As flagged last week, Marriott rewards has revealed the details of its merged Marriott Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest programs. The new combined program will also take over the current Ritz-Carlton Rewards program.
The new program does not yet have a name, and so the three existing names will be around through to the end of the year. Even so, Marriott will be combining the programs in August, aligning various aspects of the program. This will include earn rates, redemption rates and elite tiers.
Accounts Combining in August
While the three names will remain, Marriott will combine Marriott Rewards, SPG and Ritz Carlton accounts in a one off process in August. The result of this will be a single account balance, and a single elite tier.
First up, the single currency. This will basically be the existing Marriott rewards currency. Ritz Carlton members will combine on a 1:1 basis, while SPG members will be combined at a 1:3 ratio. That is, every 1 SPG StarPoint will convert as 3 Marriott Rewards Points. This is the same as the current transfer rate between linked accounts.
The second main change that will come in August is the new elite levels. The new structure doesn’t really map exactly to either the current Marriott Rewards program, or the SPG program, so there is some variations in the way levels are worked out.
The following chart shows the mappings that have been published:
| New Level | Current Marriott | Current SPG |
|---|---|---|
| Silver Elite | Silver Elite with 10-24 nights | Preferred Guest with 10-24 nights
Corporate Preferred Guest Preferred Guest Plus |
| Gold Elite | Silver Elite with 25-49 nights | Gold Preferred Guest |
| Platinum Elite | Gold Elite | Platinum Preferred Guest
Platinum Preferred Guest with 50 nights |
| Platinum Premier Elite | Platinum Elite | Platinum Preferred Guest with 75 nights |
| Platinum Premier Elite with Ambassador (100 nights + $20k qualifying spend) | Platinum Elite with 100 nights and $20k in qualifying spend | Platinum Preferred Guest with 100 nights |
This is a different mapping to the existing status match between SPG and Marriott. For example, at present SPG Gold maps across to Marriott rewards Gold. It is unclear whether this will map to Gold Elite or Platinum Elite in the new structure.
New Program
Elite Levels
| Member 0-9 Nights/Year | Silver Elite 10-24 Nights/Year | Gold Elite 25-49 Nights/Year | Platinum Elite 50-74 Nights/Year | Platinum Premier Elite 75-99 Nights/Year | Platinum Premier Elite (100 nights + $20k qualifying spend) 100+ Nights/Year | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Complimentary In-Room Internet Access, *Enhanced Internet | ✓ | ✓ | ✓* | ✓* | ✓* | ✓* |
| Member Rates, | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mobile Check-In/Services, | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ultimate Reservation Guarantee, | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Points Bonus, | ✓ 10% Bonus | ✓ 25% Bonus | ✓ 50% Bonus | ✓ 75% Bonus | ✓ 75% Bonus | |
| Priority Late Checkout, *Based on Availability | ✓ | ✓ 2pm* | ✓ 4pm | ✓ 4pm | ✓ 4pm | |
| Dedicated Elite Reservation Line, | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| In Hotel Welcome Gift, *Varies by brand | ✓ Points* | ✓ Points, Breakfast Offering or Amenity* | ✓ Points, Breakfast Offering or Amenity* | ✓ Points, Breakfast Offering or Amenity* | ||
| Enhanced Room Upgrade, Based on Availability | ✓ | ✓ Including Select Suites | ✓ Including Select Suites | ✓ Including Select Suites | ||
| Lounge Access, | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Guaranteed Room Type, | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |||
| Annual Choice Benefit (5 Suite Night Awards or Gift Option), *Awarded with 50 qualifying nights | ✓* | |||||
| Additional Choice Benefit (5 Suite Night Awards or Gift Option), *Awarded with 75 qualifying nights | ✓* | |||||
| 48-Hour Guarantee, | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Ambassador Service, | ✓ | |||||
| Your24TM | ✓ |
Earning
Under the new program. member will earn in a single currency. For the most part, the earn rate across all hotels will be 10 points per US$1 spent. There are a few exceptions, such as Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites and Element, which will earn at 5 points per US$1 spent.
Redemptions
Along with a unified currency, comes a unified redemption chart. Marriott will be sticking with Award Categories, with the new program having seven different categories (eight from 2019). At present, they have not defined which hotels will be in which categories.
Free Night Award Chart
| Category | Standard Effective August | Off-peak Coming 2019 | Peak Coming 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7,500 | 5,000 | 10,000 |
| 2 | 12,500 | 10,000 | 15,000 |
| 3 | 17,500 | 15,000 | 20,000 |
| 4 | 25,000 | 20,000 | 30,000 |
| 5 | 35,000 | 30,000 | 40,000 |
| 6 | 50,000 | 40,000 | 60,000 |
| 7 | 60,000 | 50,000 | 70,000 |
| 8 Coming 2019 | 85,000 | 70,000 | 100,000 |
Airline awards will remain in place largely as they are today. For members of SPG, this will see the return of Qantas as a partner. Marriott Rewards members will see the addition of Velocity as a partner.
