Troopers

Thanks, I stand corrected. I was relying on the fact that he said that they were not making any changes in 2018, not taking anything away from members.

It's not clear to me about Marriott members who earned Gold through credit card (not match) and not 50 nights.

weibelt

My question is if you earned Marriott Gold via the Ritz credit card will you map to platinum or gold for the rest of the year?

cooperhs

Question about Flight and Hotel packages. I have a CAT 1-5 Cert good for up to 7 nights, one stay. In theory, the Cert is worth 150,000 points. There's a statement that a Free night Cert will be worth its points, so a Cat 1-5 cert would be good for any stay up to 25,000 points. Any educated guesses how this will work for the 7 night cert? For example, might I be able to stay 3 nights at a 50,000 point property, starting in August, now that the Cert isn't based on 7 nights?

Boraxo

As noted above the stealth devaluation is largely swept under the mat, but I guarantee this will be the worst thing to hit since Hilton's big deval a few years back. Mark my words: It's not just RC properties that will go to 95k. You will see St. Regis, Hawaii resorts, NYC and London properties (regardless of nameplate) - they will all go to 95k. Because these awards cost MR a large amount and they don't plan to give them away anymore.

And on top of that the SPG Amex card has gone from a "must carry" card that stacks up well against Chase CSP & CSR to a card that has been devalued 33% on everyday spend and thus on the "soon to cancel" list. Amex will not be pleased when it sees the attrition rate.

So all this whining about benefits and who will get grandfathered status, etc. is just a diversion from the real bad news that was dropped yesterday. Bravo to the Marriott PR team and their blogger shills.

Disagree. SPG Gold was (is) completely worthless in current form except for the 50% bonus on hotel spend (3 points v. 2). the "New" Marriott Gold is equally worthless. There will be no upgrades except to a higher floor or maybe a few more inches of floorspace. Forget about suites, peak vacation dates, etc. Even 2pm checkout is "subject to availability". This is one of the reasons that I always picked standard Marriott over Westin, St. Regis, RC even though Marriott rooms were inferior - because I value the lounge. No more.

Plat is new sweet spot because it includes breakfast, but as you note, that does not necessarily guarantee a real breakfast. Under the old program Gold = lounge access and we all know what that meant because we had visited many superb lounges. Thus even new Plat is arguably inferior to old Gold because the latter had guaranteed lounge access.

For me the key item will be the Plat upgrade certs. I don't know how SPG did it (because I never had Plat) but if these are treated as guaranteed for suites like Hyatt did then Plat will be a status level that has meaning to many of us who need suites (or 2 rooms) for family trips. If it is just a phony discretionary "upgrade" like Hilton Dia and current Marriott Plat, then worthless.

Agreed. Except that IHG generally treats Ambassadors well so if new Marriott Plat doesn't pan out then my business will definitely go to Intercon brand hotels for high rev business trips to major international cities. Hyatt will be the next choice as Hyatt's intermediate level (Explorist or something - thankfully Marriott did not create a bunch of stupid names) including 4 lounge access certs and I can still get top category resort and major city rooms for 30k points.

Marriott has great coverage but without lounge access there simply is no reason for me to spend $500 to stay in JW, RC, St Regis in London, Hong Kong, Washington, etc. when I can get better rooms and service at competitors.

an mec

I hope I'm not duplicating an inquiry.

The new credit card free night awards that have point values associated with them have me wondering if the SPG style room and suite upgrades might be bookable with these types of redemptions... and if one could add to the point allotment with points from your account for a higher level redemption.

Also are there terms that restrict the hotel credit? Can the credit be used for a stay... can it be used without a stay at a properties facilities or it's restaurant or bar?

Michilander

That's for the current program. Would be surprised if it changed, but I do not know for certain that it won't.

FLA77

I like to hear that Marriott Lifetime Gold becomes Lifetime Platinum in the new program, but must have somehow missed it in the e-mail and related announcements. Where exactly does it definitively say that?

BusTrav8yrs

EXACTLY, they are not "guarenteed" and every property has discretion on whether to honor them.

Michilander

https://members.marriott.com/marriottrewards/

Look under 'What's New"/Marriott Rewards. But, please note that the new Platinum is pretty much the old Gold.

Fizzer

As an SPG Plat I have had good success with them but always outside the US. The only time I tried in the US was Hawaii during a peak week so I wasn't surprised that they were declined There are many stories on the SPG Board, however, about people who felt that they were worthless.
When I read the terms on the Marriott site they were identical to those of the SPG SNA . At booking or any time thereafter ( up until shortly before your stay) you can check the room types being offered and select one or more of them on the website or over the phone. The earliest you would know that they had cleared would usually be 5 days before your stay when they check for availability. That sweep is repeated daily until the day before your stay. If not cleared by then they are returned to your account.

You can only apply them if you have enough for your entire stay so with 10 I was able to snag a suite for 8 days in Cyprus for example. Now with only 5, unless I hit 75 nights again, they are perhaps less useful except for shorter stays. Perhaps with the option of some night credits from a CC 75 nights might be more achievable, an option not available to Canadian members of SPG at least so far.

As I said I have had good success for the most part, outside of the US. Other members have noted that the chances of clearing are greater on shorter stays but it is the longer vacation stays when they are of greater value. Ironically I have had them fail to clear in Canada, only to receive the UG anyway at check in without using the cert. As it was the end of the year it made no difference and it went unused but that is the only one of 30 I have had in the last 3 years that wasn't used. TBH though when my SNA didn't clear at the Westin Moana in Waikiki I only used them by applying them to a year end stay when I really didn't need or particularly desire a suite.

GoSh4rks

The new Plat still guarantees lounge access.

Fizzer

Except at Resorts which is a loss to all the past SPG loyalists, who had that, even though I recognize that it was always a MR rule.

CPRich

(EDIT: Looks like this was already corrected above, as I continued reading)

Actually, it confirms they will not.

Mister Nice

I listened to the VP on TPG video. I may have heard incorrectly but I thought he said that they didn’t want to take away anything from current elites . However , by mapping SPG Gold and RC Credit Card Gold to NEW Gold on 8/1 , aren’t they indeed taking away lounge access and breakfast from current Golds who mapped from SPG or earned via the Ritz card ? Yes , Gold will still be Gold but with far less benefits .

theplayer

going forward, SPG card every day spend will only earn 2 marriot points..big time devaluation