Hi. I can understand how you feel. I am guessing you got Gold through AMEX? I milked that gold giving lounge access status for a good 18 months before they changed it. I can totally understand why they had to change it though as lounges were way too packed and really shouldn't be a benefit you get from a credit card. What upset me when they changed it was the 1 month notice. If they had said at the beginning of the year they were going to do it, I would have pushed my stays to get 50 nights and get plat. As it was, I was only at 25 or 30 nights when the switchover hit as I had been using other hotels and some AirBnB for my travels.

Looking at other hotel chains that have lounges, 50 nights (35 if you have an AMEX/Chase CC) is competitive to what other chains do. Yes, with some CC you can get Hilton Gold which gets you free breakfast, but that doesn't always mean free lounge.

The point devaluation is pretty sucky, I agree there. However, most cards are going in that direction, and many would argue we had a really good thing and the bloggers are most like likely responsible for ending that good thing (like they usually do, they bring it to the company's attention). What the card is great at is the points you get for Marriott stays, and it really rewards you well if you stay at a lot of Marriott hotels and pay for those nights with the card.

As someone who pays out of their own pocket, not an expense account for all their nights at Marriott each year, I personally don't like it when the lounges are over packed. I think there has to be a balance between what a credit card can give you in terms of benefit and what you can earn for being loyal to the hotel. Gold getting you into lounges was just way too good while it lasted, but it couldn't last forever.

i agree with you there....in a perfect world this makes so much sense....however, the scenario now is:

a) the property offered suites against sna upgrades before the merger....
b) the same property is no longer offering suites against sna upgrades but is now giving the option to upgrade to a non-suite enhanced room....

b is still offering a benefit....however, the benefit is significantly reduced....its no longer worth what it was earlier....that's the whole point of this discussion....its not that the upgrade is not being offered, its that the offer is now minus suites at many properties....

the whole purpose of the sna program was to offer the guest a confirmed suite upgrade 5 days in advance....it wasn't to confirm an upgrade to a high floor room 5 days in advance....somewhere along the line marriott decided to devalue this benefit....the benefit still exists but the purpose for which it was created has been lost....

actually the t&c of the advance purchase rates state that you are allowed to cancel free of charge within 24 hours of making the reservation....this is similar to what most airlines offer with non-refundable rates....

Semantics, I think.
Like I said, that was how it was when I got involved in the program.
The 90k starpoint hotel and flight package was what really enticed me.

Based on pure Amex spending alone (ignoring any bonuses), you could get a category 5 hotel for 7 nights and 120k airline points for $90k spend.
Now, 7 nights at a category 5 with 100k airline points (so.. we're already not as well off here) is 390k bonvoy points, which with the Amex bonvoy card would take $195k spend.
(Talking Canadian credit cards here.. might be different in the US)

which makes it much more difficult to obtain such a reward. So difficult, that I don't even bother to try.

Yup.
And due to some unfortunate circumstances.. I never even got to actually use the benefit.

You did not bother with SPG before because it was not worth of it.

Without converting 3:1 to Marriott points, SPG points were not that valuable.

SPG had been selling points for years at discount and not many people cared because it was not useful.

The travel blogs went on bragging about the value of SPG points after program merger announced. SPG sold points just before merger implementation at 35%(I can't remember exactly) discount

You probably would not be drawn to Marriott without the 3:1 conversion of SPG points.

You have a really good point there. I think though overall, credit cards in Canada have been decreasing the value you get from them. For example, the plat card used to be 1.25 on regular spend. They decided to increase the travel to 2.0 per dollar and so decreased reg spend to 1.0 per dollar, which is rubbish compared to what other cards offer.

Since I spend about 10k a year at Marriott hotels, the Marriott AMEX works for me. That's 50k points plus a free night anniversary cert, which works out to about $600 or so US value. Not close to the value it had before but better than what 10k spend gives me on the plat card by AMEX.

Starpoints were the most valuable currency in the market (stable, high value, hard to earn, and very flexible) - case closed. RIP.

Tjhe only downside I have seen was before the Bonvoy and the merger of Ritz and Marriott. The Ritz platinum had a much better experience and dedicated phone. At first, in fact at corporate, the hallway door between Ritz and Marrriott was lockec on the marriott side

how valuable? SPG was selling constantly a few times in a year at discount.

Didn’t Marriott improve the earnings structure on paid stays relative to where Starwood was (obviously this is before recent points inflation, which is rightly hitting all airline and hotel programs)

That is not accurate at all, when the advance rate states you ahve until 23:59pm the following day local time to cancel I have every right to cancel it within that time frame. I am fully aware of the reason flexible rates are more expensive and should i need flexibility beyond the 23:50 of the following day as the rate says I would book such a rate.

I was not doing anything that the terms and conditions set by the rate I booked allowed. This is not Marriott doing me a courtesy at all, it is they who set the terms and I abide by them however Marriott did not.

Loved that you could buy your way to status. I earned Plat that way in previous years. Of course, that was before they did away with rollovers.

Just a quick note regarding Four Points by Sheraton, after COVID19 clears up be sure to try some of the Four Points by Sheraton in Asia! Especially in China (Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu) they are in class by themselves. I tend to be a St.R/Conrad frequenter now that I've retired, but still look at these hotels when traveling in Asia due to their FAR superior offerings compared to US/Europe locations.

I agree with your points about being in business, but I'm curious about your comment that "Starwood … couldn't remain independent." It appeared to me that the merger was simply that, a merger to grow Marriott's portfolio to the benefit of Starwood shareholders and Marriott management.