Now that the details are revealed, the SPG/Marriott merger is by far the biggest impact to me.

The good: under the combined rules, I'll move from Gold in both programs to LT Plat Premier across the combined portfolio. Marriott Gold was okay, but I had no easy path to Starwood Platinum. Now I will have basically that across the whole Starwood universe of hotels, which I've always liked better than Marriott hotels. Increased earnings, recognition of status at resorts and most brands in the portfolio, and (likely) a Star Alliance Silver comp. All of those are great.

The bad: I've historically generated a ton of my points supply from the SPG Amex. That card gets nerfed 33% on August 1, leaving my 2019 general-spend credit card strategy in limbo.

The ugly: Marriott Travel Packages were significantly nerfed - especially if you want to redeem a high-category hotels. And the raw math tips the balance towards more hotel-weeks and fewer airline miles, which is the opposite direction I wanted to see them go. (I already have more than enough ways to get free hotel nights.)

The unknown: the first publication of category conversion showed that most of my past 10 and 5 "likely" future planned redemptions stayed mostly flat in terms of points required. But the Peak vs. Non-Peak designation is a big wild-card, with Marriott ominously suggesting that hotels would be able to designate half of the entire year as "peak", something that is wholly untrue in reality for the vast majority of hotels. Implementation of this could mean that nearly *every* hotel award has been devalued.