Marriott International has extended and negotiated new "multi-year"
co-branded credit card agreements for its U.S.-issued cards with American
Express and JPMorgan Chase but provided only limited details for now. The hotel
company will maintain its existing co-branded card programs with each provider
but sometime in 2018 will launch additional card products and more benefits,
according to the hotelier.
Marriott will add a JPMorgan Chase Visa "mass consumer"
card and a premium co-branded card. Through Amex, Marriott will add a "super-premium"
consumer card targeted to affluent individuals, as well as a small business
co-branded card product. Marriott did not reveal the membership prices for the
additional cards nor the perks and the points structure associated with each
card. It also was not clear whether the new products would be available across
hotel brands.
The future of the card programs had been in question since
Marriott acquired Starwood
Hotels & Resorts last year. Marriott's existing Visa co-branded card
program with JPMorgan Chase was due to expire in 2018, while Starwood's Amex
co-branded card program was to expire in 2020.
Regarding merger effects, MileCards.com travel and rewards
analyst Joe Cortez said, the value of the points Starwood Amex cardholders trade
in for a room night is less than the value of the points Marriott Visa
cardholders use for Marriott properties in similar locations. As the two hotel
brands merge their systems, "these disparities will need to be reconciled,"
Cortez said. "The most generous outcome would be for many Marriott
properties to come down in price, but the least desirable outcome would be for
Starwood properties to move up in price to match equivalent Marriott properties.
Keeping point prices reasonable will be critical to keeping Starwood loyalists
engaged in the new program."
A high-end card will be critical to staying competitive
after Hilton announced in November that it is using Amex as its exclusive
co-branded card provider—shutting out Citi—and launching four cards with
enhanced benefits and higher fees. "With Hilton launching a 'super-premium'
card with American Express in 2018, Marriott is following suit by launching its
own super-premium card from American Express," said Cortez.