MSPeconomist

NO, there's a huge difference whether you qualify by 25 stays or 50 nights.

PlatMinus 25 stays

Plat50 50 nights

Plat75 75 nights

Amb 100 nights

Oxon Flyer

You are SPG Platinum and get the core benefits of the SPG Platinum program, as shown in the posted link.

As previously posted, all Marriott Platinums get matched to this level, no matter how important they are or how many Marriott buttnights they have.

bhrubin

That is technically true. However, being a bare SPG PLatinum offers GUARANTEED SUITE UPGRADES based on availability. There is no discretion. If the hotel has a standard lowest entry level suite available for sale for the duration of your stay, you are ENTITLED to that suite. Even if a hotel doesn't give it to you, you are entitled to point out that mistake and insist, and you even can call SPG Platinum and get them to force the hotel to give it to you if you wish. Marriott doesn't allow or give that right to anyone.

Obviously, if a standard suite upgrade isn't available, any SPG Plat is automatically entitled to the best available room type. That can also be quite a substantial upgrade, and those happen almost 100% of the time.

There is a big difference between hoping for a room upgrade with Marriott a Platinum and being entitled to a suite upgrade with Starwood.

And even though it isn't guaranteed, my SPG Ambassador makes sure I almost always get suite upgrades....and usually far more than the standard suite upgrade to which I'm entitled.

Which is how I got a deluxe one bedroom suite at the StR Punta Mita over Thanksgiving week in 2015 while on an award stay!

Which is how I got a Marvelous suite at the W Bogota in Feb 2016 while on a paid entry room stay. And my friend got upgraded too for just traveling with me.

Which is how I got a one bedroom specialty suite at the Gritti Palace Venice in Oct 2016 on an award stay!

Which is how I got an Atelier Suite at the Excelsior Gallia Milan in Oct 2016 on an award stay--and was confirmed a month before arrival! And my mother got upgraded to an Excelsior room 3 category upgrade too.

Which is how I got a one bedroom Suite at the Park Tower Knightsbridge London in Oct 2016 on an award stay.

Which is how I got an Astor Suite and Metropolitan Suite every time I've stayed at the StR San Francisco for my last 5 stays...even for award or paid entry room stays. I'm already upgraded to a Metropolitan Suite for my upcoming stay next week.

Sorry, but SPG PLAT is far superior to Marriott Plat...and even Marriott Plat Premier. And there is no comparison at all for SPG Plat 100.

bhrubin

You are an entry level Plat 25 stays. Just like despite my 126 nights with SPG I'm now only a regular entry level Marriott Plat.

But being SPG Plat entry level gives you more confirmed benefits with SPG hotels than being MR PP with Marriott hotels. So enjoy it.

SkiAdcock

Having read the SPG forum I know that's not true. There are threads where the Lurkers have said they can report it, but that doesn't mean there's enforcement of the bennie.

I think you're going a bit off-topic w/ your thread & going back to your Marriott sucks/SPG walks on clouds thing. It gets a bit old.

And as I mentioned above, I've seen on many forums what could the (fill in the blank) chain do to offer better bennies/make it wonderful for elites thread pop up every few years. What some FTers forget is the elite programs are filled w/ lots of elite folk beyond FT & FT is not the sole source for hotel chains for info

Cheers.

bhrubin

Actually, I responded directly to a query from another post about a MR Plat Premier being matched to "only" entry level SPG Plat 25 (stays). I pointed out the fact that the guaranteed benefits for entry level SPG Plat 25 are better than the guaranteed benefits for Marriott Plat Premier. That is unquestionably true.

Getting defensive about the above fact isn't constructive...and that's what's off topic.

No matter how you slice it, rare to occasional instances where SPG Plat suite upgrades don't come through and/or cannot get rectified for a guaranteed benefit based on availability are still better than the lack of any suite upgrade benefit for MR. Also, when we parse the people complaining about not getting suite upgrades, it too often becomes entertaining when you realize the hotel was sold out or the standard suite pool was sold out or the offended guest didn't bother to challenge for a possibly available standard suite.

Cheers.

SkiAdcock

I find it a bit amusing that every time someone doesn't agree w/ you that they're considered defensive.

I wasn't being defensive in my post. I was pointing out that now that I've started reading the SPG forum more regularly, the grass isn't 100% green, no matter how much some SPG elites (not just you) would like to make it be. And given I was referencing what the Lurkers posted, I'm not sure how my comment could be defined as defensive, unless you're saying the Lurkers are as well.

I also think that if you have specific recommendations on how the merged program should be in 2018, that you direct them to your contacts at SPG. That would probably have more direct input than the usual "I wish" threads in the various hotel programs that crop up periodically on FT.

Cheers.

bhrubin

MR Platinum Premier doesn't give any guarantee of suite upgrades. SPG Platinum 25 does...even if it isn't applied as perfectly as SPG claims. No matter how you look at it, SPG Plat 25 entry level is STILL better in that regard than MR Plat Premier. Anyone who disagrees with that simple fact is ignoring the facts. It's just that simple. That is all that I shared a bit earlier...and that caused your reaction.

SkiAdcock

Again, I've quoted the Lurkers. If you want to disagree w/ them, that's on you & you can take it to the SPG forum.

FWIW - I find it incredibly strange that you seem to think elite bennies relate to 1 only - which is upgrades. There are many elite bennies, & yes in some areas Marriott Plat bennies offer things that SPG don't - and heck, even offer to Gold & Silver that SPG doesn't.

I'm off for the night. Have a good weekend!

Cheers.

bhrubin

You keep mentioning the Starwood Lurkers as examples...yet provide none. Because those examples belie the fact that SPG Plat suite upgrades are given constantly and consistently to entry level SPG Plats...and that MR does not provide that stated benefit at all even for MR Plat Premiers. A stated benefit that isn't given 100% of the time to SPG Plats still is unquestionably better than the fact that MR doesn't even give that stated benefit at all for MR Plat Premiers. No one is going to argue that MR gives suite upgrades even remotely as often as SPG...because that would be patently false and everyone knows it.

Only focused on suite upgrades? Wrong. As for elite benefits in general, you're again wrong: there is only one other difference between Marriott Gold/Plat and SPG Gold/Plat--MR gives 48 hr room type guarantee vs SPG giving 72 hr guanratnee. Other than the extra 24 hrs of room type guarantee, there isn't a single elite benefit that MR Plat offers that SPG Plat doesn't.

And yet SPG Plat gives the suite upgrade benefit that MR Plat does not. Try again. And until recently, SPG Gold and Plat got 4 pm late checkout and MR Plat didn't. It's because of SPG that MR introduced that benefit.

So, as I said previously to the other poster 4getofn in an attempt to help provide perspective, entry level SPG Plat 25 gives you more confirmed benefits than MR Platinum or Platinum Premier. So Marriott Plat Premiers should be happy with their entry level SPG Plat 25 status match.

You erred when comparing SPG Plat to MR PLat Premier, and you erred when comparing SPG Plat to MR Plat. So now you tackle Gold and Silver? SPG Gold and MR Gold are equivalent...except SPG Gold gets a welcome gift while MR Gold doesn't. Even there, SPG Gold has better benefits. SPG Gold gets the 72 hr room type guarantee...but MR Gold doesn't get any room type guarantee at all--only ,R Plat gets that. So even there, SPG Gold is better than MR Gold.

So SPG Gold is also better and gives more confirmed benefits than MR Gold.

Silver doesn't exist for SPG...so MR wins there. Not strange at all.

Have a great weekend. Cheers.

DJ_Iceman

Sharon, I recently discovered the "ignore" button and have found these forums to be a much more pleasant place since.

SkiAdcock

Well we know that's not true, but it's hard to discuss things w/ someone who likes to bold everything

http://www.marriott.com/marriott-rew...nefits/gold.mi

In 15 years of FT I've not put anyone on ignore, but have to admit there have been some that I've considering doing so over the years

Cheers.

bhrubin

First, lets remember this thread is titled for Marriott Platinum Premier AND Starwood.

Second, there already have been innumerable admissions by MR Plat elites that their top tier status means little at MR/RC properties...at least before the Starwood acquisition.

But once Starwood was acquired, some MR Plat elites became extremely defensive whenever SPG Plat elites speak about the better SPG elite benefits. Apparently, only MR elites are able to point out the obvious? The truth from "foreigners" hurts, I guess.

It seems that many MR elites previously were delighted to complain about their lack of loyalty status paying much dividends, almost as a sort of battle scar--we are elite, we don't get much for it, but we're proud anyway. I assume that's why there also are so many Hilton elites.

Then Marriott acquired Starwood, and MR elites quickly learned more about SPG from their new SPG elite brothers and sisters--and they didn't like what they learned. Many MR elites discovered they didn't have it as good as they thought they did compared to SPG elites, which makes it awfully hard to be as proud of being a MR elite. Many MR elites also discovered that the SPG customer base is more affluent on average and spends more at hotels on average than the average MR customer. That should have been obvious based on the portfolio of SPG vs Marriott, but apparently it wasn't and isn't. That's a big part of the reason why Marriott wanted Starwood in the first place--its more affluent and extremely loyal customer base. That in particular seems to have annoyed a lot of MR elites.

It feels like too many MR Plat elites here on FlyerTalk enjoyed sitting on top of their Marriott threads, feeling confident of their elite status and able to speak as the authorities they saw themselves as being in their Marriott world. They didn't like any outside challengers.

Then those pesky SPG elites came along and joined that Marriott world--and not by choice, remember! Then it turned out that the MR elites didn't have it quite as good as their SPG counterparts--and that pissed off many MR elites. But instead of attacking MR for the obvious contrast in elite benefits, too many MR elites instead have attacked the SPG elites that were delivering the bad news. That is where so much of the nonsensical defensiveness springs from. Talk about killing the messenger!

Whether or not MR elites like it, SPG elites have discovered how poorly Marriott and Ritz-Carlton treat their elites in contrast to how even St Regis (let alone other upscale and luxury SPG brands) treats SPG elites. When an SPG Gold is more likely to get a complimentary upgrade at a StR than a MR Plat Premier is at a Renaissance or JW Marriott, let alone a Ritz-Carlton, it's pretty obvious. When SPG Gold can get guanrateed late checkout at a St Regis but MR Plat Premiers can't get that at a Ritz-Carlton (or other brands), it's pretty obvious. We know better, and so we said so. That's why Marriott suddenly added guaranteed late checkout and is now trying out an elite concierge service--because it was obvious how little MR provided its elites compared to SPG.

This latest exchange began with me simply responding and educating a poster about the very simple and obvious fact that any Marriott Platinum Premier now matched to the entry level SPG Platinum 25 level actually has it better with SPG hotels than he or she had or has it with Marriott hotels. That seriously annoyed some MR elites here, but it's still true.

Every MR Plat benefit is matched by SPG Plat benefits...except that MR Plat gives 48 hr guaranteed room types vs 72 hrs for SPG. But in addition, SPG Plat ALSO gives suite upgrades as a guaranteed benefit based on availability. Until recently, MR Plats didn't even get late checkout guaranteed...while SPG Gold already had that! SPG Plat was and still is better.

Every MR Gold benefit is matched by SPG Gold benefit...except that MR Gold doesn't march every SPG Gold benefit! SPG Gold gets the same 72 hr room type guarantee...but MR Gold doesn't get any guarantee. SPG Gold had the guanrateed late checkout for years, not just recently. SPG Gold gets a welcome amenity, whereas MR Gold doesn't. SPG Gold is better even still.

If MR elites were smart, they'd be recognizing the facts about how much better SPG elite benefits are...and join the rest of SPG elites in pressuring Marriott to institute those into the current Marriott program or certainly into the new 2018 program. Instead, hubris is causing too many MR elites to just deny reality...and then get needlessly defensive about it.

Anyone is welcome and entitled to ignore me...but please don't ignore the simple facts. That's how we got Trump.

DJ_Iceman

Good thing I peeked out from behind the "ignore" curtain for a moment...

The quote attributed to me above is taken out of context--it was me talking about the Grand Wailea, which is a Hilton property (so irrelevant to a discussion of Marriott and Starwood).

Maybe people shouldn't paint with a broad brush and/or take quotes out of context. That's how we almost got Hillary.

bhrubin

My apologies! I am glad you noticed and corrected me. I don't mind being called out as wrong when I am wrong--as I obviously am in this case.

I will edit that incorrect attribution to remedy that error. Thanks again for correcting me on this.