The criteria changed along the way, starting with a requirement for 12 years in the program at any level (which was eliminated) plus a nights and total earned points criteria. IIRC it's still 750 nights and 2,000,000 earned points for LTP. In principle, someone could become LTP without ever having earned Plat, which is very different from the SPG 5 or 10 years at the level plus a total lifetime nights requirement for LT status.

No one on FT can confirm this. We all have to wait for the Marriott announcement together. :)

However, I would bet it would be very difficult to keep a separate LT program once the merge happens. But I could be wrong.

it is not just about ambassadors, it is about starwood corporate (therefore merger) allowing call center employees to move to hotels. big deal in terms of customer service and operations, just one example for starwood.

clearly marriott will not give ambassadors to 100 night marriott.

if desired benefits(/awards/etc) are deleted, LT is irrelevant.

You know Marriott has already been piloting exactly this, right?

# SPG ambassadors, # SPG100 with/using them
# marriott 100

i should have said, offering will be different, and SPG reviews already mixed
interesting if SPG does currently actually factor in things like spending etc
big factor may also be which SPG hotel being used at, quality/occupancy

random thought >
RC FLL returns to SPG, was originally st regis
bal harbour FL now has RC near st regis
JW essex house was st regis + westin
LM BUD became (renovated) RC
RC ICN became LM
future internal reflags will be interesting
and whether marriott franchises W

I'm not trying to be snarky or anything, but I honestly don't understand what you're saying. I can't follow your writing style since you're using all the special characters and sentence fragments (and apparently assuming your readers understand the missing parts). Would you mind restating please?

I've been kind of wondering how much longer the Marriott/UA deal will last. I'm expecting, after the dust settles, for Delta to be the airline partner winner, and for AmEx to be the credit card winner. AmEx has lost too many travel partners to VISA/MasterCard to afford losing Marriott/SPG and their partnership with SPG has been pretty good. Similarly, SPG and Delta have done a lot to promote the co-branding of their partnership where most people are surprised when they discover they get UA Silver once they hit Platinum with Marriott. Of course, if I'm right, I'll be kind of bummed since LT Plat with Marriott is my guarantee of LT Silver with UA without having to lift a finger :D

I could see AmEx making a big play for it - but I'd be shocked if Marriott moved on from UA to Delta

SPG's partnership with Delta is not exclusive. It has similar relationships with China Eastern and Emirates. It's entirely possible (and probable) that Marriott will keep partnering with both UA and DL. There's only upside for Marriott by keeping both relationships. I also don't think UA or DL wants to break the relationship either.

DL doesn't compete with EK or China Eastern (and it owns part of the latter)...it does directly w/UA.

Logically there is little chance Marriott will keep both UA and DL around going forward.

LOL, you're not alone!

Yes, DL owns a piece of MU but its relationship with EK is not that friendly. If DL had a say, it wouldn't have picked EK. Marriott would have more leverage than either UA or DL in this type of relationships. It would be to Marriott's advantage to keep multiple partners unless one of these partners can offer some unmatched and compelling benefits to Marriott and its customers. Neither UA nor DL currently offers anything that compelling.

I'll translate. The other poster is saying that certain former *wood properties are now re-joining their closely located SPG counterparts. Take, for instance, the Westin Bonaventure, which used to be the Marriott Bonaventure. It will be located up the road from nice Marriott properties. blah blah blah There will be a lot of overlap.

Starwood and Delta bring a more affluent customer to the table...

Sure troubled United is improving, but the SPG/Delta relationship is deep and as I understand they have plans on the table to make it deeper. I'd say Delta brings more upside. But maybe Polaris can feature Courtyard bedding?

I'd prefer FT members post their own thoughts in a coherent manner so that other FT members don't have to re-interpret them to make the post understandable.