive SPG benefits at hotels participating in the SPG program, and Marriott Rewards members will earn Marriott Rewards points and receive Marriott Rewards benefits at hotels participating in that program. You’ll need two loyalty member accounts—one for each program.
Starting August 1st, 2018, you’ll be able to seamlessly book, earn points and redeem points across all of Marriott’s 6,500 hotels and 29 hotel brands and you will need to combine your loyalty member accounts online prior to arrival at the hotel to receive the benefits from your combined status. Log in to
spg.com and follow the prompts in order to combine your accounts. SPG, Marriott Rewards, and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards will maintain their separate names. See Marriott’s Member Benefits page for more information (
members.marriott.com).
Any official sources to back up your May and June date citations above? From a customer perspective, 4 weeks notice is too little and cutting it way too close (especially with higher category hotels having limited availability more than a few months out).
Originally Posted by
bhrubin
^^^
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.
I'm not a naysayer nor did I say they haven't delivered. Just providing critique; the world's largest hotel company shouldn't have 90 minute holds on their Platinum Elite line. Period.
Just one example. I don't want to generalize either way, but do want to point out where I think improvements can be made to the merger process. I don't get why you are all about heaping praise on Marriott; it's not a person I have a personal relationship with and want to stay positive with.
It's a for-profit corporation. Decisions made are in pursuit of said profit, and we are the customers providing a lot of that revenue and profit. The feedback and "keeping them honest" is important.