Jun 28, 2018, 12:52 pm
Last edit by: Oxon Flyer
Official announcement from Starwood Lurker V :
Maximize your points as our programs become one this August.
As you may already know, SPG®, Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® will become one program this August. You’ll be able to redeem for free nights and unforgettable experiences at over 6,500 participating hotels across 29 brands.
Our Free Night Award Chart will be updated and give you more power to redeem your points. Even better: More hotels are moving down in redemption rates than up – so chances are that you’ll be able to redeem fewer points for free nights at the hotels you love.
Here are our top eight tips to help you maximize your points:
• Plan ahead. Explore the full list of hotel category changes and decide if you want to plan your trip before or after the updates take effect. Here are just a few examples of hotels that are moving to a lower category in August:
- REDEEM FREE NIGHTS FOR 10,000 FEWER POINTS
Hotel Talisa in Vail, Le Méridien Barcelona, W Punta de Mita, The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Ka'anapali, The Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, and Le Méridien San Francisco
- REDEEM FREE NIGHTS FOR 5,000 FEWER POINTS
The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort, Renaissance Paris Republique Hotel, The St. Regis Princeville Resort, Courtyard New York Manhattan/Midtown East, Autograph Collection’s Hotel Punta Islita, and Las Alcobas, a Luxury Collection Hotel in Napa Valley
See the complete new award chart here.
• Take advantage of future Category 8 hotels. Future Category 8 hotels will be available at Category 7 rates from August until 2019. Redeem now to save up to 20% and guarantee your rate even if the stay occurs after new rates take effect. Explore future category 8 hotels.
• Use Cash + Points. Stay for as little as $55 and 3,500 points at more hotels than ever. Your next vacation may be closer than you think. See the Cash + Points Chart.
• Stay five nights, pay for four. Get a complimentary night when you redeem four consecutive nights.
• Save more with PointSavers. Enjoy up to 20% off when you redeem points at top destinations. All 29 brands participate, all you have to do is enter the city, state or country along with your dates to find participating hotels. See the PointSavers Chart.
• Upgrade your stay. Use points to upgrade your room (think suite or a room with a picture-perfect view) during your stay.
• Enjoy Travel Packages. Travel Packages now include all SPG hotels. Until now, SPG Nights & Flights applied only to SPG Category 3 and 4 hotels. Starting in August, Marriott Rewards and SPG members can redeem points for airline miles and hotel stays at any of the 6,500 participating hotels. This offer continues to be one of the richest offers among travel loyalty programs.
• Get instant gratification. Instantly redeem points for cocktails, meals, spa treatments or anything else you can charge to your room at participating hotels. Each US$1 is valued at 250 points, so if you would like a spa treatment worth US$50, you would redeem 12,500 points.
Explore all the changes happening in August and read FAQs now by visiting members.marriott.com. In the meantime, please feel free to share your feedback and we’ll do our best to answer your questions.
Maximize your points as our programs become one this August.
As you may already know, SPG®, Marriott Rewards® and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards® will become one program this August. You’ll be able to redeem for free nights and unforgettable experiences at over 6,500 participating hotels across 29 brands.
Our Free Night Award Chart will be updated and give you more power to redeem your points. Even better: More hotels are moving down in redemption rates than up – so chances are that you’ll be able to redeem fewer points for free nights at the hotels you love.
Here are our top eight tips to help you maximize your points:
• Plan ahead. Explore the full list of hotel category changes and decide if you want to plan your trip before or after the updates take effect. Here are just a few examples of hotels that are moving to a lower category in August:
- REDEEM FREE NIGHTS FOR 10,000 FEWER POINTS
Hotel Talisa in Vail, Le Méridien Barcelona, W Punta de Mita, The Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Ka'anapali, The Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota, and Le Méridien San Francisco
- REDEEM FREE NIGHTS FOR 5,000 FEWER POINTS
The St. Regis Maldives Vommuli Resort, Renaissance Paris Republique Hotel, The St. Regis Princeville Resort, Courtyard New York Manhattan/Midtown East, Autograph Collection’s Hotel Punta Islita, and Las Alcobas, a Luxury Collection Hotel in Napa Valley
See the complete new award chart here.
• Take advantage of future Category 8 hotels. Future Category 8 hotels will be available at Category 7 rates from August until 2019. Redeem now to save up to 20% and guarantee your rate even if the stay occurs after new rates take effect. Explore future category 8 hotels.
• Use Cash + Points. Stay for as little as $55 and 3,500 points at more hotels than ever. Your next vacation may be closer than you think. See the Cash + Points Chart.
• Stay five nights, pay for four. Get a complimentary night when you redeem four consecutive nights.
• Save more with PointSavers. Enjoy up to 20% off when you redeem points at top destinations. All 29 brands participate, all you have to do is enter the city, state or country along with your dates to find participating hotels. See the PointSavers Chart.
• Upgrade your stay. Use points to upgrade your room (think suite or a room with a picture-perfect view) during your stay.
• Enjoy Travel Packages. Travel Packages now include all SPG hotels. Until now, SPG Nights & Flights applied only to SPG Category 3 and 4 hotels. Starting in August, Marriott Rewards and SPG members can redeem points for airline miles and hotel stays at any of the 6,500 participating hotels. This offer continues to be one of the richest offers among travel loyalty programs.
• Get instant gratification. Instantly redeem points for cocktails, meals, spa treatments or anything else you can charge to your room at participating hotels. Each US$1 is valued at 250 points, so if you would like a spa treatment worth US$50, you would redeem 12,500 points.
Explore all the changes happening in August and read FAQs now by visiting members.marriott.com. In the meantime, please feel free to share your feedback and we’ll do our best to answer your questions.
New Marriott Awards chart for SPG properties, published 28 June 2018
Jul 2, 2018, 12:09 pm
#151
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: Marriott, IHG, Delta, United
Posts: 575
FWIW-
As I am sure many others may have experienced, here is an example of how it previously worked when the redemption rates changed:
On January 15 you booked a SPG 7000 point room, (with the reservation for checking in on the night of June 1). Then in March the redemption rate for that hotel went up from 7000 points to 10,000 points. If you logged into your account on April 15, and checked the details of that reservation, it would then show that you had redeemed 10,000 points for the reservation (when in fact you had “paid” 7000 points).
However, if you had cancelled that same “10,000 point” reservation on May 15, only 7,000 points would be redeposited into your account, because that is what you “paid” originally.
I expect something very similar with this change. If I book a 7000 point SPG room today, and then cancel it on October 15, I will either get back 7000 SPG Points, or 21000 MR points, regardless what the new value is. So no, I doubt you will be able to (or should) game the system to get more points, if that is what you are implying.
As I am sure many others may have experienced, here is an example of how it previously worked when the redemption rates changed:
On January 15 you booked a SPG 7000 point room, (with the reservation for checking in on the night of June 1). Then in March the redemption rate for that hotel went up from 7000 points to 10,000 points. If you logged into your account on April 15, and checked the details of that reservation, it would then show that you had redeemed 10,000 points for the reservation (when in fact you had “paid” 7000 points).
However, if you had cancelled that same “10,000 point” reservation on May 15, only 7,000 points would be redeposited into your account, because that is what you “paid” originally.
I expect something very similar with this change. If I book a 7000 point SPG room today, and then cancel it on October 15, I will either get back 7000 SPG Points, or 21000 MR points, regardless what the new value is. So no, I doubt you will be able to (or should) game the system to get more points, if that is what you are implying.
Jul 2, 2018, 12:37 pm
#152
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: DL DM, SPG Plat 100/LT Gold, Marriott Plat, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,988
FWIW-
As I am sure many others may have experienced, here is an example of how it previously worked when the redemption rates changed:
On January 15 you booked a SPG 7000 point room, (with the reservation for checking in on the night of June 1). Then in March the redemption rate for that hotel went up from 7000 points to 10,000 points. If you logged into your account on April 15, and checked the details of that reservation, it would then show that you had redeemed 10,000 points for the reservation (when in fact you had “paid” 7000 points).
However, if you had cancelled that same “10,000 point” reservation on May 15, only 7,000 points would be redeposited into your account, because that is what you “paid” originally.
I expect something very similar with this change. If I book a 7000 point SPG room today, and then cancel it on October 15, I will either get back 7000 SPG Points, or 21000 MR points, regardless what the new value is. So no, I doubt you will be able to (or should) game the system to get more points, if that is what you are implying.
As I am sure many others may have experienced, here is an example of how it previously worked when the redemption rates changed:
On January 15 you booked a SPG 7000 point room, (with the reservation for checking in on the night of June 1). Then in March the redemption rate for that hotel went up from 7000 points to 10,000 points. If you logged into your account on April 15, and checked the details of that reservation, it would then show that you had redeemed 10,000 points for the reservation (when in fact you had “paid” 7000 points).
However, if you had cancelled that same “10,000 point” reservation on May 15, only 7,000 points would be redeposited into your account, because that is what you “paid” originally.
I expect something very similar with this change. If I book a 7000 point SPG room today, and then cancel it on October 15, I will either get back 7000 SPG Points, or 21000 MR points, regardless what the new value is. So no, I doubt you will be able to (or should) game the system to get more points, if that is what you are implying.
Jul 2, 2018, 4:17 pm
#153
Join Date: Oct 2009
Programs: Marriott, IHG, Delta, United
Posts: 575
I have never seen it change the number of points redeemed; that would disturb the record. The category assignment listed under the redemption may or may not change - same with the hotel name - but I've never seen the number of points redeemed on the accounting side of it changed - because it is a historic record of how many you actually redeemed.
It always just struck me as a weird bug in the programming, but as the outcome was as it should be, I never thought anything more of it. The reason I bring this weird bug up is that I could see something similar happening with the merge. Figured I would give fellow Flyertalkers a heads up.
Jul 2, 2018, 5:34 pm
#154
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Virginia
Programs: HHonors Gold, IHG Platinum, Marriott nobody
Posts: 470
It depends on where you look. Using the example I gave, if you click on "my stays" and look at the reservation details, it would show on the reservation that 10,000 points were redeemed (even though only 7.000 were actually used). Now if you go back and look at "account activity", it would show that on January 15, 7000 points were redeemed. Strangely enough, if you cancelled the reservation on May 15, it would show that 10,000 points are being credited to your account. However in the seconds following the cancellation, your account value would only increase by 7,000 points (i.e. 100,000 to 107,000).
It always just struck me as a weird bug in the programming, but as the outcome was as it should be, I never thought anything more of it. The reason I bring this weird bug up is that I could see something similar happening with the merge. Figured I would give fellow Flyertalkers a heads up.
It always just struck me as a weird bug in the programming, but as the outcome was as it should be, I never thought anything more of it. The reason I bring this weird bug up is that I could see something similar happening with the merge. Figured I would give fellow Flyertalkers a heads up.
Jul 2, 2018, 10:06 pm
#155
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Pittsburgh
Programs: MR/SPG LT Titanium, AA LT PLT, UA SLV, Avis PreferredPlus
Posts: 31,008
TPG completed an analysis of the new chart. Not surprisingly, pretty much the same results.
The same key points are identified in the article and follow-up. Low end and extreme high-end are what rose (SPG/MR 1/2 and MR9/RC5). Vacation Club/Vistana (timeshares) took a big hit.
Boarding Area chimed in:
There were a few other "reviews", but they mostly just re-posted the chart, repeated the "roughly 70% down or unchanged" PR line (which is accurate), and a few highlighted the huge decrease in SPG specialy properties (I'm looking at you, Bora Bora). Great value, but outliers.
2018: The average hotel increasing in price is going up by 4,241 points per night, while the average hotel decreasing in price is dropping by 4,494 points. This results in an overall average drop of 977 points per night.
2019: The average hotel increasing in price is going up by 4,326 points per night, while the average hotel decreasing in price is dropping by 4,144 points. This results in an overall average drop of 755 points per night.
As you can see, the properties decreasing in price hold a slight edge for the remainder of 2018, though the introduction of Category 8 in 2019 will reverse this. However, in both 2018 and 2019, the overall average price per night is still dropping.
2019: The average hotel increasing in price is going up by 4,326 points per night, while the average hotel decreasing in price is dropping by 4,144 points. This results in an overall average drop of 755 points per night.
As you can see, the properties decreasing in price hold a slight edge for the remainder of 2018, though the introduction of Category 8 in 2019 will reverse this. However, in both 2018 and 2019, the overall average price per night is still dropping.
Boarding Area chimed in:
On average, award pricing stays about the same when comparing current pricing to early 2019 pricing.
Jul 2, 2018, 10:15 pm
#156
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Pittsburgh
Programs: MR/SPG LT Titanium, AA LT PLT, UA SLV, Avis PreferredPlus
Posts: 31,008
High prices, people go away, lower prices, people come back, market prices adjust to an equilibrium. Seems OK to me.
Jul 2, 2018, 11:44 pm
#157
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: SIN
Programs: TK-G | Accor P | SQ-G | Marriott T
Posts: 3,831
Aloft Bangkok has much more rooms compare TO FP Bangkok. Aloft has more than 30+floors and FP only have 8 floors and 2 buildings.
This means forever redemption at FP will always lower compare to Aloft, which is silly when Aloft price is lower as they have much more rooms to sell.
Well actually I don't mind with this logic as I can get free room at FP and Bangkok Marriott cheaper
Jul 3, 2018, 1:25 am
#158
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Miami, FL
Programs: UA 1MM, AA Plat, Marriott LT Titanium, Hyatt Glob, IHG ♢ Amb, Hilton ♢, Hertz Pres
Posts: 6,016
But it's not really supply and demand. Wouldn't the cash price then follow along with the award increase? It doesnt - but if it were truly supply and demand it would. Seems more logical to me to have awards equate to cash prices to keep effective award redemption be at a rate Marriott likes. that is closer to what Starwood did before them.
Jul 3, 2018, 3:42 am
#159
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: BDU
Programs: DL:MM, Marriott:LTT
Posts: 8,779
A heads up: When redeeming points in the legacy Marriott program, if the points needed for redemption increases a change in your reservation can change the number or points for redemption. If you are holding a reservation but have not had the points taken out of your account yet, if the hotel gives you an upgrade that can trigger the system to change the points redemption to the new higher amount. A simple call or email to Marriott and they will correct the points to the lower, previous amount and, of course, you keep the UG, but watch your reservations carefully if the redemption rate increases and reach to Marriott if you need to. This has happened to me more than once and others have posted about it, too.
Jul 3, 2018, 5:22 am
#160
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Canada
Programs: Star Alliance G*, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium,
Posts: 3,585
no surprises here
I am in the "no surprises" category.
Some of the SPG "deals" to be booked before August:
Sheraton Vistana Villages + 20,000
Westin Nashville + 14,000
Sheraton Duluth + 5,000
Westin Chattanooga + 5,000
Sheraton Anchorage + 4, 000
Four Points Milan + 4,000
Some of the SPG "deals" to be booked before August:
Sheraton Vistana Villages + 20,000
Westin Nashville + 14,000
Sheraton Duluth + 5,000
Westin Chattanooga + 5,000
Sheraton Anchorage + 4, 000
Four Points Milan + 4,000
Jul 3, 2018, 5:52 am
#161
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: BOS/UTH
Programs: AA LT PLT; QR GLD; Bonvoy LT TIT
Posts: 12,753
You sure? I thought that the amount that a property is paid under the legacy SPG system is somewhat dependent on occupancy rate for the night(s) in question; and that if full or nearly so, the compensation to the hotel goes up.
Jul 3, 2018, 6:27 am
#162
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 301
Which category each hotel falls into is determined by the previous year’s ADR for the base room category with some shenanigans (some hotels have more leverage with SPG than others). But within each category the rate paid per night is a fixed amount.
I believe (not sure though) that that amount is inclusive of all taxes and fees, except those that are charged directly from the guest at checkout.
Jul 3, 2018, 6:53 am
#163
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA LTG (EXP), Hilton Silver (Dia), Marriott LTP (PP), SPG LTG (P) > MPG LTPP
Posts: 11,329
they already said starpoints are being converted. that means starwood accounts can be converted into marriott accounts, and people can end up with multiple accounts that they put together whenever. i dont see any reason they would have to automatically combine or kill accounts.
going to be odd having "points" from "starwood credit card" for a few months, my big question is re expiration extension
going to be odd having "points" from "starwood credit card" for a few months, my big question is re expiration extension
FWIW-
As I am sure many others may have experienced, here is an example of how it previously worked when the redemption rates changed:
On January 15 you booked a SPG 7000 point room, (with the reservation for checking in on the night of June 1). Then in March the redemption rate for that hotel went up from 7000 points to 10,000 points. If you logged into your account on April 15, and checked the details of that reservation, it would then show that you had redeemed 10,000 points for the reservation (when in fact you had “paid” 7000 points).
However, if you had cancelled that same “10,000 point” reservation on May 15, only 7,000 points would be redeposited into your account, because that is what you “paid” originally.
I expect something very similar with this change. If I book a 7000 point SPG room today, and then cancel it on October 15, I will either get back 7000 SPG Points, or 21000 MR points, regardless what the new value is. So no, I doubt you will be able to (or should) game the system to get more points, if that is what you are implying.
As I am sure many others may have experienced, here is an example of how it previously worked when the redemption rates changed:
On January 15 you booked a SPG 7000 point room, (with the reservation for checking in on the night of June 1). Then in March the redemption rate for that hotel went up from 7000 points to 10,000 points. If you logged into your account on April 15, and checked the details of that reservation, it would then show that you had redeemed 10,000 points for the reservation (when in fact you had “paid” 7000 points).
However, if you had cancelled that same “10,000 point” reservation on May 15, only 7,000 points would be redeposited into your account, because that is what you “paid” originally.
I expect something very similar with this change. If I book a 7000 point SPG room today, and then cancel it on October 15, I will either get back 7000 SPG Points, or 21000 MR points, regardless what the new value is. So no, I doubt you will be able to (or should) game the system to get more points, if that is what you are implying.
I have never seen it change the number of points redeemed; that would disturb the record. The category assignment listed under the redemption may or may not change - same with the hotel name - but I've never seen the number of points redeemed on the accounting side of it changed - because it is a historic record of how many you actually redeemed.
It depends on where you look. Using the example I gave, if you click on "my stays" and look at the reservation details, it would show on the reservation that 10,000 points were redeemed (even though only 7.000 were actually used). Now if you go back and look at "account activity", it would show that on January 15, 7000 points were redeemed. Strangely enough, if you cancelled the reservation on May 15, it would show that 10,000 points are being credited to your account. However in the seconds following the cancellation, your account value would only increase by 7,000 points (i.e. 100,000 to 107,000).
It always just struck me as a weird bug in the programming, but as the outcome was as it should be, I never thought anything more of it. The reason I bring this weird bug up is that I could see something similar happening with the merge. Figured I would give fellow Flyertalkers a heads up.
It always just struck me as a weird bug in the programming, but as the outcome was as it should be, I never thought anything more of it. The reason I bring this weird bug up is that I could see something similar happening with the merge. Figured I would give fellow Flyertalkers a heads up.
Jul 3, 2018, 6:55 am
#164
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 1
Can someone enlighten me?
Tier 5 resort hotel - 12,000 starpoints/night for stay in Dec.
Under the new Marriott programme tier 5, the resort hotel states current points required 36,000 and will go down to 35,000 under new points required.
Does this mean it is going up from 12,000 to 35,000 because of the 3X multiplier effect?
Tier 5 resort hotel - 12,000 starpoints/night for stay in Dec.
Under the new Marriott programme tier 5, the resort hotel states current points required 36,000 and will go down to 35,000 under new points required.
Does this mean it is going up from 12,000 to 35,000 because of the 3X multiplier effect?
Jul 3, 2018, 6:58 am
#165
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA LTG (EXP), Hilton Silver (Dia), Marriott LTP (PP), SPG LTG (P) > MPG LTPP
Posts: 11,329
Can someone enlighten me?
Tier 5 resort hotel - 12,000 starpoints/night for stay in Dec.
Under the new Marriott programme tier 5, the resort hotel states current points required 36,000 and will go down to 35,000 under new points required.
Does this mean it is going up from 12,000 to 35,000 because of the 3X multiplier effect?
Tier 5 resort hotel - 12,000 starpoints/night for stay in Dec.
Under the new Marriott programme tier 5, the resort hotel states current points required 36,000 and will go down to 35,000 under new points required.
Does this mean it is going up from 12,000 to 35,000 because of the 3X multiplier effect?