Andrew DCA

Have you heard anything more about the 2018 CC elite nights? I just clarified the question to someone who responded, so maybe there has been more learning on this question.

bhrubin

beachfan

VFTW has a sample of how hotels are being recategorized for Bali, Carribiean/Mexico, NYC and Paris. Not as bad as some feared, although Marriotts seem to be going up and Starwoods get more of the decreases.

https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea...739.1524425393

SkiAdcock

No need to go to the blog. SPG Lurker posted the preview in the SPG forum & Trooper posted it in this forum.

One Program, Endless Inspiration – Preview August Redemption Rates
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marriott-rewards/1905601-new-redemption-rates-preview.html

Cheers.

mikeef

Which then leads to the next question: I have two Marriott credit cards that cycle after August. Does the 15-night per person limit start in August or in 2019?

Mike

bhrubin

bhrubin

Red_Rob

Any insight on if nights will be combined first for lifetime status? I am trying to figure out what lifetime status I will have going forward.

• I am currently Gold on SPG and Marriott
• I am lifetime gold on SPG
• I have 6 years as an SPG Plat, 4 years as SPG Gold, and >500 SPG nights
• I have >300 Marriott nights lifetime, but I believe I am only lifetime Silver (fewer qualifying points?)
• I have 4 years as a Marriott Plat, and 5 years as Marriott gold (and maybe a couple of Silvers)
• If it matters I also have Lifetime United Gold as a Million Miler (which can give me Marriott status currently)
• I currently have both the legacy Marriott Premier card, and the SPG Amex, and have had both for several years. (Yes I realize I will likely want to consolidate and get rid of one of these)

So my combined >800 nights and 10 years of Platinum would be enough for lifetime Platinum on either legacy program. Based on this I would think I would qualify for lifetime Platinum Premier Elite? Or would it be Platinum, or even just Gold?

jeanie

After the programs are merged, based on what you have written, you should qualify as lifetime platinum under the new program.

smgainey

bhrubin, You've responded to several of my posts on the Points Guy's blog and I've read several of your posts on Flyertalk, and I'm disappointed that your posts sound so condescending. It is possible to disagree with people without using words like "stupid", and if you do insist on using words like that and they give a response that proves you wrong, then it would be nice if you didn't disappear but instead acknowledged your error(s).

For example, you stated that Marriott hotels that currently cost 50k points per night would not be moved into Category 8 in the new program, however there are no such properties because the highest rate is currently 45k points/night. I know the ins and outs of the current Marriott program better than you, so it's best if you don't try to educate me on it.

Also, you keep berating me for being upset that my Marriott points will be devalued and cost up to 40% more since, as you acknowledged, most 70k-point/night Tier 5 Ritz Carlton hotels will probably be moved to Category 8 in the new program, which will cost up to 100k points per night. But I want to know if you would be happy if the St Regis hotels that currently cost 30k to 35k Starpoints (90k to 105k Marriott points) per night were to cost up to 150k points per night in the new program? I bet you would be unhappy with a 40% increase in the number of points needed for an award stay just as I am unhappy with it, no?

By the way, I'm a Lifetime Platinum and Platinum Premier with Marriott, and I currently have 93 nights and have spent over $10k so far this year, so at this rate (and with the help of an expensive stay at a luxury SPG property in Hawaii in July) I'll have met the requirements for Ambassador by the time the new program takes effect On Aug 1, and will greatly exceed those requirements by the end of the year. Therefore, I'm not just someone staying on cheap stays and whining. I have a valid complaint about the devaluation of the points for which I have paid $30k a year for years, and I'm completely justified in my displeasure.

jsloan

Out of the hotels announced so far, zero Marriott properties are Category 8. All five Category 8 hotels are SPG Category 7s. Marriott Category 9 was a mid-level tier even within Marriott's program -- it was just hidden because RC properties were in "tiers" instead of categories.

This may turn out to be correct. but so far it's 0 for 1. The lone RC Tier 5 category that has been announced is Category 7, with a corresponding decrease in the points required.

It does not appear that Marriott is reflexively increasing point requirements across the board. Instead, they appear to be mapping the old point values across to the new categories and then tweaking accordingly. We'll know more as the rest of the categorizations are revealed, but so far nothing really supports the doom and gloom scenario.

sdsearch

Perhaps neither!

Ie, on at least one of those new cards, I saw them say "15 elite nights per year (staring in 2019)". So that implies that the new cards won't give you any 15 nights in 2018, they'll wait until 2019 to give them.

So if you want a chance at 15 more nights this year, you may have to apply for any existing Chase Marriott cards you qualify for.

Furthermore, existing Chase Marriott cards give an extra elite night for every $3000 in spend. That is not mentioned on any of the new cards. So again, if you want more elite night through spend, you have to have (or get) an existing card AFAIK.

aaupgrade

Not true. The new Marriott Rewards Premier Visa is the same as the current one. Here is a link to the official page. Click on the second card from the left, Marriott Premier Visa, and scroll down to the Benefits and the third line item is 1 Elite Night Credit per $3000 spent on purchases.

bhrubin

You've quoted a post of mine from here on FlyerTalk, but you haven't at all referred to my post. That is confusing, to say the least.

We are on FlyerTalk, so I'd be grateful if you keep the conversation to what has been posted on FlyerTalk. Everything else has no context. I'm sorry if I used words not to your liking on other blogs, but I am not sure this is the proper place to have such a conversation.

Again, you are pulling information from outside FlyerTalk and asking me to comment without proper context.

But I'll try to answer. For hotels that currently cost 45,000 or 50,000 or 55,000 points or so, I doubt any will be moving into the new Category 8 that at peak can cost as many as 100,000 points. If you know the ins and outs of the Marriott program, then you know that not a single hotel that costs 45,000 points ever would have moved into even the Ritz Carlton Tier 5 category, either. So they aren't moving into the new Category 8.

You again are referring to some posts outside FlyerTalk. Without the context of those, it is impossible to know exactly what we're discussing.

If I do understand you correctly, you seem to believe that current Marriott category 7 hotels are somehow going to end up in the new Category 8. I find that so unlikely as to be not worth consideration. That isn't berating. That is my starkly different opinion.

I am not sure the point of your hypothetical for St Regis hotels becoming as pricey as 150,000 points. St Regis hotels aren't going up in cost by some insane number of points,. Of course, neither are most Marriott or Ritz Carlton properties. You are assuming a massive devaluation that just hasn't occurred. I believe the hysteria perpetuated by some of a massive devaluation simply isn't accurate. I believe your assessment of a 40% devaluation of Marriott points is also inaccurate and extremely misleading. I'm sorry that we so disagree.

As you and many Marriott elites are now discovering, the average daily rates for many of the luxury brand hotels in the SPG portfolio are significantly more than those of the luxury brands of Marriott/Ritz Carlton. The fact that even many W hotels and resorts have ADRs higher than those of many Ritz Carlton properties is no surprise to me, but it will be a surprise to many MR/RC elites. And that doesn't even consider the many top Luxury Collection and of course many St Regis properties. Too many RC people have assumed that RC was equivalent to St Regis. I'm willing to bet the new categories are going to make it more obvious that was isn't true.

With the ADRs and award demand taken together, the Unified Marriott chart is going to put a lot more St Regis and top Luxury Collection and W hotels (and even Design Hotels) in Category 8 than Ritz Carlton properties. All you need to do is look at the current Tier 5 RC properties and see that there are far more category 7 St Regis, Luxury Collection, Design Hotels, and W hotels in comparison. Everything else will filter down from there. There are going to be far more SPG portfolio properties in the Unified Marriott Category 7, too, though now I expect we will see plenty of Ritz Carlton properties joined by other Luxury Collection, St Regis, W, and Design hotels, as well as pricier Westin, Le Meridien, and even JW properties. If we see any JW properties in Category 8 I will be shocked.

This new reset is why there won't be the massive devaluation for Marriott/RC properties--because there just weren't nearly as many excellent 5* properties in the Marriott and even RC portfolios when compared with SPG! You don't seem to believe or recognize that yet.,..but I am certain you will once the new chart is revealed. Even these first chart releases already show this.

I had no idea about what types of hotels at which you stay. I think it's great that you will qualify for Ambassador status--which for you and any Marriott Platinums will be a very new experience. I wish you well with your new status, and hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

smgainey

They're giving Marriott members perks that we may not necessarily want or care for. I'd much rather NOT have my points devalued than to have an Ambassador or Your24. If I had wanted the SPG perks then I would have stayed at SPG hotels all these years. You may find it hard to believe but there are those of us for whom SPG's program is not better than Marriott's program.

If they really wanted to give us better perks then they'd do like Hyatt (which is where I would stay if their footprint was big enough) and give the top elites perks such as no resort fees and complimentary parking on award stays (I'd even go so far as to suggest complimentary parking on paid stays as well, or at the very least reserved parking so we don't have to drive all around and to the top of the garage to find a space), and maybe give top elites complimentary breakfast at all properties without exclusions. We don't yet know what their no blackout policy will look like, but if hotels are allowed to reclassify rooms as non-standard or not release standard rooms for award stays (which would essentially be a blackout) then maybe they could allow top elites to book with points even if those rooms aren't open to everyone else for points.

I'm not a fan of Hilton's program, so thanks, but no thanks.