hieronymus

OK the rumored tier benefits don't really make sense except as a trail balloon. Effectively it makes platinum = gold except for points (I assume) and the 48 hr room guarantee. That would make no sense as a full tier up for Platinum from Gold. And how many times have most of us used 48 hr guarantee? I consulted for 12 yrs with lots of last minute bookings, and I almost used the guarantee once.

Other comments:
- As a LTP this leaves me very concerned - as others have mentioned see AA for why.
- And if this makes LTP basically the old LTG and Marriott calls that preserving LT status - well calling a rock a rose still leaves me with a rock.
- I hope it goes more like SPG now where core benefits end at Platinum and the upper tiers are "bonuses" like suite certificates. Preserves LT benefits without showering folks like me who have slowed down with lots of annual upgrades.
- As an LTG on SPG and LTP on Marriott how will LT statuses be combined? And maybe i misremember, but i don't think I have ever seen a total spend SPG number. Is that even a recoverable number?
- LT status on SPG has always been easier - I was a Marriott workhorse, but a SPG dilettante yet I hit my SPG LTG way before my Marriott LTG due to spend requirements and only 300 nights needed for LTG on SPG. Many mentions with similar thoughts above, but I will be curious if Marriott acknowledges the difference.
- Really confusing if LTx <> the equivalent "normal" level as in the floated proposal. Effectively becomes 7 levels not 5.

So yeah overall not buying the specific benefits above except as a stalking horse to draw feedback.

Last thought: I still travel about 40 nights a yr and now the goal becomes to run out LTD on Hilton as diversification - still a little bit away but the target is on sight.

username

I am definitely more curious about:

1 - dynamic reward or not - I would be surprised if they don't implement this
2 - lifetime status - I hope my Marriott LT Platinum + SPG LT Gold yields LT Platinum Premier
3 - cross-overs with US airlines - DL or UA or both?
4 - travel packages - especially given #1
5 - stay related benefits - 4 PM check out, Your 24, Lounge Access, free breakfast/resort exclusion
6 - other partner arrangements

kaizen7

I really hope they retain the multiple room night credits

And revenue based qualification ....

Also since non US members dont have access to Marriott branded credit cards, wuld be nice if Marriott could offer something comparable
Unless Marriott roll out their credit card worldwide (highly unlikely)

Vulcan

In order to be happy, I need my 425 LT SPG nights and 100+ Marriott nights to get me to a level where I will continue to have lounge access. I travel about 30-40 nights a year and this is paramount for Marriott to retain my business.

geminidreams

The tiers and qualifying are close to current SPG criteria and benefits. I would bet on some of the credit card nights being reduced. It will be interesting to see what the lifetime benefits will be mapped to in the new tiers.

C17PSGR

It takes 75 nights to qualify for Plat now. So, if one hits 75 nights this year, presumably Marriott will give them the benefits of whatever level applies for hitting 75 nights. Why do you think they might get credit for fewer nights than they actually stayed?

itsallgood

Indonesia's not on my bucket list. If I were that desperate for 35 nights, I'd just have 4 cheap 'meetings' at Marriott properties.

msp3

>tfw finally hit plat after all these years
>status devaluation when combined
Please don't have insane points inflation like they do at Hilton making everything worthless... The variable rates per night is already cracking the door open

Neilson Chen

I hope they will start the new program from Jan.1 next year. I am working on getting my platinum status on SPG this year and it is totally different than Marriott, I don't know how are they going to calculate the stay/night credit we earn before they merge. I am sure this is a super important topic that they should announce earlier.

lexdevil

Good point. Dynamic pricing would probably mean the end of "# night" certificates, as there would be no set price per night. With dynamic pricing it doesn't even make sense to have hotel categories/tiers. And without them, travel packages are just not a thing any longer. They make sense as a way to get you to burn points on a longer stay than you might have otherwise, but I can't even imagine how they would work without categories/tiers.

Okay, now I am getting worried.

HollyGlen

Posted in Wrong Thread, my apologies

Boraxo

As a current Gold (via UA status match) I could live with most of the rumored changes except:

(1) No lounge access. This is probably the most important perk to me and one of the primary reasons I often select Marriott rather than others. A huge takeaway.

(2) Dynamic pricing. One thing I like about Marriott is that despite the constant inflation I can still get good ROI using points for 5N stays at expensive hotels in London, etc. If Marriott goes to a WN-type program then I have no incentive to accumulate points here.

Combine (1) and (2) and I will probably switch most of my business to Hyatt, where at least I get 4 lounge upgrades a year (covers my family trips) and good ROI for points earned and redemptions. May also give IC properties another look though coverage is even weaker than Hyatt.

I am actually okay with the $$$ qualification requirements as most of my business stays are in expensive international properties. But if the Rewarding Meetings or UA status match disappears, 50-75 EQN will be a dealkiller.

On the plus side, the guaranteed Suite upgrades would be a huge plus, and ditto for breakfast at every property. Hilton has already done this at WA and I never did understand why this was a difficult concept for Ritz and other high end properties which have restaurants and room service.

I guess we will just have to wait to see if the glass is half full or half empty.

jn in ca

Two different levels both named platinum? Has no one at Marriott Rewards ever worked a hotel front desk, because this is confusion waiting to happen. I'd be happy to sell the MR team a thesaurus.

Dear Marriott, if you would like to move the crappy Sheratons and Four Points into your MR program, that is just fine, but if you want us to keep staying at Westins, Elements, etc, then you need to keep them in a program that attracts us. Clearly, this one will not.

HollyGlen

I know it's "different strokes for different folks", but those of us who travel to cheap international properties stand to lose out big-time if $$$ qualification is imposed on every tier.

I'm a longtime SPG member with matched Marriott Platinum since last year. I've stayed in a few Marriotts in Europe and Asia since then and have been treated very well.

But the vast bulk of my stays are in a SPG hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where I spend between 50 and 75 nights each year. My eligible spend struggles to get to USD 125 a night because of the nature of the local market and the depressed currency, even though this hotel is definitely regarded as amongst the stars of the local SPG stable. If a Plat minimum spend of $10,000 is imposed (half of the 100 night / $20,000 threshold for Ambassador), I could spend 75 nights in a hotel and still not qualify as a Plat (75 x $125 = $9,375). Losing lounge access, free breakfast and suite upgrades, in spite of my loyalty, would be a very bitter pill to swallow.

Granted, if I can't even make US$10,000 in annual spend, I'm probably not a high priority customer for HQ. But the individual properties, who don't all charge in USD, will be feeling the loss.

We already pay a price for staying in "cheaper" properties, and that's less points, which is fair. But we are supporting the loyalty programmes as best we can, and if my 75 nights aren't worth anything to the Powers That Be, I would be incredibly tempted to go elsewhere.

nldogbert

I hope that they will not "downgrade" us Marriott based LTP to the lowly Platinum status in the new program as in my opinion this is not fair to MR members since Platinum level was much more difficult to qualify than the Plat50 of the SPG program. I guess will just have to wait for more details on this. Cheers!