lotrbfme

Why are people concerned about the 10 SNAs?? They almost never clear. I had all 10 expire all the time. I think I get more suite upgrades when I dont apply them...

UA-NYC

Well, I've never had one expire, and have had amazing suite upgrades all over the world, so I do care, as do many others

TerryK

It is property dependentt as SNA processing is rather opaque. Some properties have hidden categories and SNA never clears; some properties clear right away; some further upgrade you to specialty suite if your SNA clears.

sdsearch

I don't know if you remember the famous phrase: It depends on what meaning of "is" is. Well, it actually applies here. This Ambassador is telling the truth the way she phrased it,. She is certainly not able to refund points on an existing reservation, because that capability won't exist until after August 18. By saying it in the present tense, she is saying the absolute truth, and not contradicting anything StarwoodLurker has said about the post-Aug-18 future!

It's only if she had said "no one will ever be able to" that it would be a contradiction.

But don't ask her about the future either, because she may not know what she's going to be trained on next week or the week after.

It's just begging for wrong answers if you ask phone agents about how things will change in the future (beyond what's been published), because if they've haven't been trained how to give the right answers yet, they're likely to give wrong answers. Not just on this issue but on many many other issues.

TravelinSperry

Some find them to be of value. Personally I haven't had much value out of them (like you I have most expire unused). That said, I think initially most wanted to "double dip" and there was an opportunity to get extra SNAs pre July 27. Even though they may have little value - FTers love to get what they can (we are clearly point hoarders and optimizers). As well, some do find SNAs to be of value - so they of course want more. And finally there is a subset of us that wanted both - SNAs and the choice of the free night in lieu of SNAs.

lingua101

CJKatl

No. There are some instances where earning within the legacy program would make a difference but yours is not one of them. If you needed a year at status here and a second within the Marriott program it would matter or if you were qualifying on stays, which is not a path in either MR or the new program, it would matter, but for a generic fifty night plat qualification like yours it will not matter.

RogerD408

IF you made the 50 nights before 7/27, you would have been able to choose 10 SNAs (or some other gift) for reaching SPG P50 status. Since you will hit 50 nights after the merge of the programs, then make sure you merge your accounts before hitting 50 to then be able to select 5 SNAs (if desired). There is debate if merging your accounts puts you over the 50/75 threshold, you might not get the SNA option that you have to cross those with other credits. But from what you've outlined, you should be safe. Keep reading to see how things shake out.

mahasamatman

It all depends how you achieved your status.

Assimilated Cajun

I have a couple of questions about completing 25 stays between August 18 and December 31. My concern is about maximizing my years of credit toward LTP in the new program.

I have earned Platinum status in 2018 (for program year 2019) in the MR program, but I have that status in SPG only by virtue of having linked my SPG and MR accounts. Of course earned Platinum status in either program will make me Platinium (or, since I've got over 75 Marriott nights this year, Plat Premier) until early 2020. But my understanding is that I won't get credit for Lifetime purposes for this final year of SPG Platinum status since it is only due to having linked with my MR account. So it's good to know that if I can achieve 25 stays in Starwood properties during 2018 I will I be credited as having independently qualified for SPG Platinum and thus get another year's credit toward Lifetime status in the new program. Like others in this thread, I wish I knew for sure whether I need to delay combining my accounts until after I've achieved my 25 stays, but I guess I'll just wait. But here's a question to which I can't find the answer: if the Starwood web site -- or whatever web site I get after August 18 when I log in with my new SPG credentials -- starts to allow booking of Marriott properties after August 18, and I defer combining my two accounts and book a mix of Marriott and Starwood properties using my new SPG number, will those Marriott stays count toward the 25 stays I need for a year of SPG Plat status? I think the answer is "no" but I'm hoping to be corrected.

Thanks so much to William (who has already kindly answered a related question I asked a few weeks ago) or to anyone else who has information or insights about this.

CJKatl

First, whether your accounts are merged has NOTHING to do with qualifying under the legacy rules. William made this clear, again, in Post #156 . There are a couple posters spreading the baseless rumor that it might, one of whom thinks he remembers somebody once posting that it would although he cannot remember whom or find the post and another poster who thinks at this late date Marriott IT will discover they cannot program simple counters so the rule will be changed. Both theories are baseless. Combining or not combining accounts will have no impact on qualifying under legacy rules.

All indications are the system will be able to identify which hotels are legacy SPG and count accordingly no matter how the reservation was made.

M.dA.R.

sdsearch

How do you know that the graphics will be only thing different?

Do you know for a fact that there will be legacy lifetime Marriott info (lifetime points counter) on the Starwood website, even though Starwood has never tracked lifetime points, and a Starwood stays counter on the Marriott website, even though Marriott never allowed elite qualification via 25 stays?

Right now there are even two versions of the Marriott website. (Some things you do on the main website throw you to the alternate website, where you have to log in again.)

Meanwhile, Ritz Carlson and Marriott currently show different hotels in a search, even if the account numbers look the same. So the sites are not the same. And that proves that they can have same format of account numbers and yet different sites. It doesn't prove that they will, but it does show a precedent.

lingua101

I do not quite understand your sentence here. What do you mean by a second within the Marriott program? I have re-qualified as SPG Platinum as I am at 30 stays now. I am quite interested to know if there is any real benefit if I am trying to hit 50 nights with SPG alone. Both combine, I will have 50 nights anyway.

CJKatl

​​​​​​As was previously mentioned this not pertinent to your situation. If someone is two years away from qualifying for a LT status the member can get two years' credit in one year by separately qualifying under both the legacy SPG and MR programs. If you wre trying to get the two years it would matter whether you stayed at which brand because legacy SPG would count towards SPG status. I misunderstood your original question. You have qualified for Plat so the additional nights do not matter.