No Rollover Nights in 2018 and other changes
#107
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: SE USA
Programs: DL DM/MM , IHG Plat, MR Titanium, HH Gold, EK Frequent Kettle, UA Silver, AA Hater
Posts: 2,018
I read these threads and am surprised by one thing; most of the comments make it seem as if people are etiher MR folks or SPG folks.
In my case it is both......I would think there would be more people like me.
I must assume they will honor SPG status earned in 2018 (for what would normally carry into 2019), so hitting 50 at SPG would be the goal....or would that backfire? Should I focus on MR instead? Very hard to hit both. 75 would be quite easy if they were combined.
My real issue is lifetime; I have SPG Lifetime Gold but no lifetime with MR despite having more nights with MR than SPG. My hope is they combine the lifetime nights and drop the points requirement. I'm hoping to be at least MR Lifetime Gold once the dust settles. I will be close to 750 combined but no where near the points for Plat.
Seems like they could have ironed all this out by now. I am tired of chasing status in 4 programs......
In my case it is both......I would think there would be more people like me.
I must assume they will honor SPG status earned in 2018 (for what would normally carry into 2019), so hitting 50 at SPG would be the goal....or would that backfire? Should I focus on MR instead? Very hard to hit both. 75 would be quite easy if they were combined.
My real issue is lifetime; I have SPG Lifetime Gold but no lifetime with MR despite having more nights with MR than SPG. My hope is they combine the lifetime nights and drop the points requirement. I'm hoping to be at least MR Lifetime Gold once the dust settles. I will be close to 750 combined but no where near the points for Plat.
Seems like they could have ironed all this out by now. I am tired of chasing status in 4 programs......
#108
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Mostly living in the basement
Programs: Newly minted free agent; MR LT(!)TE, HH SE, BA SECM, DL MM, UA PS, 2V Fanboi, CBP GE
Posts: 5,101
Like any portfolio, there are some highs and some lows, though within the brands there is generally a consistent minimum quality level I can rely on. I stay with MR because of that and their footprint... there's a reasonable option in most markets. I like SPG too, but until the merger their footprint was just too small for me... I could barely maintain SPG Gold with my travel pattern.
#109
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 10,956
Or, they will announce integration will be delayed until 2020 or they are getting a divorce Judging at how fast they initially got things moving, it is really strange that things have not moved forward much.
#110
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,927
At this point they do.
By once they design the new program (which won't go into effect until 2019) in that program they can make the lifetime requirement whatever they want, including subtracting out all rollover nights from your lifetime nights if you haven't yet qualified for your final lifetime status by then. (I'm not saying they will do that, I'm just saying they could do that, and some people on FT have even openly wished that they would do that.)
So we can only tell you what counts toward lifetime status now. If you won't earn that lifetime status until 2019 or later, what counts now may not be what counts by then.
By once they design the new program (which won't go into effect until 2019) in that program they can make the lifetime requirement whatever they want, including subtracting out all rollover nights from your lifetime nights if you haven't yet qualified for your final lifetime status by then. (I'm not saying they will do that, I'm just saying they could do that, and some people on FT have even openly wished that they would do that.)
So we can only tell you what counts toward lifetime status now. If you won't earn that lifetime status until 2019 or later, what counts now may not be what counts by then.
#111
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,927
I hope you're not comparing against airline mergers. Airline mergers and hotel mergers are completely different. People need to connect from one flight to another, and so merging airline operations at least is a high priority in an airline merger.
OTOH, people only stay in one hotel at a time. So there's no the same urgency for merging hotel programs the way there is for airline programs.
Marriott and SPG are very different programs, and it may have surprised them how much pushback they got by trying to impose one program on the other's guests (if that's the first stab they took at focus groups, or whatever). We can't know what's going on behind the scenes, how many "wrong paths" they've gone down and had to retrace in various aspects of this merger implementation.
#112
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: home = LAX
Posts: 25,927
As to lifetime status, no one knows what the requirements will be, so it's hard to plan for it. But if you're already some sort of lifetime status, that level of lifetime status will probably be preserved, and the only questions will be what (if anything) further you will need to do to get to the maximum lifetime status (whatever that ends up being).
#113
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,324
If and when a combined program is introduced in 2020 or later (hopefully never) they will add the previous year SPG nights with the MR nights to determine your status in the new and hopefully improved program.
#114
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: BDU
Programs: DL:MM, Marriott:LTT
Posts: 8,779
#115
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2001
Posts: 10,956
What are you comparing to? The ultra-slow IHG/Kimpton merger?
I hope you're not comparing against airline mergers. Airline mergers and hotel mergers are completely different. People need to connect from one flight to another, and so merging airline operations at least is a high priority in an airline merger.
OTOH, people only stay in one hotel at a time. So there's no the same urgency for merging hotel programs the way there is for airline programs.
Marriott and SPG are very different programs, and it may have surprised them how much pushback they got by trying to impose one program on the other's guests (if that's the first stab they took at focus groups, or whatever). We can't know what's going on behind the scenes, how many "wrong paths" they've gone down and had to retrace in various aspects of this merger implementation.
I hope you're not comparing against airline mergers. Airline mergers and hotel mergers are completely different. People need to connect from one flight to another, and so merging airline operations at least is a high priority in an airline merger.
OTOH, people only stay in one hotel at a time. So there's no the same urgency for merging hotel programs the way there is for airline programs.
Marriott and SPG are very different programs, and it may have surprised them how much pushback they got by trying to impose one program on the other's guests (if that's the first stab they took at focus groups, or whatever). We can't know what's going on behind the scenes, how many "wrong paths" they've gone down and had to retrace in various aspects of this merger implementation.
Yes, Marriott says they did not realize how "rabid" SPG Elites were
#116
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 575
BackFire
I read these threads and am surprised by one thing; most of the comments make it seem as if people are etiher MR folks or SPG folks.
In my case it is both......I would think there would be more people like me.
I must assume they will honor SPG status earned in 2018 (for what would normally carry into 2019), so hitting 50 at SPG would be the goal....or would that backfire? Should I focus on MR instead? Very hard to hit both. 75 would be quite easy if they were combined.
My real issue is lifetime; I have SPG Lifetime Gold but no lifetime with MR despite having more nights with MR than SPG. My hope is they combine the lifetime nights and drop the points requirement. I'm hoping to be at least MR Lifetime Gold once the dust settles. I will be close to 750 combined but no where near the points for Plat.
Seems like they could have ironed all this out by now. I am tired of chasing status in 4 programs......
In my case it is both......I would think there would be more people like me.
I must assume they will honor SPG status earned in 2018 (for what would normally carry into 2019), so hitting 50 at SPG would be the goal....or would that backfire? Should I focus on MR instead? Very hard to hit both. 75 would be quite easy if they were combined.
My real issue is lifetime; I have SPG Lifetime Gold but no lifetime with MR despite having more nights with MR than SPG. My hope is they combine the lifetime nights and drop the points requirement. I'm hoping to be at least MR Lifetime Gold once the dust settles. I will be close to 750 combined but no where near the points for Plat.
Seems like they could have ironed all this out by now. I am tired of chasing status in 4 programs......
I would have to think two things! 1. There will be two new levels a Platinum and then a Diamond! Or 2. They just keep platinum and let all the SPG members in for one year.
There is no way the top program will ever be below 60 nights. Hilton and Hyatt are 60 and IHG is 75.
Again this is all speculation. Maybe for one year you will be fine if you get 50 SPG nights in 2018 but I wouldn't take that risk! If you can get 75 nights at Marriott I would go ahead and do that!
#117
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: WAW
Programs: A3(*G), Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 2,534
But see that is the issue! Starwood gives you Platinum at 50 and Marriott at 75. It is not "fair" (can't believe I said that) to someone that hit's 75 nights to someone that hits 50 nights at SPG.
I would have to think two things! 1. There will be two new levels a Platinum and then a Diamond! Or 2. They just keep platinum and let all the SPG members in for one year.
There is no way the top program will ever be below 60 nights. Hilton and Hyatt are 60 and IHG is 75.
Again this is all speculation. Maybe for one year you will be fine if you get 50 SPG nights in 2018 but I wouldn't take that risk! If you can get 75 nights at Marriott I would go ahead and do that!
I would have to think two things! 1. There will be two new levels a Platinum and then a Diamond! Or 2. They just keep platinum and let all the SPG members in for one year.
There is no way the top program will ever be below 60 nights. Hilton and Hyatt are 60 and IHG is 75.
Again this is all speculation. Maybe for one year you will be fine if you get 50 SPG nights in 2018 but I wouldn't take that risk! If you can get 75 nights at Marriott I would go ahead and do that!
Outside the US you get diddly squat from either but considering how small the SPG footprint is in most other places I think 50 is perfectly fair for top tier in their program.
#118
Moderator, Marriott Bonvoy & FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: McKinney, TX, USA
Programs: United Silver; AA Plat/2MM; Marriott LT Titanium; IHG Plat; Hilton Diamond
Posts: 11,718
That is probably because they didn't have to "integrate" the two programs to provide status matches and straight point transfers. That was easy. No rules changes. No different benefits. No earnings from one hotel chain directly to the other program, etc. The real integration of the back-end systems is the complicated part and takes a whole lot longer.
#119
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: BDU
Programs: DL:MM, Marriott:LTT
Posts: 8,779
You do realize SPG just ran a wildly successful promo in Asia which gave Gold to MasterCard holders after just one stay, right? The upshot is Marriott lounges in parts of Asia require reservations.
#120
Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: WAW
Programs: A3(*G), Marriott Platinum, Hilton Diamond, IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 2,534
You do realize SPG just ran a wildly successful promo in Asia which gave Gold to MasterCard holders after just one stay, right? The upshot is Marriott lounges in parts of Asia require reservations.