Originally Posted by
sdsearch
Except that Amex issues Starwood points (both on Starwood cards and in transfers from Membership Rewards), and Amex USA has said August 1, though I think Amex Canada may have said Aug 3. Amex has to know when it's happening, because it has to synchronize earnings changes on its Starwood cards at the same time, plus it has to transfer the right number of Membership Rewards points to the right number of some kind of points at Starwood no matter when you initiate the transfer and when the transfer is actually completed (or else temporarily suspend all such transfers if the date is unknown to Amex?).
Chase is relatively unaffected, because Marriott points are not being "recalibrated" the way Starwood points are.
Yes. Although Marriott has consistently published "August 2018" instead of a specific date, American Express specifies August 1, 2018, here:
https://www.spgpromos.com/amexcomingsoon/
I'm sure Amex and SPG/Marriott have figured out how to handle data records properly during the transition, regardless of the date. Back in my IT days, any data record included a field that identified the data type. It takes very simple logic to perform a calculation on one data type but not another.
On Friday, July 20, I ordered a travel package from Marriott Rewards. At the end of the call, I asked the Marriott Rewards call center rep if they had been given an actual start date for the combined program, and if it can be shared with customers yet. To my surprise, the rep answered "August 8" -- without hesitation.
Maybe August 8 is correct. I wouldn't be surprised if reps have been told a day that they can't take off due to expected call volume.
Maybe August 8 is wrong. I haven't seen any other references to August 8.
One thing that supports the validity of August 8 is that is that American Express Card Services told me that the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card will be available August 9. It makes sense that bonus offers and upgrades for the new card will be based on the new points, not on the old value of Starpoints -- and waiting until the day after the new points kick in would make sense.
Take this "news" about August 8 with a grain of salt.