American Express sends points to Starwood at the end of each billing cycle. Points earned on a statement generated in July would be sent to Starwood, same as now. I expect points earned on a statement generated in August would be sent to the new program.

That is what I thought, so I plan to get my MS done by my July statement.

I would expect that all transactions with a posting date of July 31 or earlier earn under the present scheme, and all those posting after that date under the new earning scheme.

Even mid-cycle? That would be surprising

Points are not earned until they appear on a statement.

ok so its after your statement cuts?

Not really true, technically they are earned once the appear in your account.

If you mean the points are earned when the transaction appears in your American Express online account, we disagree.

Yes and no.
Technically, your points are "earned" at the time of the transaction. For example, if you bought an item 12/31/17, the points would be earned for 2017 and any credit that you were hoping the purchase would accrue would be to 2017, even though the actual purchase would not post until your January 2018 statement.
On that statement, your reward points for the Dec, purchase would appear and this will be the actual awards points you have as of January. (always a statement behind).

So when I am trying to make a yearly minimum, I have until 12/31 to accrue for that year. At the same time, even if I spend $x in December and the statement doesn't;t come until January, I still have garnered nothing for the new year until I actually make the purchase in the new year.

Here's an idea. One can just push up his/her big expenses and/or MS before your July close date, lock in the 3 to 1, and save all the time debating and speculating on what will happen! ;)

Exactly what I am doing. However, come 8/1, I will need to assess whether the free night is worth the $95. I stay a lot at Marriotts, less at SWs. However, $95 for a night in either is at a minimum a break-even deal.
So my question is whether i get 2 nights if I have a Marriott and a Starwood card (one from each)?

did anybody get points when statement closed in August? It say I earned points (even multiplied by 3 because of conversion), but they never came to marriott account or spg account. it's been 10 days.

Points earned on statements closing Aug 1 - 18 will post a little after Aug 18. Not sure if it will be a few days after or a week or two.

thanks!