I confess I'm confused .... it seems to me that (a) a poster posted a rumor on FT a couple of days ago and (b) another poster gave a picture of a card from China. These postings have replicated throughout the blogosphere and on FT but it is still two postings. Both make a vague reference to August. Someone else said a phone told them that the airline transfer program was going to end on Monday. That has also been blogged many times and posted about many times although no one has been able to receive similar information.

So [MENTION=23861]UncleDude[/MENTION] what is it from these two postings that makes you believe that a major consumer facing company would do something in August that keeps people from requalifying or obtaining lifetime status they would otherwise have obtained during 2018? It seems (a) contrary to what the company has said, (b) to create an incredible logistical burden on them to sort out elite status in the middle of the year, and (c) something that will go contrary to the business case for an elite program. That doesn't mean I won't be surprised if they devalue the program, do things we don't like, and put a spin on it. And it also doesn't mean I don't believe I won't be able to book SPG properties from a single reservation site in August.

But, apart from my business life of 3000+ nights in Marriott/SPG and 3-4 mm miles on various airlines, I've also spent a fair chunk of my adult life in conflict zones in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. So please help me understand what it is from these two posts that convinced you that Marriott is going to completely merge the two programs mid-year to keep people from requalifying? Apart from satisfying my curiosity, it might help me in trying to deal with rumors that American soldiers are kidnapping women from villages or that NGO's are making women infertile and/or spreading AIDS through polio vaccines in parts of world.

You can all pile on the OP if you like.

But announcing something in August for year end 2018 is entirely different from announcing big news on 16 April - this is all over Marriott official social media channels.

So instead of a straightforward merger starting on 1 January, 2019 with elite benefits roughly as we expect, we're left to fear the unknown.

Since this potentially includes a complete and utter waste of any SPG stays so far in 2018 based on public assurances by Marriott management, it's logical to assume that some people will be upset enough to sue. Will it go anywhere? Of course not - the T&Cs give complete discretion to the company.

Could you link to the Marriott social media that says they are making changes effective in August?

I've followed this issue closely as someone with thousands of nights so I have a lot to lose. I think everything in the blogo world and here goes back to those two posts so I'm genuinely interested in what social media Marriott has used to post these mid-year changes that concern some ...

Social media only says that there's a big announcement for next Monday.

August is from that Chinese pamphlet posted in the other thread. I should have chosen a different month to be more clear that you simply need to give an appropriate amount of time for details about 2019 - a few months I'd say since people would be starting to plan stays for 2019 starting around the summertime I'd guess.

Thanks. I agree that people need time to plan.

Personally I'm not worried about the possibility of certain unknown program changes in August. Maybe they just do deeper integration of the website (e.g. book SPG, MR, and RC properties all from one web address). Maybe they just do some higher level integration of the earnings program (e.g. stay at a SPG property but credit directly to your MR account for elite night qualifying purposes). There are so many possibilities of what they might (or might not) do it's hardly worth worrying about or contemplating a lawsuit.

Sue, Grabbit & Runne (courtesy of UK satirical magazine, Private Eye)

Better call Saul!!! :P

Pearson - Specter - Litt

Now known as Specter Litt...

The "fanfare" didn't come from Marriott. It came from idiot bloggers who only care about driving traffic with no regard for accuracy or legitimacy.

Fanfare did come from Marriott... Not only didn't they just announce whatever they needed to announce, they invited a bunch of people to a big unveiling in New York...

Wait and see what gets announced first. I suspect more alignment between the programs, rather than a full blown mid-year merger.

but we'll see.