Amex Platinum & Membership Rewards SPG/Marriott benefits beginning August 2018?
 

i wonder if this benefit will still match to gold in the new Marriott rewards system? Would be a blow to see this drop to silver or get cut altogether. I saw the luxury spg card matches to gold, and if the hilton aspire matching to diamond is any indication im afraid it might match to silver.

I would guess Gold... but the benefits of the new Gold are less attractive. Specifically no more lounge -> no more breakfast. And if that's true, one less reason for me to hold on to the Plat card.

Does anyone know which additional airlines will be available to transfer points to? Specifically, will miles now transfer to AA at the same rates as other airlines?

There's probably a better thread for that in the SPG forum :)

One of the biggest benefits to me holding Amex Plat has been Marriott gold and getting lounge access and breakfast.

If that benefit goes with the new elite system, I'm not sure what my plan B is. Hilton gold gives breakfast, but Hiltons are a lot more expensive overall and have a much smaller footprint.

I'll have to see what Amex Canada is going to do. I am definitely not paying big bucks for a higher tier SPG card that only gives gold...I would for plat and then cancel my current Amex Plat.

Per NY times:



https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/16/y...y-program.html

I suspect you're not alone. $75k spend on the new SPG Luxury Card (or the Ritz card) gets you Platinum. No more lounge and breakfast with a credit card.

Compared to pre-merger SPG I suppose the new Gold status is similar on paper except that we lose guaranteed 4 pm checkout and get 2 pm subject to availability... and with so many higher tiers, upgrades will probably be few and far between.

I’ve certainly enjoyed the Marriott Gold I’ve had since the merger, and am disappointed that I’ll no longer have access to breakfast/lounges, but it always seemed like a bit of a fluke/temporary concession as part of the merger as Marriott hasn’t been as aggressive as Hilton in bundling status with credit cards... even the Chase Ritz Carlton card only gave Gold for the first year and required (a fairly reasonable) 10k annual spend to renew it in subsequent years.

Starriott Gold is the new Silver. I think the late checkout (going from 4pm guaranteed to 2pm "based on availability") is the biggest devaluation for me, though breakfast is second.

This doesn't completely ruin the AXP value proposition for me, but it's significant. I'm losing the extra SPG points from Crossover Rewards ("will continue through July 15, 2018" almost certainly means "it's gone on July 16"), the Marriott and SPG late checkout benefit, and the Marriott breakfast benefit all of which were part of my calculations in moving from the DL Reserve Amex to the AXP.

Oh man, I read this to mean if you were SPG Gold/Marriott gold right now that would bump to Marriott Platinum after the change. Man, this card is getting killed lately. The AF bump and killing basically any benefits from Marriott/SPGs means you're paying a lot for not as much. I would guess at this point the super high end Hilton card (and possibly Marriott card if one is offered) would be the better bet since it offers a little more airline credit, a free night, and hotel status. The only real killer is the lounge access. Uber benefits, big deal, Hotel and Airlines are really where these high end cards play and the hotel side is taking a beating...

SPG Status via Plat card
 

So what happens to my SPG Status (that reciprocated on Marriott gold) after the merger?
still status via AmEx?
I’m a Hilton traveler - but enjoy the occasional stay at Marriott for the lounge access as Gold member

Thanks notquiteaff I have posted a different(although similar question) in the spg forum.

I think you nailed it - SPG Gold never really got me much, but guaranteed 4 PM late checkout was great. 2PM "based on availability" is basically the same as you get if you just ask at the front desk as a non-elite. I never considered the Marriott free breakfast a sustainable perk, so that doesn't really bother me.

It rubs me the wrong way that they raised the price $100/y and yet offer less

Y'all know that Marriott Gold is not a published Amex Plat benefit, right? The benefit is SPG Gold, which for the past 18 months (or so) has matched to Marriott Gold.

The odds that Amex Plat will now grant Marriott Plat are (IMO) pretty much zero. I would expect you'll get "new" Marriott Gold, which equates to old SPG Gold. i.e., no breakfast.

i have to think amex isn't stupid and there has to be some more benefits coming for the personal plat. with the battle for premium co-brand hotel and airline cards i wonder how long amex will be able to keep the status' for plat before the chains start asking why they are selling that without any point purchases coming back. just a thought