Marriott & SPG have announced that on August 18th the two programs will officially become one and unify. Things like travel packages will be bookable through August 17th under the old pricing, on August 18th the new pricing will go into effect. They still haven’t told us what will happen to existing packages. Some important things to remember:
- The new award charts can be found here
- If an existing booking decreases in price, you won’t automatically receive a refund. You’ll need to manually request one.
- Some luxury properties will cost only 60,000 points per night. I suspect availability will be poor, so be ready to book.
Let us know any other important things to remember so we can add it to the post.
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I got an offer for the Amex SPG personal card (the purple one) for 75,000 with 3K spend. Is this 75K SPG points or Marriott points?
75k Marriott points. No way would that be SPG points, because that would be 225k Marriott points....
I have 33k points after new account opened in April.
Do I spend points now or wait until I have 3x points
We heard this already how is this news.
seems a little nutty to me. dont say what is going to happen to these certs post merger but allow redeeming points for them until the very last minute possible... its really hard to believe they'd let someone book a travel package followed by instant devaluation the next day
Wonder when the new card portfolio will be released if this is the case..
Let's be really clear... did they say August 18th, TWENTY-EIGHTEEN? Or is it some August 18th to be communicated in future?
2018
Will we lose the 5k bonus on airline transfers from SPG upon merger if they are all being converted to Marriott?
-_- look into the new marriott program details even a little bit and you would find the answer.
Not even close bud, had to go to member's section explaining benefits and at the very bottom:
"Plus, starting in August, we’ll add 15,000 points for every 60,000 points you transfer to airline miles, providing you with a total of 25,000 miles in the airline program of your choice."
then to find out what my balance would be, it's not listed there, so had to go to:
One Mile at a Time blog for this:
"When this happens, members should see that all of their points automatically transfer from Starwood Preferred Guest to Marriott Rewards at a 1:3 ratio. Furthermore, those who haven’t yet linked accounts or signed up for a Marriott account will receive a new nine digit account number. This account number should be emailed to members, and will also appear when trying to log into your account with your old member number."
So the answer my quesiton it's a benefit to hold onto SPG points until August 18th to get 15k more miles instead of 5k more miles.
I hope this helps anybody looking for the answer more than thomas' smartass answer did.
Any idea what happens if I spend today on an spg card who's statement closes 8/20? If spend was before the cutoff do I get 3 mariott points per dollar , or will I still only get 2 points per dollar if it closes after the merge even if spend was prior?
Amex rep confirmed you will earn 3 marriott points (1 spg) on all purchases till 8/1. I dont know if this changes that. If your statement posts 8/20 you would get 3 marriott points on all purchases before 8/1.
So, can we still buy and book packages at the old rate until August 17th ??
Yes
Does that mean Aug 18 is when Starpoints multiply by 3 to become Marriott points?
Any unconverted points yes
Yes. Although I don't think it happens "automatically" - you have to log in and it will walk you through "the process" (yet undefined). I assume however it will be simple since points transfer are available now, especially if you've already linked your accounts.