itsallgood

If I were you, I'd make plans to diversify. I was a Plat Premier for several years with 130+ nights/yr and still didn't get a concierge to call so this is something that hasn't really been a Marriott offering (personal concierge).

coolfish1103

I don't think those speculations are true, cause it can be very difficult to implement with the 2pm, 3pm, 4pm late check out. It's easier to just give a 4pm late check out for a certain level and cut it. Now the question is, is 4 pm late check out more of a burden to hotel or breakfast offering? To be honest I think late check out causes more problems than breakfast, but breakfast may be more of a costs at certain regions where the hotel is located. I can see the new gold getting the shaft and have certain benefits cut since in reality they are really the SPG gold that never existed in the Marriott system, but I hardly see any cuts being made for Plats, at least not in the year of merging (maybe in the future).

My speculations would be:

Silver
- 10 or 20% bonus
- Welcome amenity 250 points

Gold
- 25% bonus
- Welcome drinks (up to 2 guests)
- Welcome amenity 500 points or breakfast at select brands (JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Renaissance, Marriott, Delta, St. Regis, Luxury Collection, Westin, Tribute Portfolio, Sheraton)
- Late check out request upon availability
- Complementary room upgrades (to preferred level) subject to availability

Plat 50
- 50% bonus
- Guaranteed arrival gifts
- Welcome amenity 1000 points or breakfast (except Ritz, EDITION, Design Hotels, Residence Inn)
- Access to club lounge where available
- Guaranteed 4 pm late check out
- Gift choices
- Complimentary room upgrades (to entry level suite) subject to availability

Plat 75
- 75% bonus
- Welcome amenity 1500 points
- Complimentary breakfasts at all 25 brands and resorts (except Ritz, EDITION, Design Hotels, Residence Inn)
- Guaranteed 12 pm early check in
- Your 24

Ambassador (Plat 100)
- 100% bonus
- Exclusive access to an ambassador
- Gift choices

hockeyinsider

The majority of any hotel or airline program don't do mileage or mattress runs. Just as the majority doesn't read this bulletin board. But a small percentage do -- and these properties, along with many others, could be worth it for some.

krazykanuck

It's been about 2 months.

Absolute

Correct, the Chase Marriott offered 15 elite qualify nights per year (enough for Silver), as well as 1 Cat 5 free night certificate, and no FX fees.

The SPG Amex is more restrictive; no qualifying nights, gold only after $30K spend, and a free night every year after $40K spend, and only as a Cat 4 on Fri-Sun.

MSPeconomist

golfhan1

Do some homework will you? Randomly picked a date Fri 20 - Sat 21 Apr and got a rate of 362,568 IDR++ for 1 Queen, City View @Moxy Bandung. It's 438,707 IDR. Thats USD 30.71 a night. Oh well its exceeded by 0.71 cents based on today's spot rate.........

gokeeper

I believe he is talking about Canadian version of SPG AMEX

lexdevil

...I hope they are listening/reading.

Questions:

1. If there is a minimum spend for the highest status level(s), how will it be calculated? I often book 5-20 rooms, not always as a event/group contract (flexibility on room numbers is sometimes more important to me than getting the absolute best rate). Will I get credit for all of the rooms I pay for?

2. When I do book a group/event, will I get any sort of credit for the total spend, or only the rooms I personally pay for? My guess is that I will not have any difficulty meeting the spend requirement , but other "event planners" might. I doubt that Marriott will want to discourage loyalty from folks who plan lots of large events by making it difficult for them to reach the highest tiers. I'm not suggesting that event planners get full credit for all of the spend generated by their event, but they should probably get credit for some portion of it (just like they get points on all rooms at 3 points per dollar, rather than 10 points per dollar on up to 3 rooms they pay for).

3. For those of us who have surpassed the LTP requirements (3xLTP in my case), will we be placed in the new lifetime levels that our numbers dictate, or will there be some requirement of new activity to reach these levels? I would be pretty bummed if the latter, as it would discount the importance of/respect for my previous loyalty.

Comments:

1. Please keep travel packages. They really set Marriott apart and keep me loyal.

2. Dynamic pricing of awards sounds like a mess. It means I will be constantly checking stay prices and rebooking when the room price drops. I'll do the work, but it will be a PITA. I'm a very busy person. Please don't make me do this.

3. If they do dynamic pricing of awards, it simply must be paired with no limits on awards. I would be super salty if the room price dropped but I could not rebook the award at the lower rate due to lack of availability.

C17PSGR

That's quite a deal compared to the Sheraton Four Points across the street which is closer to $70 a night.

And, the Moxy is right next to the Ace Hardware store.

swintec

This. I am surprised more is not being discussed here about dynamic pricing for rewards stays. This seems like a huge headache at best. Naturally, I would hope that would put an end to any sort of black outs or sold out of reward redemption situations but those pros do not negate the cons of this type of system, at least to me.

itsallgood

After reading through this, this looks like a planned leak ahead of the event on April 16. They're likely going to make program adjustments based on what's written in social media - including trying to address some of the questions seen here and in the blogosphere.

My first comment is NO, don't use the name Platinum Premier. FDCs often gave me less benefits as a PP than when I was a Plat because they thought it was a lower status. Choose Diamond, Titanium, or anything other than Platinum Premier.

My second comment is about a concierge program. This is not in Marriott's DNA; it's an SPG thing. While I had a 'special' phone number when I was PP, I didn't have a specific person assigned to assist me. I personally don't need/want that much help. Keeping in mind that a personal concierge costs money, I'd expect the threshold to be $20K annual spend - defined in points, not cash. So they'll likely put a personal concierge at 200K points/yr.

As far as LT status goes, I'd imagine that SPG LT Gold will be placed in a lower level than Marriott LT Gold. I'd expect SPG LT Plat to go in the same tier as Marriott LT Gold. This is based on requirements to achieve each of those statuses.
I also expect Marriott to combine LT Marriott stays/points with LT SPG stays/points. For those of us who have a lot of stays at both chains, this should end up yielding a better LT status, especially for LT SPG members.
Personally, I'm 4 nights short of 1700 combined nights and earned ~3.5 million LT points (using SPG 3:1 conversion) between the two programs so I'm looking forward to seeing what the 'new' LT tiers will look like.
I expect Marriott will announce new LT requirements before the end of this year, which should give many the chance to get LT status under the old requirements if they're close.

I'm looking forward to hearing what information comes from the April 16 invite.

Points Scrounger

I just got that chase Marriott card last year, getting the 15 nights right away. Apparently, they have stopped the 15 nights as a benefit going forward, but do existing a card holders continue to get 15 nights per enrollment year? I do not have an employer, so have to qualify for these statuses out-of-pocket. So, if I can now start combining Marriott and Starwood property stays, along with the 15 automatic nights, that will make it a lot easier to get to the golden level of 75 per year.

lexdevil

^^^ This. Though I think Plat 50, Plat 75, and Plat 100 would work as well or better. Not hard for front desk personnel to understand 100>75>50. It also serves as a concrete reminder to them of how much time we have put in at Marriott properties (not including the faux event planner cheapskates/savvy manipulators).
Marriott has been doing this as a trial for a couple of years now. They have not, however, based it on status or spend (if they did, I would have a concierge). I'm mostly DIY with my bookings, but I would appreciate a concierge/ambassador to run interference for me when there are problems. I would love avoiding lengthy hold times and phone calls when chasing missing points. And if they do put a spend requirement on getting a concierge/ambassador, I hope it is not measured by points (unless they include credit card points). I put $40-60k of Marriott spend on my Marriott card every year. If I only get credit for the points from three rooms, this will radically understate the amount of business I am bringing Marriott.

spgplat21

I guess anything is possible, but I would be very surprised if SPG LT Plat is not matched to the same lifetime tier as MR LT Plat. I know it's a popular thought, but not every SPG platinum member qualifies on exactly 25 stays.

10 years of platinum means probably 600-800 nights for the average lifetime platinum and 2M points sounds like a lot, but adding in credit card spend and a 3:1 transfer ratio, I would imagine the majority of LT Plats would meet that threshold too, especially since the SPG card is a better option for regular CC spending.

The most troubling aspect of all the speculation is the dynamic awards though. Airline transfers are where the big point values are, but both MR and SPG offer solid rewards for hotel stays too, and dynamic awards would almost certainly kill that. I use hotel rewards way more often than I need international first class award flights, and I've already been pretty disappointed at MR award availability for peak travel times so to add this on top would be would be tough to swallow.