dinoscool3

BF263533

Finally changed to Platinum. Last week in Nairobi they said thanks for being Platinum. Wasn't shure if that was an error.

Morrissey

Boraxo

Showing Plat for both Marriott and SPG!! ^
Too bad it won't last past January...

mozilla

It's possible. There was definitely a lot of work done behind the scenes the last few weeks (as you would expect). I called MAR customer service earlier this week and they were already restricted in the types of changes they could make because parts of the database were locked.

I expect to hear a lot more reactions like this, but in the end, this evolution is very similar to the airline market. With all the mergers that happened in the hotel world, your choices for point-earning hotel stays are basically reduced to a few very big chains, meaning you won't have much choice and because of this, the need to vie for your patronage will seriously decrease, which will be reflected in how you get rewarded. "I'll never stay with Marriott again" will mean nothing to them, as sooner or later you'll probably (have to) stay with them again anyway. Expect a lot more devaluations, maybe even a switch to revenue-based programs, if this is not more or less the case already with the elimination of the SPG stays qualifier. I think it is sad young people will soon grow up without being able to reap the benefits of loyalty programs like in the past. But then again, they will be Airbnb's best customers anyway.

Dublin_rfk

Aussienarelle

Why did I switch to Marriott properties? Cost plus benefits. My son has watched me choose properties based on cost plus benefits. We have stayed at hotels, apartments, B&Bs, hostels, etc. - cost and benefits being the decisive factors. Airbnb is a often a great low cost alternative with the benefit of a kitchen, similar to hostels. Hotels look at the best model for their revenue. Customers should look at the best cost option for themselves - sometimes that is a loyalty program, sometimes not.

With the internet there are many options and young people are savvy enough to know that.

This change by Marriott will influence my decisions as it should everyone who got status with a United match.

LordHamster

I'm confused. Should i be seeing my SPG and Marriot point balances merged into one? Or do I need to do anything in particular to make that happen?

Zip

In this case, it would only be fair that Marriott-members matched to UA Silver should loose some of their benefits, e.g. ability to get E+ seating 24-hr prior to departure; always figured that benefit was equivalent to Marriott lounge access.
We can call this new status "Silver-minus". You can keep the other benefits: priority security lane, Grp 2 boarding, etc.

jsloan

This has nothing to do with fairness, and never has. It's all about what the individual companies think is the best way to drive business without alienating their core customers.

Marriott has been inundated with complaints about lounge crowding; they must have decided that this exacerbated their problems. If the crowding goes down now that people at the pmSPG Gold level no longer have lounge access, they might decide to reevaluate this partnership in the future.

It's no different than Hertz granting President's Circle status to Platinum/1K/GS (and Presidential Plus / Club Card) members. If you qualify for President's Circle on your own (20 rentals per year, or $4K total spend), you might be irked to see your preferred cars being driven by United members who rarely rent from Hertz, but that's the choice they made to try to drive more business.

findark

I always thought the Marriott/UA relationship was slanted heavily in favor of UA. Especially when, overall, hotel status is (imo) worth quite little, getting significant benefits while never staying regularly at Marriotts always seemed like a wonderful hand out. Especially compared to the basically useless Hertz PC status

jsloan

Hey, speak for yourself. I've gotten some pretty nice cars at ridiculously cheap rates when redeeming toward the Hertz 2,750 mile promo. I've gotten a Mercedes C-class convertible, a couple of different Infinitis, and a Cadillac. I've also gotten a Hyundai, so YMMV.

findark

Yeah, only "upgrades" I see are large American sedans and SUVs. Twice the fuel bill and three times harder to park, all for basically nothing Half the time I just grab something small from the Gold Choice row to avoid my assigned car.

I think I saw an Audi once, but only noticed it after returning my actual car. But of course, ymmv

seat38a

I can tell from your comment that you really are an SFOer.

BF263533

Showing only Gold at Sao Paulo check in.