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 3, 2018, 7:45 am
#166
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
Posts: 52,565
It was often a painstakingly difficult process to even find an award room at an MVCI. Especially if you were looking for one that wasn't just a studio unit (a lockoff portion of a 2-bedroom villa).
Just curious: in Starwood-land, were the timeshare properties easily accessible with points? That's one thing I never tried to use SPG points for.
Just curious: in Starwood-land, were the timeshare properties easily accessible with points? That's one thing I never tried to use SPG points for.
Jul 3, 2018, 3:50 pm
#167
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NYC
Programs: DL DM; Marriott Ambasador Elite
Posts: 626
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, 7:58 pm
#168
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Pittsburgh
Programs: MR/SPG LT Titanium, AA LT PLT, UA SLV, Avis PreferredPlus
Posts: 31,004
ADR is in cash and reflects supply/demand for cash payments. Points redemption reflects supply/demand for award redemption. I've stayed at many places on points that I'd never pay cash for.
The fact that we're discussing why they're not kind of shows that they're not.
Jul 3, 2018, 8:04 pm
#169
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Pittsburgh
Programs: MR/SPG LT Titanium, AA LT PLT, UA SLV, Avis PreferredPlus
Posts: 31,004
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, 10:21 pm
#170
Join Date: Apr 1999
Location: Homosassa, FL & Ringwood, NJ -UA-G(Lifetime); SPG-Plat (Lifetime)
Posts: 6,120
I stayed last night at the New Orleans Sheraton on cash and points, $75/5000 pts. Now going to $140/17000. Just Wow.
Jul 3, 2018, 11:44 pm
#171
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: europe
Programs: EX˛-*wood platinum, EX-hyatt diamond, sixt platinum, hilton silver, leaders club, esselunga verde...
Posts: 2,048
Sheraton Donnafugata in Italy is no Sheraton...
Missing Elephant Weimar, Germany...
Missing Elephant Weimar, Germany...
Jul 4, 2018, 2:43 am
#172
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: SIN
Programs: TK-G | Accor P | SQ-G | Marriott T
Posts: 3,828
Why do you believe two different products would be interchangeable? Like the old "why can I fly PIT-PHL-CLT for $100 but PHL-CLT is $300, it's the same plane" question.
ADR is in cash and reflects supply/demand for cash payments. Points redemption reflects supply/demand for award redemption. I've stayed at many places on points that I'd never pay cash for.
The fact that we're discussing why they're not kind of shows that they're not.
ADR is in cash and reflects supply/demand for cash payments. Points redemption reflects supply/demand for award redemption. I've stayed at many places on points that I'd never pay cash for.
The fact that we're discussing why they're not kind of shows that they're not.
Jul 4, 2018, 7:06 am
#173
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
I suspect there will be some adjustments made and we move into the new program, both for us as guests and for the properties as we soak in what is happening and how we deal with it.
Jul 4, 2018, 8:55 am
#174
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 69
Marriott has handled this transition masterfully. They have everyone saying how amazing the new program is because Maldives and bora bora are going to have two rooms available at cheap points rates.(for four months) The rest of the program is such a massive devaluation it’s insane. Everything is going to be a peak award in the times you actually want to go somewhere, points and cash is horrible, travel packages are a huge devaluation, top proprieties are all going to be 100k points per night, huge decrease in earn from credit card spend(non hotel spend or business spend) totally eliminating the spg card for business. It’s hilarious how much favorable press they are getting. Just wait til next year and everyone will realize what happened.
The bloggers almost got me convinced to go with Marriott after all the favorable press, but I’ll be with hyatt and Hilton.
The bloggers almost got me convinced to go with Marriott after all the favorable press, but I’ll be with hyatt and Hilton.
Jul 15, 2018, 11:32 am
#175
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Chicago
Programs: Hyatt Glob; UA 1K; BonVoyage LTT (RIP SPG); HH Dia; JX Insighter
Posts: 1,642
When will new award rates for hotels that are yet to open be posted? I am still looking to see if I need to update reservations for a future stay at a new property.
Jul 16, 2018, 11:40 am
#176
Company Representative - Starwood
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts LLC
[email protected]
Jul 16, 2018, 11:55 am
#177
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Chicago
Programs: Hyatt Glob; UA 1K; BonVoyage LTT (RIP SPG); HH Dia; JX Insighter
Posts: 1,642
We have not yet identified a category for hotels that have not opened. Check back closer to the hotel's opening.
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts LLC
[email protected]
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts LLC
[email protected]