sdsearch

Ok, but even if that's the case, it's unclear whether points from SPG that get merged with Marriott points in August will count as lifetime Marriott points until December. That doesn't seem to written anywhere.

I'm at 650-something nights with Marriott, plus 50-something nights with SPG, so if they combine the nights, I can achieve 750 no problem. But I'm only at about 1.42M points. I'll have around 85k SPG points would turn into 255k Marriott points, which would boost me to about 1.77M points. Perhaps making it from 1.77M to 2M is doable by December, but making it all the way from 1.42M to 2M does not look that way.

Furthermore, the only way from Amex to Marriott seems to be through SPG (unless Amex adds something direct to Marriott come August), at close to 1:1, but again that only matters if SPG points can count toward Marriott lifetime points after August. So if SPG counts toward Marriott lifetime points, someone with a big Amex Membership Rewards stash might be able to do it all with that, but if it doesn't count, then Amex Membership Rewards don't seem to help with this situation.

Pretzelsandpeanuts

I have well over 2 million points but only 647 nights, so people like me without have spent more per night are out of luck it appears.

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Safti

I was told that they are no longer selling gift cards at the hotels. I tried to do that this year and they kept telling me that I had to do it online.

getagb

I'm in the same boat as you. Thinking about doing a ton of churn on my Marriott card (1 night / $3,000) or having a bunch of off-site work meetings at Marriott (10 nights / meeting)

jeanie

Please post back about transferring MR points to United and transferring them back. I would like confirmation that it works.

In regards to the Premier vs Premier Plus card, Chase has a FAQ page about it that says bonus points will be offered to convert the Premier to the Premier Plus. I have no idea how many points that might be. That bonus for card conversion should be announced on 5/3.

I also read that Hertz points can be converted to MR points at a ratio of 600 hz to 1000 MR.

Finally, I have sent an email asking about the August 1 vs Dec. 31 dates for grandfathering into lifetime Platinum Premier. I wanted a written answer. I will post when I get a response.

mindrisa

Thanks for sharing! Definitely interested in what they reply to the second part with...

Major G

This is true, I had the same experience. You'll have to do it on line, although you should still get the bonus to spend for the Marriott CC.

edcho

I've always used this in the past where I would transfer United points to MR (up to 50k per year). It counts towards lifetime.

This also works as there's an "Exchange My Points" link. 600 Hertz points to 1000 Marriott Rewards points.

WillTravel4Food

It seems this is a very poor value. I could exchange 550 points for a one day rental (value $40?), or exchange 600 points for 1000 MR points (value $10?). I calculate the lost value (points value if kept inside the Hertz program, minus the value of the points in the new program) to be around $0.0336/point. This doesn't seem worth it when one considers buying MR points outright can be done for much less. I will likely need 20K points to make the legacy LTPP 2M point threshold. I can buy those points for $250, or $0.0125/point.

Update: The cost of purchasing the MR points is $0.0025/point = $0.0125/point (cost of the point) - $0.01/point (value of the point). This makes it more clear just how much more the Hertz exchange costs, approximately 13 time higher.

Major G

I agree with your value analysis, but you are limited to buying only 50K points/yr. If someone needs more to reach 2MM, then they will have to buy points AND do the type of things shown in the other posts.

bresnab

Can you confirm that the transferred UA miles counted as Lifetime points?

TWToKM

Do points earned through the Marriott Rewards MORE site count towards Lifetime status?

edcho

Yes

goodeats21

Thanks for doing the math on the "value", though it is a bit subjective. I typically have WAY more Hertz points than I would ever use. I really only use them for an occasional 1-way rental when I am flying into one airport and out of another. So, it could theoretically be a situation of getting some value (MR points) with something that has very little intrinsic value to me, especially when compared to $250 in cash. Unless Hertz points can be turned into cash or something else useful,but that is probably getting off topic for Marriott forum.

sdsearch

Here's a better question:

Are there any points that don't count toward Lifetime status other than transfers (directly) from SPG?

Plus points which you already have but transfer to someone else deduct from your lifetime points, and thus count against your Lifetime status.