Marriott International will roll out Marriott Bonvoy next month to replace Marriott Rewards, The Ritz-Carlton Rewards and Starwood Preferred Guest. The last of those came under Marriott's corporate umbrella as part of its 2016 acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
The three loyalty brands unified operations in August. Members then could use one set of benefits and one rewards currency across Marriott's 29 hotel brands. Existing SPG members received new account numbers consistent with Marriott's exiting programs.
Marriott Bonvoy introduces new names for previous Elite status names. Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite will replace Platinum Premier Elite, serving those who surpass 75 nights. Marriott Bonvoy Ambassador Elite will replace Platinum Premier Elite, serving members who surpass 100 nights and more than $20,000 in spend annually. Under the new branding, Marriott's experiential rewards programs, currently known as Marriott Rewards Moments and SPG Moments, will be known as Marriott Bonvoy Moments. The program will feature 120,000 experiences in 1,000 destinations worldwide, which travelers can access by redeeming points or by purchase.
The Marriott Bonvoy logo and branding will begin rolling out on Feb. 13 across all consumer touchpoints, including property, marketing and sales channels, digital, mobile and co-branded credit cards. A global media campaign will support the rollout, Marriott said. A Marriott Bonvoy mobile app will replace the current Marriott app via automatic update on Feb. 13. The existing SPG and The Ritz-Carlton Rewards apps will deactivate on that date, the company said.
Marriott's loyalty program has earned high customer satisfaction ratings, but some observers argue that while the unified loyalty program offers more flexibility, former SPG members are finding it harder to earn points for credit card spending under Marriott's program, as points earned are less valuable than under the SPG program. That could lead former SPG members to begin "jumping ship in 2019 as Marriott makes free nights harder to earn," according to Executive Travel chairman and CEO Steve Glenn.