Amex Platinum & Membership Rewards SPG/Marriott benefits beginning August 2018?
Jul 11, 2018, 12:34 am
#121
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 50
SPGŪ has announced changes to its loyalty program and how its members will earn Starpoints:
Starpoints will be referred to as points. These points do not refer to
Membership Rewards points.
On August 1, 2018, Starpoint balances in loyalty member accounts will
convert to points at a 1:3 ratio (one Starpoint will convert to three points).
For example, 1,000 Starpoints will become 3,000 points. In general,
the number of points needed to redeem in the loyalty program will have
corresponding changes.
To align with this, we are making changes to the Membership Rewards
Program Terms & Conditions that impact Card Members who are enrolled
in the Membership Rewards program and are eligible for a Membership
Rewards point transfer. Membership Rewards points can now be
transferred at a 1:1 ratio into the Starwood Preferred GuestŪ program and
can be transferred in increments of 1,000 points.
Starpoints will be referred to as points. These points do not refer to
Membership Rewards points.
On August 1, 2018, Starpoint balances in loyalty member accounts will
convert to points at a 1:3 ratio (one Starpoint will convert to three points).
For example, 1,000 Starpoints will become 3,000 points. In general,
the number of points needed to redeem in the loyalty program will have
corresponding changes.
To align with this, we are making changes to the Membership Rewards
Program Terms & Conditions that impact Card Members who are enrolled
in the Membership Rewards program and are eligible for a Membership
Rewards point transfer. Membership Rewards points can now be
transferred at a 1:1 ratio into the Starwood Preferred GuestŪ program and
can be transferred in increments of 1,000 points.
I'm sure I'm reading this wrong but by looking at that email it seems to imply we can transfer MR points to Starwood points at 1:1 ratio now and in August they will convert at 1:3 ratio into Marriott points? Seems too good or easy to be true?
Jul 11, 2018, 2:40 am
#122
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 378
That'd be huge, if that's the case. Not to mention, picked up by everyone.
Jul 11, 2018, 6:49 am
#123
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Jul 11, 2018, 7:03 am
#124
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 50
Jul 11, 2018, 7:36 pm
#125
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But points transferred from Starwood to Marriott don't count toward Marriott legacy lifetime points, so those people counting on transfers to add to lifetime points, it's all useless, until and unless Amex allows transfers to an actual Marriott account.
Jul 11, 2018, 7:40 pm
#126
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Hardly any detail about combining accounts has been announced yet. So no one knows, if you choose the Marriott account as the one to keep when you combine. (If you choose the Starwood account to keep, then there'd presumably be no issue. But for many people who have most of their nights and points at Marriott, choosing the Starwood account as the one to keep is not likely to make sense.)
Jul 12, 2018, 12:06 pm
#127
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: IAD/DCA
Posts: 31,797
spgpromos.com : "Until August 1st .. programs will remain separate"
official re date and elite status
what do you mean by choosing account? is that referencing something official / from lurker?
i see there may be some interpretation there, i read it as not requiring combining, not choosing account
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.
what do you mean by choosing account? is that referencing something official / from lurker?
i see there may be some interpretation there, i read it as not requiring combining, not choosing account
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Jul 12, 2018 at 12:19 pm
Jul 13, 2018, 10:34 pm
#128
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Choosing account refers to deciding which account number (SPG or Marriott) to keep when combining accounts. You obviously would either have to choose which account number to keep, or else have the choice (or a totally new account number) forced on you. There's no other technical possibility if you're combining accounts.
And since they've never said that one or the other type of account number will be discontinued, the assumption is that you can choose which one you want to keep. No one at Marriott/Starwood has documented exactly how the combining process will work and what all the results of combining will be.
And thus as with so many things about this merger, it's unstated and has to be read between the lines. And is based on assumptions (that they will indeed continue to use both account number formats post-program-merger).
And since they've never said that one or the other type of account number will be discontinued, the assumption is that you can choose which one you want to keep. No one at Marriott/Starwood has documented exactly how the combining process will work and what all the results of combining will be.
And thus as with so many things about this merger, it's unstated and has to be read between the lines. And is based on assumptions (that they will indeed continue to use both account number formats post-program-merger).
Jul 14, 2018, 8:37 am
#129
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i will go out on a limb and say combine means into marriott account, i think that would be pretty highly likely, but i certainly dont disagree re how theyre handling
by converting points they never have to require combine
by converting points they never have to require combine
Jul 14, 2018, 8:58 am
#130
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Jul 14, 2018, 4:04 pm
#132
Join Date: Nov 2013
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Posts: 4,422
And since they've never said that one or the other type of account number will be discontinued, the assumption is that you can choose which one you want to keep. No one at Marriott/Starwood has documented exactly how the combining process will work and what all the results of combining will be.
Considering all the "exchange rates" are going into the Marriott formula (3x Starpoints), I don't expect we'll have a choice eventually.
Jul 14, 2018, 4:24 pm
#133
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Short term, possibly. But I'm going to assume the opposite, based on how the United/Continental merger worked. One day, I had a MileagePlus account number assigned to me. US/AA merged everything into the AAdvantage system (I had both already) and discontinued the US system.
Considering all the "exchange rates" are going into the Marriott formula (3x Starpoints), I don't expect we'll have a choice eventually.
Considering all the "exchange rates" are going into the Marriott formula (3x Starpoints), I don't expect we'll have a choice eventually.
Jul 14, 2018, 4:29 pm
#134
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Jul 14, 2018, 4:40 pm
#135
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