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
Jun 28, 2018, 11:32 am
#76
Moderator, Marriott Bonvoy & FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: McKinney, TX, USA
Programs: United Silver; AA Plat/2MM; Marriott LT Titanium; Hilton Gold
Posts: 11,727
Note the FFI is nothing special, but it is very close to Universal. I used to be able to use the CC and Megabonus free night certs there, but it moved up to Cat. 6 a few years ago. But now it looks like I can use those certs there again.
Jun 28, 2018, 11:39 am
#77
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Pittsburgh
Programs: MR/SPG LT Titanium, AA LT PLT, UA SLV, Avis PreferredPlus
Posts: 31,010
Significant hits to the Vacation Club/Vistana timeshares. Vistana is probably because it was sold off.
The Westin at Beaver Creek had been a steal during ski season. Thought it was actually Peak at 48K in ski season, so really only a 12K increase.
The Westin at Beaver Creek had been a steal during ski season. Thought it was actually Peak at 48K in ski season, so really only a 12K increase.
Last edited by CPRich; Jun 28, 2018 at 11:48 am
Jun 28, 2018, 11:50 am
#78
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 301
It has been reported by MR members that they have been able to phone in and adjust award reservations without cancelling when hotels go down in category. I think it is because MR allows one to keep the reservation and change the award cert attached to it.
It would be nice to definitively know if that is going to be possible with spg properties as well.
Jun 28, 2018, 11:53 am
#79
Company Representative - Starwood
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
I don’t need to contact SPG for assistance to do that, it can very easily and seamlessly be done online.
It has been reported by MR members that they have been able to phone in and adjust award reservations without cancelling when hotels go down in category. I think it is because MR allows one to keep the reservation and change the award cert attached to it.
It would be nice to definitively know if that is going to be possible with spg properties as well.
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts LLC
[email protected]
Last edited by Starwood Lurker; Jun 28, 2018 at 12:18 pm Reason: substituted "award reservations" for "properties"
Jun 28, 2018, 12:21 pm
#80
Join Date: Feb 2016
Programs: DL DM, SPG Plat 100/LT Gold, Marriott Plat, National Executive Elite
Posts: 2,988
The St. Regis Maldives has completely shut down their reservation system and a rep told me tons of people booking speculative bookings today. This is terrible. Really poor form to those out there making multiple bookings. Wish there was a way for Marriott/SPG to police this.
Jun 28, 2018, 12:40 pm
#82
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 6,385
chart looks good for cat 7 spg properties
Jun 28, 2018, 12:46 pm
#83
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Palm Springs & Buenos Aires
Posts: 125
If one cancels a reservation after August for a property that has gone down in points, will the original number of points used be returned to the account, or the current level?
Jun 28, 2018, 12:53 pm
#84
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: PHL
Programs: AA EXP MM, HHonors Lifetime Diamond, Marriott Lifetime Ti, UA Silver
Posts: 5,037
It is not currently possible to do this with legacy SPG award reservations if you call in. The policy is that a new availability check must be done if there are significant changes to the booking. My best guess would be that if you are able to overcome this online, then there is no significant change that requires another booking...and, if my reading comprehension is right, it may no longer be possible with legacy Marriott award reservations after the programs are combined. YMMV.
I'm trying to reconcile your information with what was reported in View From the Wing on April 16:
If you have a booking that goes down in price under the new chart, you can call to get a refund of the difference in points price. It doesn’t even require cancelling and rebooking (so you’re ok even if there’s no award space left). Marriott explains,
Members would need to call, but they can then order and attach the new award certificate at the lower price. So, keep the reservation, but change the award “certificate” attached to the reservation. Members could also cancel the reservation and rebook if they so desire given in most cases there aren’t unique asks [attached to a reservation].
Members would need to call, but they can then order and attach the new award certificate at the lower price. So, keep the reservation, but change the award “certificate” attached to the reservation. Members could also cancel the reservation and rebook if they so desire given in most cases there aren’t unique asks [attached to a reservation].
This appears to have come from an interview with David Flueck, though it's not 100% clear due to the use of "Marriott explains".
In my case I have a 5 night points reservation this January at a current category 7 SPG property (non-suite). The reservation cost 120,000 SPG points (30,000 x 4 nights plus 1 night free). The property will become a New Cat 8 under the new listings, but will be New Cat 7 in August, so I should be able to change the booking to one that costs 80,000 SPG points (20,000 x 4).
My dilemma is that award availability for the dates I have booked is now gone. I don't want or need to change dates, room type, or any other characteristic of the booking. However, by your description it seems I won't be able to "keep the reservation, but change the award "certificate" attached to the reservation". I won't be "ok even if there’s no award space left".
Suggestions?
Jun 28, 2018, 12:53 pm
#85
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: NYC
Posts: 427
Why are ppl jumping the gun? It's not like the reservations will adjust to new rates automatically after 8/1. It sounds like they're gonna have to cancel/rebook. 
The St. Regis Maldives has completely shut down their reservation system and a rep told me tons of people booking speculative bookings today. This is terrible. Really poor form to those out there making multiple bookings. Wish there was a way for Marriott/SPG to police this.
Jun 28, 2018, 12:56 pm
#87
Moderator: British Airways Executive Club, Marriott Bonvoy
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Englandshire
Programs: SPG LT Plat, BA G, BD*LG, MG Blue+ ...
Posts: 16,034
Threads merged to avoid duplication.
The Official Starwood Lurker announcement is posted in the thread wiki.
Members are welcome to add useful, summary information to the wiki below this.
The Official Starwood Lurker announcement is posted in the thread wiki.
Members are welcome to add useful, summary information to the wiki below this.
Jun 28, 2018, 12:59 pm
#88
Join Date: Jan 2017
Location: NYC
Posts: 427
I wonder if they'll be able to retain that availability after 8/1, when they have to cancel the booking first in order to rebook. Will the award rooms be returned to inventory after cancel, and made available to be booked again immediately?
Jun 28, 2018, 1:00 pm
#89
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Miami, FL
Programs: UA 1MM, AA Plat, Marriott LT Titanium, Hyatt Glob, IHG ♢ Amb, Hilton ♢, Hertz Pres
Posts: 6,018
Since you asked:
USA - down 4.4%, 65% of properties with changed values got cheaper.
South America - down 3.0%
But I get it - you have decided it's a devaluation and facts are misleading, math is irrelevant - opinion is what matters.
Let me ask this then - how did you determine that the program has been devalued, as you claim? And no, just stating "without fail, overall, our points are being devalued" doesn't support it. Nor does picking through data and finding specific segments. That's the "it may negatively impact some" that everyone has agreed with.
USA - down 4.4%, 65% of properties with changed values got cheaper.
South America - down 3.0%
But I get it - you have decided it's a devaluation and facts are misleading, math is irrelevant - opinion is what matters.
Let me ask this then - how did you determine that the program has been devalued, as you claim? And no, just stating "without fail, overall, our points are being devalued" doesn't support it. Nor does picking through data and finding specific segments. That's the "it may negatively impact some" that everyone has agreed with.
As for the overall devaluation, it came from a quick analysis of perusing the top tourist cities in the world (NY, London, Paris, Bangkok, Barcelona). A quick perusal of those cities shows devaluation. Obviously I could've added Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore, Tokyo, etc. to round out the top 10. But I just wanted a quick analysis. While the overall Marriott chain may have been 62% in our favor as you describe, it doesn't account for the 80/20 rule (which would show that most people visit the top 20-30 cities). I wonder what the devalue (or increased value) would look like from a list of those cities? And then overlaid with primary brands (low end - middle - high end), since I'm guessing people who stay in Ritz/St Regis rarely if ever stay in aLoft and the corresponding Marriott brand.
Jun 28, 2018, 1:01 pm
#90
Company Representative - Starwood
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Austin, Texas
Programs: Marriott Employee Level
Posts: 31,593
Thanks for posting William.
I'm trying to reconcile your information with what was reported in View From the Wing on April 16:
https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea...ogram-end-spg/
This appears to have come from an interview with David Flueck, though it's not 100% clear due to the use of "Marriott explains".
In my case I have a 5 night points reservation this January at a current category 7 SPG property (non-suite). The reservation cost 120,000 SPG points (30,000 x 4 nights plus 1 night free). The property will become a New Cat 8 under the new listings, but will be New Cat 7 in August, so I should be able to change the booking to one that costs 80,000 SPG points (20,000 x 4).
My dilemma is that award availability for the dates I have booked is now gone. I don't want or need to change dates, room type, or any other characteristic of the booking. However, by your description it seems I won't be able to "keep the reservation, but change the award "certificate" attached to the reservation". I won't be "ok even if there’s no award space left".
Suggestions?
I'm trying to reconcile your information with what was reported in View From the Wing on April 16:
https://viewfromthewing.boardingarea...ogram-end-spg/
This appears to have come from an interview with David Flueck, though it's not 100% clear due to the use of "Marriott explains".
In my case I have a 5 night points reservation this January at a current category 7 SPG property (non-suite). The reservation cost 120,000 SPG points (30,000 x 4 nights plus 1 night free). The property will become a New Cat 8 under the new listings, but will be New Cat 7 in August, so I should be able to change the booking to one that costs 80,000 SPG points (20,000 x 4).
My dilemma is that award availability for the dates I have booked is now gone. I don't want or need to change dates, room type, or any other characteristic of the booking. However, by your description it seems I won't be able to "keep the reservation, but change the award "certificate" attached to the reservation". I won't be "ok even if there’s no award space left".
Suggestions?
Best regards,
William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts LLC
[email protected]