Starting in August, members of Marriott Rewards, Starwood Preferred Guest and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards will be able to merge their accounts into a single loyalty account.
Marriott's New Loyalty Status Structure
Marriott's unified benefits program, announced Monday, promises to allow members to earn elite status faster across all three programs. Here's what that looks like:
- Earn Silver status after 10 nights.
- Earn Gold status after 25 nights.
- Earn Platinum status after 50 nights.
- Earn Platinum Premier status after 75 nights.
- Platinum Premier members who surpass 100 nights and $20,000 in spend can join the ambassador program for one-on-one service.
The free breakfast for Platinum and Platinum Premier members extends to 23 brands, including Courtyard, AC Hotels, Protea and Moxy.
The news has been anticipated by loyalty members since Marriott closed its purchase of Starwood Hotels & Resorts in September 2016. Since that time, loyalty members have been able to link their accounts and easily transfer points across the three programs.
For the first time, guests will be able to book stays and earn and redeem points across Marriott's 29 participating global brands in 127 countries and territories, using brand.com sites for Marriott and SPG and the Marriott Rewards and SPG apps. There will be no blackout dates for redemption of points. The program also enables members to earn points 20 percent faster on average than under previous programs, according to Marriott.
For now, the three brands will maintain their respective names. Marriott SVP of global loyalty David Flueck said the program will unite under a single name in 2019. Announcing the news in New York City on Monday, he said Marriott didn't want to make members wait until then for the benefits of the unified program.
The unified program will use a single system for points currency. SPG points balances will triple for SPG members who combine their accounts in August. Members of all three programs will earn 10 points for every dollar spent at all brands, excluding Residence Inn, TownePlace Suites and Element. Nights at those brands will garner only five points for every dollar spent. All members also will be able to earn points for food and beverage and certain incidentals based on their total folio rather than on just the room rate.
The company also is expanding its Marriott Moments experiential platform and relaunching two co-branded credit cards with JP Morgan Chase and American Express. The Chase Marriott Rewards Premier Plus Credit Card will launch in May, and the Starwood Preferred Guest American Express Luxury Card will launch in August.