Originally Posted by
btonkid12345
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).
That’s not the Q&A text on members.marriott.com. And I don’t remember ever reading any Aug 1 reference.
The official
press release on Apr 16 made no reference to that date. Nor did post #5 on this thread.
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).
It was clearly mentioned on members.marriott.com and repeated several times by SPG Lurkers on the SPG forum.