yurtripper

Except that the thread you link to is full of inaccurate information, with people making grand claims which they're unable to back up. Nobody has yet incontrovertibly demonstrated the veracity of the claim that SPG Golds (matched to MR Gold) will only get Gold... but the notion that it's a locked in certainty refuses to die. And every time this 'Gold from August 1' claim gets called into question, someone who hasn't read any of the previous posts comes along to state the exact same thing... and then inevitably backs it up with the ONLY datapoints that support their claim (a comment made by David Flueck in a TPG video or a Twitter response by a minimum wage CS rep), while ignoring the contradictory statements subsequently made by other senior Marriott execs (including Bob Behrens, who Flueck referred to as the go-to guy for anyone with specific questions about the new program rollout).

What makes it worse is that many people seem to be ignoring the very real possibility that the SPG mapping in the elite status table refers only to *unmatched* accounts (yes, they do exist outside FlyerTalk).

I'd say it's 90% (finger in the air estimate) that SPG Golds who are matched to MR Gold will get Platinum on Aug 1 till early 2019. Likewise, SPG Plats who are matched to MR Plat should get Plat Premier.
But the thing is I would never claim that this a sure-fire thing. We still don't know for sure until it's properly clarified.

yurtripper

No it isn't... and emphasising it by using CAPS isn't going to make this claim any more true.

The point of doing an SPG status challenge to Plat is to lock in Platinum Premier (or Platinum, see above) till early 2020. Without it you will either get Platinum from August 1 till early 2019 (my best guess) or you will be stuck on Gold (what some others claim but are still unable to prove).

jsloan

Without comment on the rest of your message -- I don't have an opinion either way on what will happen -- this part makes no sense whatsoever from a customer service point of view. "Sorry, you failed to link your accounts in time, so you get a lower status than someone else with an otherwise identical profile." This is liable to create as much / more ill will as any other proposal -- nobody likes to be made to feel foolish.

yurtripper

You're forgetting the possibility that the main reason for not having linked accounts could be down to the fact that the SPG account holder doesn't even have an MR account (they only have SPG). It's important to remember that it's not the behaviour patterns of FTers that matters here, but that of the general public.

Also bear in mind that Marriott execs and reps are indeed imploring people with both SPG and MR accounts to link those accounts before August 1.

Of course, this whole clusterf*** could no doubt have been avoided if they didn't insist on launching their new program in the middle of the year, but that's a debate for another day.

phltraveler

I'm inclined to agree, more that on the "we still don't know" front. MR is telling everyone to match accounts now so you can combine your elite balances (nights / points) into a single new profile at some point after the August 1st deadline of the new program passes. The FAQ on members.marriott.com says you'll be contacted to combine the accounts (rather than just matching) "starting in August.". Starting in August could mean August 1st, but it could mean later in August as well. And even if account consolidation was offered starting Aug 1st, they're not going to stop offering it within a day or two.

Without knowing Marriott's backend though, hard to say. It's possible that they have a flag in the database that status comes from a match (on either side) and then the account receiving the match has its status calculated.

I would be inclined to think Marriott's primary concern is getting the new system working properly and lifetime status/nights/points history transferred from SPG to MR (essentially, that yurtripper is probably right, and that there's a good chance SPG members matched to whatever level in MR will have the MR side temp go to the higher tier [gold -> new plat, plat -> new premier plat] for the remained of the year). Then over the period of August-December, getting accounts properly combined, and reconciling any that don't combine properly. Then, dropping the status (if appropriate) of a combined account according to the published yearly/new lifetime criteria put forward for early 2019 onwards.

Anish

Thanks for the inputs everyone. I just hit up MR to request their Platinum challenge which is significantly easier at 9 stays, fingers crossed! It's certain at least that will match to Plat Premier

d'Yquem

jsloan

I'm not, really, since anybody could sign up for Marriott Rewards now and link them. I agree that it's the general population that matters, which is why I think your suggestion would be a terrible idea. Look at the vitriol involving LTPP vs. LTP for SPG members, and then multiply that by a gigantic factor when you consider the much smaller number of people that have lifetime status compared to the elite population at large.

If you tell someone, "if you had matched your account with a brand-new Marriott account on July 31st, you'd be Platinum, but since you didn't, you're Gold," you've lost. That statement cannot be explained reasonably to anyone -- there is no legitimate reason that people who matched should be treated differently than people who didn't. Whatever decision they make absolutely should not hinge on whether or not the member has a linked Marriott account.

Troopers

But isn't that the case now? There are SPG elites that have not matched to Marriott MR, and thus have not benefitted when staying at Marriott properties (and vice versa).

kaizen7

Double Elite Night Credit

yes
Whether this scheme continue after August 2018 ... not yet known
I ask RC Reward twitter and no reply

kaizen7

bold ... that what I thought for now. Starting from conflicting statements from Marriott own higher ups in their interviews to the "alleged email screenshot from Marriott"

Flagging status ... I would say would be easy .... they can check the night and the challenge status

If nights < requirements and no record of challenge then its matched status

or they can just unlink the account and everything will revert to their "earned" status for all programs

yurtripper

My suggestion? It's not my suggestion at all. My only suggestion here would be to avoid launching a new program in the middle of the year! I was only stating, as a possible explanation for there being a separate table for SPG members (alongside the contradictory one for Marriott), that this takes into account the fact that there are no doubt many people out there with (1) SPG and MR accounts that are unlinked; (2) SPG people who have never even bothered getting an MR account.

It can't reasonably explained to someone whose app and online account told them they were Marriott Gold, who received regular emails from Marriott acknowledging their status as Marriott Gold (including the recent one that included a link to the Marriott conversion table telling them they can expect Platinum status on August 1st!), who were greeted as Marriott Gold at the front desk, that on August 1st they find that they were never really Marriott Gold at all, that it was only an illusion caused by Marriott agreeing to recognise their status as if they were Marriott Gold, and that - despite all the evidence leading them to think they did indeed possess this status - some bright spark at Marriott had decided it was a better idea to dig into their account history to find out just HOW they became Marriott Gold in the first place, and ruled that it was the MANNER in which they acquired Gold status in Marriott - and not the actual fact of possessing Gold status itself - that mattered.

Do you seriously think that explaining the above situation to all those with linked accounts is any less of a problem than the one you raise?

And why go to all that bother merely for 5 months? 5 months in which those people with Platinum get the chance to see the benefits for themselves, and who therefore might be incentivized to put in the nights to get it the traditional way once they revert to Gold status in Feb 2019.

jsloan

Sure, but at least they can go in and fix it once they become aware of it. That doesn't seem unfair (you can't really expect them to link profiles automatically). Deciding your status in the new program based upon whether or not you linked your accounts before the changeover date will seem unfair.

yurtripper

And those who thought they were Marriott Gold - by virtue of account linking - might also consider it unfair, if and when they find that on the stroke of midnight on August 1st their accounts are magically unlinked and their Marriott Gold status is revoked in just the same way that Cinderella's stagecoach is turned into a pumpkin!

The point is that Marriott has strong commercial incentives to ensure that as many people as possible have linked accounts, and this becomes even more true as we approach the launch of the new program. If they consider that giving people an additional strong reason to link their accounts is going to aid that process then they're within their rights to do so. Saying 'unfair this' and 'unfair that' isn't going to change that. And why shouldn't people who have been proactive get some benefit from it? Why should clued in FTers get a better deal in these matters than those poor rubes that never check their accounts from one year to the next? The point is that we do and that fact isn't going to change. In every walk of life, informed consumers will always get a better deal than uninformed ones. They've won in some ways but they've also sacrificed time in order to do so.. so it all evens out in the end.

In any case, we're only talking of a brief interlude here, and come next year we'll all get the status we deserve. Once you decide to launch a new program in August you inevitably open up a huge can of worms - but that decision was made by Marriott and all anyone can do here is try to make the best of it in the circumstances.

PanAmWT

[/QUOTE]

I started as a Sheraton Club International member in the 20th Century and also a member of Westin. My 1000+ nights shown in my SPG account online is only a part of my total nights since 1999 when Starwood was formed to merge Sheraton and Westin. They don't include all the nights I accrued in the many years as elite members of Sheraton and Westin programs.

If I am going to be treated as second tier in the new program, why shouldn't I just use my large number of accumulated points at Marriott/starwood from now on, and focus my revenue stays on Hyatt or Hilton to reach a higher, probably highest tier?